Cold and Missing: Christine Cole

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,780 The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. 2 00:00:13,780 --> 00:00:18,400 All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 3 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,160 Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages. 4 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:24,560 Listener discretion is advised. 5 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,280 I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski. 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:29,680 And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski. 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:34,560 And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases. 8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,280 Hello everyone and welcome back to Cold and Missing. 9 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,480 I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski. 10 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:45,880 And I'm so sorry, I just need to have an apology right at the top here. 11 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:50,680 There was no new episode last week, which I was not happy about. 12 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:55,680 I was having technical difficulties with the new Apple updates. 13 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:02,320 But then later in the week when I wanted to get the episode out, I truly was just having 14 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,640 a really rough mental health week. 15 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:12,440 My anxiety was through the roof and I was having like daily panic attacks. 16 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,000 If you're somebody who struggles with anxiety, maybe you can relate. 17 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,880 And I'm just so sorry I couldn't get the episode out. 18 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,280 I had a really difficult time concentrating. 19 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,560 But, you know, I have a lot of good things in place. 20 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,720 I have a very supportive family. 21 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:29,760 I have a wonderful therapist. 22 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,240 I do have medication that I take for it. 23 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:37,160 So I was able to reach into my tool bag and take care of myself. 24 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:42,960 But unfortunately, that took up most of my mental space and just taking care of myself 25 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:48,120 and taking care of my husband, who is also grieving his mother. 26 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:52,360 So I just needed to take last week off. 27 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:56,000 And I am so thankful that you're back, that you're here. 28 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:01,000 I hope you can give me the grace and understanding that it just happens sometimes. 29 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:08,560 But I intend to be here and to keep putting out new episodes every week, just as often 30 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:09,560 as I can. 31 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:11,440 So thank you for sticking around. 32 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:16,040 Thank you for downloading again, even though last week was an unexpected break. 33 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:17,240 I appreciate you being here. 34 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:18,560 I really do. 35 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:22,940 So with that, I think we should just get into the case. 36 00:02:22,940 --> 00:02:25,920 So today we are covering a cold case. 37 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:31,180 And just as a content warning at the top, this case does involve a young person. 38 00:02:31,180 --> 00:02:35,080 And there will be some brief mentions of sexual assault throughout the podcast. 39 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,320 So please take care of yourself. 40 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:43,200 But today we are talking about the cold case of Christine Cole. 41 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,840 And this takes place in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. 42 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,200 In January of 1988. 43 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:52,560 But first, a little bit about Christine. 44 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,880 Christine is 10 years old in 1988. 45 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,480 She was a third grader at Baldwin Elementary School. 46 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:04,520 She lived with her mother, her mother's boyfriend, and three half siblings. 47 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,040 Her three younger siblings were all under the age of four. 48 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:15,000 So Christine was the oldest by a lot and also left to her own devices most days. 49 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,360 Christine was known to roam the neighborhood and her house wasn't too far from a strip 50 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:20,980 of businesses. 51 00:03:20,980 --> 00:03:25,040 Even after the streetlights came on and more seedy characters started to take over the 52 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,600 street, Christine would still walk around. 53 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:32,440 The owner of the little general store, Marie Mayer, said, quote, Christine would always 54 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:37,360 come in no matter how cold, no matter if it was pouring rain out at night. 55 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,600 Sometimes we'd ask someone in the store to take a few extra minutes to walk her home. 56 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:46,600 End quote, her mother, Margaret, believed the neighborhood was safe and would often 57 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,360 send Christine to the store to grab groceries or diapers. 58 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,980 But she would, quote, always come home. 59 00:03:52,980 --> 00:03:55,440 So they never worried about it. 60 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,520 And unfortunately, that leads us into the timeline of events. 61 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:07,160 So on Wednesday, January 6th, 1988, at around 5 p.m., Margaret, Christine's mother, sends 62 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:12,700 Christine out of the house with $10 in food stamps to go get clams from Red Seafood, which 63 00:04:12,700 --> 00:04:14,400 was near their house. 64 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:19,840 It was about five blocks from their home on West Avenue in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. 65 00:04:19,840 --> 00:04:23,280 Christine gets to Red Seafood and gets the clams. 66 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:27,760 But instead of heading home, she goes to a friend's house on Wilmarth Court. 67 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:33,120 Her friend's house is only about a block from her home, so it is on her way home. 68 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,800 She stays there until about 6.30 that evening. 69 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:41,520 According to Captain Carl Benson with the Pawtucket Police, quote, she told her friend's 70 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,740 mother that she was walking home. 71 00:04:43,740 --> 00:04:48,320 But once Christine got out of the house, she walked in the opposite direction away from 72 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,280 her home, according to her friend's mother. 73 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:52,280 End quote. 74 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:56,800 Christine ends up back into the business district near her home. 75 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:03,600 So Christine ends up heading to the market and gets there around 7 o'clock in the evening. 76 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,880 Once there, Christine buys 10 gumballs and a quart of milk. 77 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:13,240 Nellie Siriva was working the register that evening and saw Christine come in. 78 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,600 It was a cold night and she noticed that Christine didn't have any gloves on. 79 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,520 Nellie looked in the lost and found, but there was only one mitten in there. 80 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:23,960 She said, quote, it's so sad. 81 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:28,440 I wanted to help the little girl because I see the hand so cold. 82 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,080 The mitten was all I had, so I put it on her. 83 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:32,080 End quote. 84 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:36,180 Nellie gives Christine the blue mitten to wear on her walk home. 85 00:05:36,180 --> 00:05:39,680 At this point, Christine is about 10 blocks from her home. 86 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,120 This was the last positive sighting of Christine. 87 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:47,080 Captain Carl Benson says, quote, that was the last positive sighting of her. 88 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:52,520 Although a manager of a star market on Barton Street reported two girls coming into a store 89 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,680 and having to be escorted out at 10 because they were acting up. 90 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:57,680 End quote. 91 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:03,240 The manager of star market tentatively ID'd one of the girls as Christine, but he couldn't 92 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,280 be positive that it was her. 93 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:10,880 So truly the last sighting comes from that market where she gets the mitten. 94 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,160 Back at Christine's home, when she hadn't returned with the clams that she was tasked 95 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:20,680 with getting, Margaret calls the police to report Christine missing at 8.44 p.m. that 96 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:21,680 evening. 97 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:28,760 It's unclear what, if any, action is taken that first evening in the search for Christine. 98 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:33,400 But by the next day, Thursday, January 7th, police begin to look for Christine and they 99 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:38,280 go door to door around the neighborhood and store to store along the businesses that she 100 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:39,700 visited. 101 00:06:39,700 --> 00:06:44,440 During their search, police do find the mitten that Christine was given by Nellie just outside 102 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,800 of the store in front of the garage. 103 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:52,040 From Saturday, January 9th, 1988, so Christine has been missing for three days at this point, 104 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:57,760 the community had come together and donated $12,000 for information leading to Christine's 105 00:06:57,760 --> 00:06:59,120 safe return. 106 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,720 Police continue to go door to door to canvas the area. 107 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:07,880 Captain Carl Benson says, quote, A major concern is how she'll do in this weather. 108 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:12,200 Wednesday night it was a very cold night here and today we're getting snow. 109 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,880 Wherever she is, we hope she was able to get inside somewhere, end quote. 110 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:22,400 So if it's not obvious from that quote, police are not overly concerned at this point. 111 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,960 They believe that Christine is a runaway. 112 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:29,480 She had run away in the past, but it had been nearly three years since the last time she 113 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:30,480 had done that. 114 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,740 And she was always found very quickly near her home. 115 00:07:34,740 --> 00:07:39,440 Police had hopes that since the news was covering Christine's disappearance, that some tips 116 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:44,440 and leads would develop, but nobody had really called in and they still didn't have a clue 117 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,800 as to what happened to Christine. 118 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,680 On Sunday, January 10th, Christine has been missing for four days. 119 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:55,920 Lieutenant Norman Maru of the Pawtucket Police says, quote, Nothing turned up overnight and 120 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,920 we went out trying to get interviews with people near where she was last seen alive 121 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:03,900 to see if and when they might have seen her, end quote. 122 00:08:03,900 --> 00:08:08,440 Police are focusing heavily on the area where Christine was last positively ID'd, where 123 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:10,320 she got that blue mitten. 124 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:14,720 Police spent the weekend looking for Christine through cellars, vacant buildings, and empty 125 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:20,120 railroad cars, truly thinking that she had run away and was just hiding out. 126 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:25,880 With no sign of Christine over that weekend, by Monday, January 11th, so just five days 127 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:30,000 she's been missing, police do believe that Christine is dead at this point. 128 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,400 Again, Lieutenant Norman Maru says, quote, We believe she crawled into an abandoned car, 129 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,360 shed, garage, or dumpster Wednesday night. 130 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,200 Fell asleep and died before morning. 131 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,440 We don't suspect foul play. 132 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,880 We don't think she could have survived the night, end quote. 133 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:53,280 So during that time of year in 1988, it's very cold in Rhode Island and the temperatures 134 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:58,080 dipped below zero degrees Fahrenheit the night that Christine disappeared. 135 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:03,960 Christine's family, however, are not buying this runaway she's died from exposure. 136 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:08,280 They believe that she has been abducted and that she could still be alive. 137 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,820 Margaret pleads with the kidnappers through the local media saying, quote, Whoever has 138 00:09:12,820 --> 00:09:15,040 my daughter, please just let her go. 139 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,280 I just hope she's not being hurt, end quote. 140 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:22,920 Even though the police do believe that Christine has died from exposure at this point, they 141 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,960 continue to search for the missing 10 year old. 142 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:32,080 By January 14th, so Christine has been missing for over a week and police have come out publicly 143 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:36,200 and say that, you know, they believe that she ran away and died from exposure. 144 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:40,680 However, the FBI is now involved in Christine's case. 145 00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:45,840 Why exactly they got involved is not clear in the reports that I found. 146 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:52,280 But both the police and the FBI asked the girl who was in the supermarket at 10 p.m. 147 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,140 to please come forward. 148 00:09:54,140 --> 00:10:00,000 So if you remember, this was kind of the tentative idea of Christine and she was with another 149 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,000 girl. 150 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:05,720 So police FBI are asking this girl to come forward and they hope that she might be able 151 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,080 to shed some light on what happened to Christine. 152 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:14,860 About a week passes and on January 21st, the weather had warmed up a little bit enough 153 00:10:14,860 --> 00:10:16,120 to make the snow melt. 154 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,920 It was still very cold in January in Rhode Island. 155 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:25,720 But with the melting snow, police were able to coordinate a large volunteer search. 156 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,020 But still from the search, there's no sign of Christine. 157 00:10:29,020 --> 00:10:34,440 And police basically say that at this point, it's a wait and see game just three weeks 158 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:36,680 after she disappeared. 159 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:41,120 On Sunday, February 28th, 1988. 160 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,580 So it's been 53 days since Christine disappeared. 161 00:10:44,580 --> 00:10:49,840 At around 8 a.m., a man was walking on the Cumnacut beach when he found the fully clothed 162 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:51,640 body of a young girl. 163 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,840 According to the man, the body was on the riverbanks. 164 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,840 She was found near a little cove near a boat ramp. 165 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:04,040 The body is fully clothed, but her shoes and underwear are missing and there is blood on 166 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:05,560 her pants. 167 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:09,100 The blood is on the inside of her pants. 168 00:11:09,100 --> 00:11:14,640 And police noticed that her pants had been put back on her, but kind of in a weird way. 169 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,260 Like it's described as a half hazardous way. 170 00:11:17,260 --> 00:11:21,300 So there's something askew about how her pants are on her. 171 00:11:21,300 --> 00:11:27,440 The blood on her pants, ultimately, is not a match for Christine. 172 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:30,220 Police are not able to ID the girl right away. 173 00:11:30,220 --> 00:11:35,260 But her clothing is a match for what Christine was last seen wearing, so police call Margaret 174 00:11:35,260 --> 00:11:39,160 to try and confirm the clothing is Christine's. 175 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:44,680 When Margaret leaves the police station, she's reported as in tears and she does confirm 176 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:47,440 that those clothes are Christine's. 177 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,820 She says, quote, I don't know what happened or who did this, but I hope they find the 178 00:11:51,820 --> 00:11:53,960 person who did this to my daughter. 179 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:59,040 I think somebody else was involved in her death because my daughter being in the water, 180 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:00,640 someone had to get her that way. 181 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,880 They must have picked her up, did whatever they did and threw her in the water. 182 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:05,960 End quote. 183 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:11,000 So the next day, Monday, February 29th, police at this point are still waiting for autopsy 184 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:16,400 results to determine if a crime had even taken place and if they should treat the case as 185 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:18,060 a homicide. 186 00:12:18,060 --> 00:12:22,440 Police do mentioned that through the course of their investigation, they have polygraphed 187 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:29,920 several people, including Margaret, Christine's mother in this case, and all have passed. 188 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:35,240 On March 1st, just two days after the body was found, the autopsy is complete. 189 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:40,360 The medical examiner rules that Christine died by asphyxiation, but the body was in 190 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:46,120 the water too long to determine if that happened in the water or before she was put in the 191 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:47,120 water. 192 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,800 Now I found two different reports here and I have to believe that she was in the water 193 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:53,400 for a long time. 194 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:58,440 But there was a newspaper report saying that police believe that she had been in the water 195 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:05,240 for two hours, which after 53 days of being missing, only being in the water for two hours 196 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,520 is highly, highly suspicious, right? 197 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:13,400 But I think the newspaper might have been alluding to the fact that after her body was 198 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:18,200 found, it was about two hours before she was removed from the beach. 199 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:24,200 So I think that might be the two hours she's referring to there, but police are never able 200 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,480 to determine how long Christine is in the water for. 201 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:35,440 But they do mention that because she had been in the water for however long she was, that 202 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,940 they were unable to determine a lot about her death because of that. 203 00:13:39,940 --> 00:13:44,960 So that's why I tend to lean towards that she was in the water for a long time. 204 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:49,400 Either way, the medical examiner doesn't immediately rule this as a homicide. 205 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,040 She rules it as a suspicious death. 206 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:56,240 Police tell media that they are determined to figure out how Christine got in the water 207 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,120 because that would solve everything, right? 208 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:04,000 But it will take months before police start to call her case a homicide. 209 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,360 And it's never really clear what that shift is. 210 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:11,320 I think it's, you know, some of this evidence that I've already mentioned about how she 211 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:16,120 was found that shifts them, but I still think that there is more that we don't know that 212 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:21,080 shifts them to believe firmly that it is a homicide and not a case of Christine running 213 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:25,400 away and accidentally drowning and ending up in this river. 214 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:31,840 The first suspect in this case comes to police attention in May of 1988, so that's about 215 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,360 five months since Christine had vanished. 216 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,840 But the way he gets on police radar is odd. 217 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:46,440 The man, Richard Graves, in May of 1988, he was out on bail awaiting trial for sexual 218 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,760 assault against a child. 219 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:53,720 While out on bail, another child came forward saying that the same thing had happened to 220 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,980 them so additional charges were filed against Graves. 221 00:14:57,980 --> 00:15:03,280 When police go to take him into custody and charge him with these additional charges, 222 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:05,360 he's staying in a motel. 223 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:10,760 And in the motel room, they found several newspaper clippings related to Christine's 224 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:11,760 disappearance. 225 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:17,360 They also found a slip of paper with the telephone number of St. Anne's Cemetery, and this is 226 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:20,200 where Christine is laid to rest at. 227 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:27,220 On the piece of paper, he had the words, quote, place flowers, regular or otherwise, end quote. 228 00:15:27,220 --> 00:15:34,120 So that's why he gets on police radar, according to Christine, and also in his room, he has 229 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:40,840 stuffed animals, games, greeting cards for children, books about children. 230 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:45,320 So just really a nightmare of a motel room. 231 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,460 Police never publicly rule him out, but he's never really mentioned again in regards to 232 00:15:49,460 --> 00:15:50,560 Christine's case. 233 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:54,140 So I don't know if they were able to rule him out completely as a suspect or if he kind 234 00:15:54,140 --> 00:15:58,480 of remains in the pool of people of interest. 235 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:04,600 Over the years, Christine's case will be brought up in other cold cases from Rhode Island. 236 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:10,920 And also, as we've seen before, and as I've mentioned before, in other cases, the Pawtucket 237 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:19,120 police do create a cold case deck of cards to put into the Rhode Island correctional 238 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,800 facilities to try to, you know, generate a jailhouse informant and to keep these cases 239 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:24,860 alive. 240 00:16:24,860 --> 00:16:30,440 So behind the scenes, the cold case unit in Pawtucket is working on this case, but we 241 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:35,560 don't really hear anything about the case again until 2019. 242 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,840 So that's 31 years after Christine was murdered. 243 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,520 Police announced that they've made an arrest in Christine's case. 244 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,720 This comes as a surprise to everyone. 245 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:51,520 And unfortunately, this also comes as a surprise to the state's attorney's office. 246 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:57,660 Usually in murder cases, you know, this prosecutor and the police work pretty closely together 247 00:16:57,660 --> 00:17:03,800 to make sure that they have a solid case before charges are officially brought against a suspect. 248 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:07,160 You know, from the state's perspective, they want to make sure they have a really rock 249 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:12,760 solid case because if the suspect decides to go to trial, which is everyone's right 250 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:18,600 in America to have a trial, then they have to make sure that they have a very strong 251 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:22,920 case beyond a reasonable doubt to put this person in jail for murder because you only 252 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:24,100 get one shot at it. 253 00:17:24,100 --> 00:17:26,720 You can't bring charges again later. 254 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:31,240 If you find more evidence later or technology advances, you get the one shot. 255 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,660 So you have to make it count. 256 00:17:33,660 --> 00:17:39,440 So the state prosecutor's office is really floored that these charges have come out and 257 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:44,000 they get the case that police have been working on and start to review it. 258 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,800 And to them, it's not a slam dunk. 259 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:51,680 So this is the evidence that has come up for this case since then. 260 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:56,120 So they have a suspect and I'm not going to name his name here and I'll get into that 261 00:17:56,120 --> 00:18:01,080 a little bit more as to why in a minute, but we'll just call him the suspect. 262 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:07,860 So the suspect in 1988 lived above the market that Christine was last positively ID'd at, 263 00:18:07,860 --> 00:18:09,680 the one where she got the blue mitten. 264 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,700 He lived above the market in an apartment. 265 00:18:12,700 --> 00:18:17,980 The blood that was found on the inside of Christine's jeans, police were able to get 266 00:18:17,980 --> 00:18:27,840 DNA tested and they were able to find a match, but it's not a positive match. 267 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:29,060 It's a partial match. 268 00:18:29,060 --> 00:18:32,600 So it doesn't exactly pinpoint to the suspect. 269 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:37,260 In fact, it pointed to somebody else altogether, but the person that it was pointing to wasn't 270 00:18:37,260 --> 00:18:39,120 alive in 1988. 271 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:45,760 So because of the type of DNA profile they were able to develop, they looked at that 272 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:48,240 person's father. 273 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,820 But the DNA doesn't eliminate anybody in the family. 274 00:18:51,820 --> 00:18:57,800 So it could be a father, a grandfather, an uncle, cousins. 275 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:03,160 Basically any guy in the family is a suspect in this because of the partial DNA match. 276 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:07,160 It's not enough to rule anybody is exclusively the DNA. 277 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:13,400 But because this man lived above the market and this kind of partial DNA match, the police 278 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,760 arrested him for Christine Cole's murder. 279 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:23,200 Ultimately about 10 months after the arrest, the state drops the charges against him. 280 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,800 So they decide the case is not strong enough, so they drop it, but they do it in a way so 281 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:32,840 that way in the future, if they get more evidence against this person, they can bring the charges 282 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,200 again. 283 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:41,420 But the suspect is now suing the Pawtucket police and just this past week, it has been 284 00:19:41,420 --> 00:19:43,000 cleared to go to trial. 285 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:48,020 So that's personally why I am not naming him here just because he is going to trial to 286 00:19:48,020 --> 00:19:49,680 clear his name in this case. 287 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:56,160 So if you Google Christine Cole, you'll see a lot of news coverage about this specifically. 288 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:01,600 And it's actually why I wanted to cover her case because so much of the coverage that 289 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:09,080 I could find, especially just typing her name into Google, it's all about this false arrest 290 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:13,120 lawsuit that's coming before the Pawtucket police. 291 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:17,200 And it really seems like Christine is getting lost in this case, and it's really focusing 292 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:22,480 kind of on this blunder that the police made and kind of this premature arrest. 293 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:28,200 Or at least that's how it's being portrayed and how he's bringing it to court. 294 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,720 But Christine is really getting lost in this case, so I just wanted to take this episode 295 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,640 to focus on her and her case and what we know and what we don't know. 296 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,920 But as of today, the case is still unsolved. 297 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:47,280 So with that, if you know anything about the disappearance of Christine Cole in January 298 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:57,740 of 1988, or her murder, please call the Pawtucket police at 1-877-747-6583. 299 00:20:57,740 --> 00:21:04,040 And the sources, and the sources for the timeline today come from The Boston Globe, The Day, 300 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:09,960 The Daily Item, Evening Express, Transcript Telegram, Sun Journal, The Berkshire Eagle, 301 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,760 Providence Journal, WPRI. 302 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,560 So that is the case of Christine Cole. 303 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:21,960 And like I just mentioned, this case felt important to me to cover because there's 304 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:28,040 so much around this false arrest, which I don't, you know, if it is a false arrest and this person, 305 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:34,260 this man is innocent, like I don't blame him for wanting to clear his name, bring this 306 00:21:34,260 --> 00:21:41,280 lawsuit against the police because from everything I read, when he was first charged with this, 307 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:45,140 you know, he lost his housing, he lost his job, he ended up becoming homeless. 308 00:21:45,140 --> 00:21:50,720 So I am all for closing cold cases and getting justice for these families. 309 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:55,760 But I deeply believe that we have to do it correctly and we have to get the right people 310 00:21:55,760 --> 00:22:01,680 because when there's a, you know, a false arrest or, you know, someone who is innocent 311 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:08,560 is put into jail, like, it really becomes their story because it's, it is a tragedy. 312 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:14,420 You know, it is so scary to think about being pointed at and accused of murder when you're 313 00:22:14,420 --> 00:22:15,840 completely innocent. 314 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:23,040 Like, that is a very scary thought, especially in America where we have more people incarcerated 315 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:25,160 than any other first world country. 316 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:30,440 So you know, there are people in prison right now that are innocent of the crimes that they 317 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:31,960 have against them. 318 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,880 That is the reality because the justice system is not perfect. 319 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:42,160 I start to feel really sad about these cases that are underneath them because while, you 320 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:47,600 know, that is its own tragedy, like Christine Cole is also a tragedy and her case still 321 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:52,320 deserves the coverage and she still deserves to have people working on her case. 322 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,680 Like, I really hope that people don't back off of her case. 323 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:00,720 But that was, these were just kind of some of the first knee jerk reactions I had as 324 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,120 I was like learning everything. 325 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:07,800 And then, you know, when I really dug into the case, I just felt so overwhelmingly sad 326 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:08,800 for Christine. 327 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:13,880 Like, it talked a lot about how she seemed to be scared to go home or didn't want to 328 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:19,240 go home and was kind of always out going into the markets and, you know, people in the neighborhood 329 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:20,560 were looking out for her. 330 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,120 Definitely, it sounds like. 331 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:28,920 But I feel sad that she wasn't getting that same care at home, it sounds like. 332 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:34,080 And that her case just like wasn't heavily investigated at the time. 333 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:39,880 It just feels like society really failed Christine Cole on a lot of different levels. 334 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,100 They let her slip through the cracks. 335 00:23:42,100 --> 00:23:43,400 And I feel sad for her. 336 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,520 I feel sad for her memory. 337 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,460 There are obviously a lot of questions I have about the case and I kind of alluded to some 338 00:23:49,460 --> 00:23:51,540 of them while I was doing the timeline. 339 00:23:51,540 --> 00:23:58,020 But a big one is just how and when did Christine get into the water because that's a big hole 340 00:23:58,020 --> 00:23:59,640 in the timeline. 341 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:05,760 Was she placed shortly after she vanished or, you know, is that one report where police 342 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,040 say, you know, she had been in the water for two hours? 343 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:09,560 Like is that is that true? 344 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:11,720 Was she only in the water for two hours? 345 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,720 So where was she for those 50 plus days beforehand? 346 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:20,520 There's just a lot of things that I would love to clear up in that that I never really 347 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:26,280 found answers for even in the more recent news coverage of her case. 348 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:31,440 They never really pinpoint, but it did seem to allude that it was a longer time she was 349 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:32,440 in the water. 350 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:41,240 I also am just so curious why they were so wishy washy on declaring her case as a murder 351 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,560 or a homicide investigation as opposed to a suspicious death. 352 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,640 It really seems like it takes a while for them to officially rule her as a homicide 353 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,320 or classify her as a homicide. 354 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:53,720 And I want to know what shifted. 355 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:55,520 What was it for police? 356 00:24:55,520 --> 00:25:03,120 Was it maybe them doing some, you know, more I don't want to say primal is not exactly 357 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:07,040 the right word, but like more infantile DNA testing? 358 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:12,840 You know, I believe the technology was around where they could test the blood type of samples 359 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:13,840 found. 360 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:15,200 So maybe it wasn't a match for Christine. 361 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,400 So they knew it had to have been somebody else. 362 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:23,400 Again, her being found without her shoes and missing other parts, you know, her underwear 363 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,480 was missing, her pants were haphazardly put on. 364 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,960 So like to me, that would all scream that this is foul play. 365 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:36,320 Foul play was absolutely involved in the disappearance of a 10 year old. 366 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:42,520 And this is another question that I had, which is so irrelevant, but I just like I was so 367 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:47,440 curious as to like, did they ever find those clams that she had? 368 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:52,440 Because we know she had clams, 10 gumballs and a quart of milk. 369 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,240 So was any trace of those items found? 370 00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:01,840 I just think like those are things that like, I feel like would scatter kind of easily if 371 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:07,780 they were dropped, you know, like the milk could open and spill gumballs roll and scatter 372 00:26:07,780 --> 00:26:09,320 like clams. 373 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,520 I guess maybe those don't roll and scatter, but like, you know, you would notice clams 374 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:14,520 on the sidewalk. 375 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:19,120 So like, I always, I wonder was what happened to all those groceries? 376 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:22,640 Like was there any answer to that? 377 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:27,400 All that was found of her was that mitten that she was given just a few minutes beforehand. 378 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,600 It was found outside the store near their garage. 379 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:34,320 That's all we know. 380 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:39,000 As far as evidence found in this case. 381 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:45,600 But I just, I really hope that there is still an interest in the police and in the state 382 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:51,800 in closing this case with this lawsuit coming, you know, like, I imagine like the police 383 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:58,920 are like kind of embarrassed or, you know, they might not be as ready to bring forth 384 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:05,040 charges in the future on this case specifically, you know, it's just kind of like a black eye 385 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,400 on the cold case department. 386 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:08,920 I really hope that's not the case. 387 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:14,180 I hope that like, whoever is the next person to pick up Christine's case is able to just 388 00:27:14,180 --> 00:27:22,760 like look at it without prejudice, without like any tainted thoughts and just able to 389 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:28,160 like look at the evidence, look at the timeline, what does it tell us and hopefully bring some 390 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,440 answers for Christine. 391 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:32,320 She just deserves it. 392 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:38,360 And I've said this before, I'll say it again now, but you know, I really believe as a society, 393 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:45,360 not even just America, I think like as a society, any society in this world, we owe our children 394 00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:46,360 answers. 395 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:51,480 If a child does not make it to adulthood, we should have those answers. 396 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:52,480 Why? 397 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:53,480 Were they sick? 398 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:54,480 Did they not have enough food? 399 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:55,920 Did they not have enough warmth? 400 00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:00,320 Like we as a society should always have to answer that I think because these are our 401 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,080 most vulnerable. 402 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,960 We should be taking care of them no matter what. 403 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:09,240 Yeah, a part of me just like wants to take care of Christine, I want to take care of 404 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:14,160 her story and I wanted to say it here because you know, there is a lot of news surrounding 405 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:20,240 her case, which is a good thing, but unfortunately, a lot of it doesn't really mention her or 406 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,560 it just mentions her in passing, which is unfortunate. 407 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:30,120 So I just wanted to put Christine's case out there again. 408 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:35,880 If you know anything about what happened to her or her murder, please call the Pawtucket 409 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:42,920 police at 1-877-747-6583. 410 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:47,460 And we will be posting pictures of Christine on our Instagram and please if you're not 411 00:28:47,460 --> 00:28:53,040 following us there, I noticed we got a lot of followers this week, even though I wasn't, 412 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:58,320 you know, active, I was kind of in my mental health this past week, but thank you so much 413 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:03,200 if you're following us there, I will always post if an episode is not going to come out 414 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,440 on Mondays as normally scheduled. 415 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:10,480 If I'm not mentioning it here, I will always mention it on our Instagram. 416 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,320 I want to try to keep you informed. 417 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:17,640 It's an honor to be a part of your week, so I take it really seriously and if you expect 418 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:22,560 me to be a part of your Mondays or whatever day you listen to this podcast, then I want 419 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,400 to be there for you and I want to give you new content when you expect it. 420 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,380 So thank you again for sticking with me. 421 00:29:30,380 --> 00:29:32,120 You can always head over to our website. 422 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,320 We have transcripts up there as well. 423 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:38,220 If you or somebody you love is hard of hearing, transcripts are there so you can follow along 424 00:29:38,220 --> 00:29:42,480 with the podcast or read it if that is more comfortable for you. 425 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:47,560 If you could take a minute and rate and review us, especially if you're on Apple podcasts, 426 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:52,680 it helps others find us and then it just helps get these stories out there more and more 427 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:58,840 people listening, more people who know these stories, more people just like trying to be 428 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:05,360 part of the solution, which I'm so proud of this little community that we're creating 429 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:09,840 and that's passionate about these cases the way that I am. 430 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:11,800 So thank you for being a part of it. 431 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:16,560 If you could take a minute to rate, review or tell somebody that you know would be interested 432 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:20,660 in this to give us a listen, it would mean the world to me and I would appreciate it 433 00:30:20,660 --> 00:30:22,440 so much. 434 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,080 But that's all I have. 435 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,440 Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing. 436 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,500 I'm Allie McLaughlin-Sylkowski. 437 00:30:28,500 --> 00:30:55,520 Have a good week and stay safe, y'all.