About This Episode
Dave Cawley's investigative podcast series Cold dedicates each season to a single missing persons case, peeling back layers of evidence, suspect interviews, and investigative dead-ends to understand how three people vanished from their communities—and why their bodies remain undiscovered.
Season 1 focuses on Susan Powell, who disappeared from her home in December 2009. Her husband Josh Powell became the prime suspect, though he was never arrested or formally charged. The case took a dramatic turn when Josh Powell died in a fatal explosion during a supervised visit with his children, effectively closing the door on potential prosecution. Susan's body has never surfaced, leaving her family without answers or closure.
Season 2 examines the case of Joyce Yost, a single mother from the Midwest who relocated to Utah. Her story is one of violence and vanishing: she was kidnapped, raped, and threatened with murder by Doug Lovell more than 35 years ago. Days before Lovell's rape trial was scheduled to begin, Yost disappeared. Despite the absence of her remains, Lovell was convicted of her in what became a landmark body-less . The conviction was further solidified when Lovell later hatched a plot, demonstrating the danger he posed. Like Powell, Joyce Yost's body has never been located.