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Mike Ferguson
Mom, can you tell me a story?
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Mike Ferguson
Was she brave?
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Mike Ferguson
Did you have to fight a dragon?
Child
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Mike Ferguson
Was it scary?
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Child
Are you really buying a car online on Autotrader right now?
Advertiser
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Child
At a playground?
Advertiser
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Child
Wow, your search can really get that specific.
Advertiser
Really?
Child
And you just put in your info and boom, car's in your budget.
Advertiser
Mom needs a second.
Child
Honey, you can really have it delivered.
Advertiser
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Mike Gibson
Mommy, look.
Child
I think your kid is walking up the slide. Kyle. Again?
Advertiser
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Autotrader?
Buy your car online. Really?
Mike Ferguson
Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 462 of the True Crime all the Time Unsolved podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me, as always, is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. Gibby, how are you?
Mike Gibson
I'm doing good. How about you?
Mike Ferguson
I'm having a great week, my friend. Great week.
Mike Gibson
That's good. And you called me your friend.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, you are my friend. Did you not know that? There's times I. I may not always act as if that's the case, but, yes, you are my friend. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shout outs. We had Ben Whitaker.
Mike Gibson
What's going on, Whitaker?
Mike Ferguson
Nobody.
Mike Gibson
Ah, you could be somebody. Come on. Nobody.
Mike Ferguson
Kaylee.
Mike Gibson
Oh, hey, Kaylee.
Mike Ferguson
Kiki Barwick.
Mike Gibson
Thank you, Barwick.
Mike Ferguson
Catherine Montanez.
Mike Gibson
Hey, Catherine.
Mike Ferguson
Andrew McNaughton.
Mike Gibson
Hey, Andrew.
Mike Ferguson
Deborah Mitchell.
Mike Gibson
There'.
Mike Ferguson
Mitchell. And last but not least, Nicole Fleming.
Mike Gibson
The Nicole.
Mike Ferguson
And if we go back into the vault this week, we selected Christina Weiss
Mike Gibson
because she is Weiss.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Speaking of Patreon, we dropped a new Patreon only episode Saturday night on Chelsea Perkins, a Coast Guard veteran who plotted a revenge killing against her ex boyfriend. So it's a very interesting episode. If you're on Patreon, Check it out. If you're not, now's a great time to sign up.
Mike Gibson
Absolutely. Get out there and join and listen to all the good material.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Extra content.
Mike Gibson
Yes.
Mike Ferguson
We also have a brand new episode out right now on True Crime all the Time, where we're talking about Veronica Boza. A devoted mother. She had a very successful career as a television producer. She was shot to death inside her home in August 2010. Her estranged husband Tim provided a seemingly airtight alibi, but investigators soon found suspicious activity on his phone records. So that's out right now. Check it out. All right, buddy. Are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime? All the Time unsolved.
Mike Gibson
I'm always ready.
Mike Ferguson
We're talking about the disappearance of Tracy Kegley. On April 26, 1998, Tracy Pittman Kegley went out to run errands with her daughter. The following day, her vehicle was found on the side of the road with her daughter inside. Tracy was nowhere to be found, and she remains missing 27 years later. Tracy Lee Pittman was born on March 15, 1968, in Montgomery, Alabama. She was the daughter of Steven and Linda Pittman. You ever been to Montgomery, Alabama?
Mike Gibson
I have not.
Mike Ferguson
I haven't either. I've actually not spent much time in Alabama at all.
Mike Gibson
I think I kind of drove through it once.
Mike Ferguson
I've driven through it, but I've never actually gone there as, like, a destination.
Mike Gibson
I mean, who wouldn't mind going there?
Mike Ferguson
No. There's a lot of places in the US That I've driven through but never really spent much time in. And some places I'd really like to.
Mike Gibson
I know my neighbor goes a lot to some golf beach area. Like in the golf. Like, there's a beach area that he loves.
Mike Ferguson
Oh, is that like Muscle Shoals or one of those places? There is a. A part of Alabama I think it's close to, like, the Panhandle of Florida.
Mike Gibson
Okay. That must be where he goes.
Mike Ferguson
But I don't know if that's the name of it, but I know there's a destination that a lot of people go to.
Mike Gibson
He says it's. It's one of the best places to go that people forget about it, so you don't have all the crowds, but he says it's perfect.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Well, we might have to take a trip.
Mike Gibson
We might have to.
Mike Ferguson
In 1993, Tracy married Greg Kegley. They lived in Montgomery, and their daughter was born in November 1995. Tracy was a trained phlebotomist and worked at the Alabama Reference Laboratory in downtown Montgomery. And at a medical center in Alexander City, Alabama.
Mike Gibson
What's important to know how to take blood phlebotomy. I know.
Mike Ferguson
In 1997, Tracy and Greg decided to separate. It was said to have been amicable, and they signed divorce documents in February 1998. Their marriage was officially dissolved on April 11, 1998.
Mike Gibson
You like when everything kind of goes smooth.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. I mean, we don't know how amicable it was, but people said it was. So there are divorces that are very amicable.
Mike Gibson
There are.
Mike Ferguson
We actually talked about it quite a bit on our TCAT episode this week. And then obviously you have a lot of them that are very contentious. Alimony, child support, custody, and battling over those types of things.
Mike Gibson
It can be difficult.
Mike Ferguson
It can be. Although the split was amicable, it was still a challenging time for Traci and she had to find a new job and a new home. In March, she moved in with her parents in Eclectic, Alabama for further support.
Mike Gibson
But that's a fun town, Eclectic.
Mike Ferguson
I bet you they got some very interesting people in Eclectic.
Mike Gibson
That's what I was thinking.
Mike Ferguson
But this idea of kind of moving back in with your parents. Right. Most parents are always there to support you. And you just said it. Right. Divorce can be a very challenging time. And it sounds like her parents were very supportive. Tracy soon found a job at a local dentist's office and was scheduled to start working on April 27, 1998. So, you know, it seemed like she was ready for a fresh start. On Sunday, April 26, the day before she started her new job, Tracy took her two year old daughter with her to run an errand. Tracy was Last seen at 6:30pm at the BP gas station near the intersection of Highway 231 north and Redland Road in Wetumpka, Alabama.
Mike Gibson
Easy for you to say.
Mike Ferguson
It really isn't. And I'm probably not even saying it correctly. Surveillance footage captured Tracy pumping gas and walking into the store to pay the bill. Oh, back in the day where all pumps weren't prepay.
Mike Gibson
Oh. And you had to go inside and pay.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Right after you could pump your gas and then go in and pay.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
The problem is you could also pump your gas and then drive away, which is what many people did, leading to, I think, pumps becoming either prepay or card only.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. Pay first.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Because we don't want you driving away and not paying.
Mike Gibson
I bet you guys back in the day when you managed gas stations, you probably had a lot of write offs you had to do for that.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. It did happen a lot we also had a lot of people who drove off with the nozzle still in their gas tank.
Mike Gibson
Oh, okay.
Mike Ferguson
Which in older movies, that was a trope. Right. And what you would see is the whole mechanism kind of following them down the road at some point in time. And by the time I was managing gas stations, they had come up with like a quick disconnect hose.
Mike Gibson
Okay.
Mike Ferguson
So it still cost a bunch of money to get it fixed, but the whole pump wasn't ripped out of the ground.
Mike Gibson
Wonder people came back and said, hey, I'm sorry about that. I have your hose here.
Mike Ferguson
I don't remember anybody coming back, but there were times where we had to go back and look at surveillance and try to get their license plate number. And like I said, I mean, they had to pay a bunch of money to get it fixed. But after this interaction at the BP station, what happened to Tracy is unknown. Her parents were worried when she didn't come home that night, so they went out looking for her. In an interview with the Montgomery Advertiser, Tracy's childhood best friend, Tammy Foster recalled driving around with Tracy's parents. She said, we drove around all night looking for her. I was hanging out a car window, shining a spotlight in those deep ditches along the road. I thought she had had a wreck and was in one of those ditches.
Mike Gibson
Scary time for the family.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, scary. You're expecting them to come home. They don't come home. But what's your first thought? All right, maybe the car broke down. Maybe there was an accident. I don't think most people go necessarily right off the bat to something very nefarious. No, most people think, ah, something happened. Maybe it's 1998. Maybe she didn't have a cell phone. Not everybody did back then.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, I mean, I think you're just worried for her well being and your granddaughter.
Mike Ferguson
That's true. There's two people, right? Two family members that you're worried about. The following morning, April 27th, a concerned resident found Tracy's 1993 Geostorm parked on Old Georgia Road, a secluded road about 2 miles east of the gravel pits on Highway 170. Her car was parked across from a business called T and H Grocery. Tracy's daughter was alone in the vehicle, but was thankfully unharmed.
Mike Gibson
Man, I mean, thank goodness for that. But how scary for a two year old to be abandoned in her mom's car not knowing what happened to her mom or how long it will be before someone comes along to find her?
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, and it most likely was a pretty good amount of time. That she was in this car by herself. And I'm with you. Probably unbelievably scared. The person who found her called the sheriff's office. Investigators believe Tracy's daughter remained in the car through Sunday night and part of Monday morning.
Mike Gibson
I mean, one sense, you're kind of glad she stayed in the car. I mean, a two year old, I mean, she could have wandered outside the car.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, maybe. Most likely. Probably could have opened the car door.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
And like you said, it's probably a good thing she didn't because, you know, she could have gotten lost. She could have succumbed to the elements. She could have met up with some type of predator. I don't know what all predators are in Alabama. I'm talking about animal predators.
Mike Gibson
Right.
Mike Ferguson
There's human predators everywhere.
Mike Gibson
Exactly.
Mike Ferguson
Investigators noted that Tracy's car keys were in the auxiliary position. The radio was playing softly. She left her purse and ID behind in the car. Other witnesses recalled that the engine was still running and the windows were rolled down a few inches.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. So could that have been Tracy that did that, or could that have been whoever might have taken Tracy and then wanted to make sure that the child would be comfortable? So they rolled the windows down a little bit and played some soft music so they were relaxed.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. It's an interesting question, but it's also kind of fascinating that you have these different versions. Right. Some witnesses were saying, hey, the engine was on, windows were rolled down. Investigators are saying, no, it was, you know, in the auxiliary position and the radio was playing, but the engine wasn't on. So which one is it? Authorities believe Tracy had been driving back to her parents home when something happened. Road construction on a portion of Highway 170 made it unlikely that she would have taken that route. In her interview with the Montgomery Advertiser, Tracy's friend Tammy Foster recalled hearing the news that the car had been found, but not Tracy. She said the next day, after they found her car, I thought somebody got her. And I just talked about how, you know, at first you probably don't go to worst case scenario.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
But now we have a very different situation. The car being found with Tracy's daughter inside, but no sign of Tracy and her purse, her id, all of that is left behind to me is a much more somber thought. Now, I don't know if you still go to the worst case scenario, but you got to be a lot closer to it because we know most mothers are not going to leave their two year old child alone in the car and just walk off.
Mike Gibson
No way.
Mike Ferguson
Voluntarily.
Mike Gibson
Not typical.
Mike Ferguson
On April 30, divers and search teams investigated two flooded gravel pits two miles east of where the car was found, looking for evidence. And gravel pits are kind of a big thing around here. They often fill up with water, sometimes become fishing holes or swimming holes. I mean, we are kind of, in some senses, rural here.
Mike Gibson
Very true.
Mike Ferguson
But foul play was suspected from the beginning. It was said that Tracy was a devoted mother and never would have willingly left her daughter unattended in a vehicle.
Mike Gibson
And even if she would do something like that, I don't think she would park the car in an area like that and leave the child alone from sun down to sun up.
Mike Ferguson
Oh, yeah, I get your point. I mean, everybody said that's not something she would do. But let's say you were going to do that. What would be the reasoning behind driving out in the middle of nowhere? You could just leave the home, leave your daughter in the house with your parents and never come back if that was your intention. So to me, that just kind of doesn't make a lot of sense.
Mike Gibson
I agree with you. I mean, you left your daughter with your mom and said, hey, mom, I got to run to the store, get something for, you know, work tomorrow. I'll be back, and just wouldn't have came back.
Mike Ferguson
And then obviously, her family and friends know her as well as anybody, and they're saying, no, no, she would never have done that. Elmore county sheriff Bill Franklin said, per the advertiser. Right now we are treating this as an abduction or kidnapping, and I don't know how you couldn't. Right. With the facts that we know of so far. I think you have to take that angle right from the very beginning.
Mike Gibson
I agree.
Mike Ferguson
Almost 250 people helped searched wooded areas of Elmore county in early May, but they found nothing. Two weeks after Traci went missing, authorities were no closer to finding her. Chief deputy Paul Henderson said, we haven't received any clues or information about where she may be. We've gotten a lot of phone calls from the public and checked out a lot of leads, but nothing has panned out yet. And we often talk about, you know, the family's level of concern, frustration. I just think two weeks goes by. It just has to be tougher and tougher. There were numerous additional searches, but no evidence indicating what happened to Tracy was ever found. Within a year, her case was transferred to the Alabama state bureau of Investigations. Tracy's parents put up billboards throughout the area to raise awareness, and they offered a reward. So I mentioned that, you know, they were Very supportive. And obviously, I think this kind of dovetails right into it. There's no doubt they loved their daughter, their granddaughter, and they wanted Tracy back.
Mike Gibson
Right.
Mike Ferguson
And they were willing to do spend, you know, whatever to try to make that happen, as I would think most parents would.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, I mean, you would want your loved one back and back because her daughter needs her.
Mike Ferguson
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Child
Are you really buying a car online on Autotrader right now?
Advertiser
Really? I can get super specific with dealer listings and see cars based on my budget.
Child
You can really have it delivered or pick it up.
Mike Gibson
Mommy.
Child
I think kid is walking up the slide. Really?
Advertiser
Autotrader, buy your car online. Really?
Mike Ferguson
In April 1999, Tracy's parents did an interview with the Montgomery Advertiser, marking one year since her disappearance. Her mother, Linda Pittman, expressed her fears that Tracy was killed and her body was hidden in a flooded rock quarry in the woods of Elmore County. Linda also maintained that Tracy would have never left her baby in a car like that. And this goes back to kind of my theory of, you know, at what point does the family start to think the worst? And I think the more and more time that goes by, the more likely it is that that's going to happen.
Mike Gibson
But I think as time goes on, it's probably hard to stay positive.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, well, at a certain point, I think a little bit of reality sinks in. No matter how positive you want to Be. Linda noted that a man called her shortly after Tracy's disappearance and said he saw a car similar to Tracy's parked on the road near a quarry on the evening she went missing. Law enforcement dragged one quarry, but there were two others that were too deep to drag.
Mike Gibson
And that's got to be frustrating because you're never going to know unless you can even pump them out. And some of these quarries, I mean, you know how they are. They're. They're massive.
Mike Ferguson
They can be pretty deep.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
Linda shared her beliefs on what happened with the Advertiser, saying somebody abducted her and hurt her and hid the body in that deep, cold, black water. Her gut told her that Tracy stopped at an unattended car wash in Watumpka because she said a lot of the time she would stop in Watamka and wash her car on her way home. She believed Tracy was washing her car when a stranger saw that she was vulnerable with no witnesses nearby, the stranger overpowered her and took her to the quarry. Linda couldn't think of anything that would have prompted Tracy to fake an abduction. And I think that would be shared by, you know, most parents. Yeah. We've talked about people who have a history of kind of up and leaving for, you know, extended periods of time, but I don't think Tracy is in that category. So for her to just up and leave her two year old, I think it's so out of character for her that the family just can't even fathom. Yeah.
Mike Gibson
Just doesn't compute.
Mike Ferguson
A psychic had recently told Linda that Tracy's body was on the bottom of the quarry. Several psychics had told her Tracy was debt.
Mike Gibson
I mean, is that a tough prediction to make?
Mike Ferguson
No. And especially if she's already been in the news kind of touting this quarry theory. Well, how hard is it to read the news and then kind of just regurgitate back again? I hate to run down psychics.
Mike Gibson
No, I know.
Mike Ferguson
But I have to be honest and say I don't have like this huge belief in people having that ability. Or let's say a lot of people having that. There might be some. I don't know.
Mike Gibson
Sure. It would just been probably for the family more helpful if the one psych psychic could have said, at this quarry, she is at the bottom.
Mike Ferguson
Well, that's the thing. Why is it that they can give certain information but can't be specific enough to tell the family exactly where she is? If they're psychic, don't they know that part?
Mike Gibson
Yeah, I don't know how it works.
Mike Ferguson
And Maybe that's not how it works. I. I don't know, but I just.
Mike Gibson
If you can narrow it down, then they can have divers go in and see what they can find.
Mike Ferguson
When asked why she turned to psychics for answers, Linda said, you reach out for anything. The things they told me made sense. Like, one of them said, her body will be found within a 50 mile radius of where her car was found.
Mike Gibson
Again, I mean, that's a.
Mike Ferguson
That's a pretty broad general statement.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. 50 miles within the radius of where she was, her car was. Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
More than likely that's probably true. Yeah. I sometimes feel the same way about, like, FBI profiles. Right. It's going to be a white male between the ages of 20 and 35, lives alone, you know, 5, 10. It. We hear very similar profiles now. Sometimes it turns out to be correct. Sometimes they're way off.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
I mean, hey, but at least that comes from a place of history or, you know, information on past crimes or things like that. It's rooted in some basis of fact. In 2002, Tracy's parents increased the reward for information to $100,000.
Mike Gibson
I mean, it tells you they're not messing around. They want to know, where is our daughter, what happened to her.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. And I can only try to put myself in that position. I don't know that there's an amount that I wouldn't be willing to give up to get my daughter back.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
Or to just get information that leads to what happened to her. Because as we've talked about so often, there are many family members of victims who have said it's that not knowing that is often the hardest thing now. Nobody wants to find out that their loved one is dead. But the not knowing anything, that's tough.
Mike Gibson
I mean, I think it would just eat away at you every day.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Linda Pittman told the Advertiser she believed someone had information about Tracy and she wasn't going to give up her search for answers. It was also reported that by this time, Tracy's daughter was 6 years old and living with her father. In 2004, Linda told the Advertiser she was trying not to dwell on the fact that Tracy had been missing for six years. But she could never stop thinking about it completely. She said, it bothers me so bad sometimes. I wasn't going to talk to the newspapers about it this year, but then I thought, it's a shame not to. If someone wants to do something, this isn't the first time this week she's been brought up. To me, it's not like I want to forget her, but sometimes after going through so much and relaying so much, it gets to you.
Mike Gibson
It's got to be hard, very hard. But like she said, she probably has that other guilt of not mentioning her. Like, if I don't mention her, then when I'm not keeping her fresh and relevant in the news or in the people's minds, because I want them to, you know, come forward if they have any information. So I just can't let it sit there, not say anything either.
Mike Ferguson
But it's hard to rehash it over and over and over. But you're right. I mean, most family members, they want as much media attention as they can get because they're trying whatever they can to find out what happened to their loved one. To ease her grief, Linda was providing support to a family in Atmore with a missing loved one. She was contacted by Amanda McGee, whose sister, Melinda Wall McGee, was abducted from her home on March 24, 2003. Melinda was a wife, a mother, a stepmother of three, and. And a nurse. On March 24, 2003, after finishing a night shift, Melinda stopped at a convenience store before arriving home around 8am at 8:30am she spoke to her husband and her mother on the phone. Her husband was at work, and their kids were with a babysitter. Melinda's husband got home from work at 4pm Melinda's car was parked near the house. Her keys were locked inside. There was a large amount of blood in the home, but Melinda was nowhere to be found. Her purse and cell phone were found in the home. There were no signs of forced entry, but the family usually left their doors unlocked because they knew their neighbors. Despite massive search operations, Melinda was not found. Police believe Melinda was assaulted and abducted while she was sleeping. Melinda was declared deceased in 2010. Her case remains unsolved, but it is considered an active investigation. In her interview with the Advertiser, Linda said it was therapeutic for her to talk to Melinda's family because she knew what they were going through and tried to answer their questions.
Mike Gibson
I mean, if anybody could relate, it would be her.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, it would be someone who has gone through something similar. And you often see this, especially in unsolved cases, where something happens and it causes family members to want to do something. Sometimes it's in the name of their missing loved ones. Sometimes it's working with or helping out other families who are in similar situations, which is what I think Linda's doing here. And I can imagine it could be very therapeutic.
Mike Gibson
I mean, there's been a Lot of different charity groups that have came out of tragic events.
Mike Ferguson
And there also have been groups that now work to find missing people, do great work.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
And it was all born out of a tragedy to someone in that person's life that they then dedicated their lives to this or that, helping find, you know, other missing people. Over a decade passed with no major updates in Tracy's case. Then on February 25, 2018, authorities began preparations to search a 350 acre heavily wooded property southwest of Talassi, Alabama, in connection with Tracy's disappearance. 350 acres. That is a spread.
Mike Gibson
Oh, it sure is. Wow.
Mike Ferguson
I mean, if you own 350 acres around here, you'd be super rich.
Mike Gibson
Things would be good.
Mike Ferguson
Now, I don't know what 350 acres costs near Tallahassee or Tallassee. I don't know how you say it. Alabama property might be a little cheaper there. Who knows?
Mike Gibson
I mean, even around here, just an acre of farmland's running around 10,000 an acre. So that's his farm.
Mike Ferguson
Authorities obtained a search warrant based on information from confidential sources who contacted Crime Stoppers Now. The tip was received back in 2016. It took almost a year to verify the information and to put together a search effort, according to DA Randall, Houston. Houston reached out to Tracy's family to inform them of the search. Linda said at a news conference, as quoted by the Montgomery Advertiser. I was absolutely surprised. I knew they had been working every day since Tracy disappeared. I was really surprised that they might have come up with something that might lead us to her.
Mike Gibson
But how exciting that has to be to get that message.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. It's also what I often refer to as the roller coaster of emotions. Right. This is at the peak. You're excited because there's been a development in the case, at least a potential development. But as often happens in the unsolved cases, is that excitement or that development doesn't lead to anything, which causes kind of a bottoming out.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
So it's just this up and down of emotions, and I can only imagine how rough it is on the family. I'm also thinking about, you know, it's a lot of work to search a 350 acre property.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. It's going to take a lot of people to do that.
Mike Ferguson
Well, it depends on the level of the search.
Mike Gibson
Well, that's true, too.
Mike Ferguson
I mean, are we walking it? Are we digging up stuff?
Mike Gibson
I mean, what's the terrain look like?
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. DA Randall, Houston announced. We believe this is as close as we've come to a break in the case for several years. The Property is just five to 10 minutes from where Tracy's car was found. According to the Charlie project, the property is owned by the family of Tracy's ex husband.
Mike Gibson
So it gets a little interesting there.
Mike Ferguson
It does, because, all right, we said the divorce was amicable. We also know that a lot of people are killed over custody, alimony, all of the things that come with divorce. That's very true, DA Houston emphasized that the property owner was not considered a suspect.
Mike Gibson
It just happens to be kind of random that her ex family owns the property.
Mike Ferguson
Or is it random now when the DA says the property owner is not a suspect, that doesn't mean that someone else in the family who would know about the property couldn't be a suspect.
Mike Gibson
Right. And could have access to the property.
Mike Ferguson
Well, at the very least, they would have knowledge of the property. And the fact that it's five, ten minutes away from where her car was found, I mean, I could see why people were excited about this possibility. Houston said he was confident the search was looking for human remains. He said that day Tracy just disappeared off the face of the earth and has never been seen or heard from again. We felt foul play was involved from day one. I feel confident that whoever did this to Tracy or in Elmore county, still in Elmore county. And when they look over their shoulders, they see us coming. In this search, we had very good intelligence. If she's on that property, we'll find her. If we don't find her, then it's just checking off a box on a long list of long pages in this investigation. And it was said, Gibbs, that the search was the largest of its kind in state history, involving 20 agencies, 17 cadaver and search dog teams from across the US and half a dozen private companies offering things like drones, cell phones, and GPS tracking devices.
Mike Gibson
That's impressive.
Mike Ferguson
Well, you have a lot of people coming together to try to find her. The search lasted a week, and 137 points of interest were identified. Dog teams finished their portion of the search on February 27th. Ground teams began searching on the 28th, going foot by foot with helicopters overhead. Dive teams searched two ponds on the property. So, I mean, at the very least, you'd have to say they're pulling out all the stops. And I mentioned it, right. The was the largest of its kind in state history. You can see why. 350 acres, all these different agencies. 17 dog team.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, seems like they're being very thorough,
Mike Ferguson
very walking foot by foot.
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Mike Ferguson
On March 1, 2018, DA Randall Houston contacted Tracy's parents to inform them that potential evidence that would require forensic review was found in a body of water on the property. The search was expected to come to an end that day. Again, we've, we've talked about, you know, the family getting, you know, these different snippets of information. What do they make of it? What is their emotional state? I don't know if excited is the word. You're not excited to get confirmation that your daughter is dead.
Listener Voicemail
No.
Mike Ferguson
So that's not the right word. But you do want to know what happened to her. And I'm sure at this point, with years going by, they had to start believing that she was no longer alive.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. And they just wanted to be able to know what happened to her and
Mike Ferguson
where she was and to bring her home. Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Captain Joe Herman confirmed there were suspects. DA Houston told the Montgomery Advertiser, this is an active case. There are three suspects that we feel are involved in this case that are still in Elmore County. They need to come see us because we aren't going to give up. We aren't going to quit. And again, he noted that the property owner was not considered a suspect. So now we're, you know, we're getting more information. The family was getting more information at the time. You know, not only do they have some potential evidence that they're going to review forensically, but now they're publicly saying that there are three suspects they feel were involved in this case.
Mike Gibson
I mean, they sound pretty confident.
Listener Voicemail
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
And I Think if you're the family, you got to have some confidence that you are heading towards a resolution. Right. You're going to find out what happened, and you're going to find out who did this to Tracy, and you're going to find her and be able to bring her home. D.A. randall, Houston Updated the Montgomery Advertiser about the search results in March 2019, saying, it's disappointing. We had such high hopes then. We were hoping the potential evidence we found that last day was the piece of the puzzle we were looking for, the one thing that made everything else fall into place. There were a lot of bones on that property. We hoped we had found what we were looking for. Houston noted that the bones he was referring to were animal bones, most likely deer bones. The land was surrounded by a high fence and could be best described as a deer farm that was littered with bones and carcasses. So I get it, right? You find a bunch of bones, okay. You're going to be hopeful. But also when you come out and say there were bones all over the property, you're starting to think, you know, serial killer type stuff.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. I was thinking, is it gonna be like that?
Mike Ferguson
Herb Baumeister.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
And then you find out that, you know, it's deer bones. Now, I don't know what was going on there. They were they just killing deer? Were they scattering bones of deer that they had hunted? I. I just don't know. Yeah.
Mike Gibson
I mean, for the county. I mean, I think you're gotta be somewhat relieved though, too, right, that you don't have a serial killer. Yeah.
Advertiser
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Mike Ferguson
I mean, you're disappointed, right, that you don't have answers for Tracy's family. But let's face it, nobody wants a serial killer with a real high body count. That's going to put you on the map in a real negative way for the wrong reasons. Yeah. Houston said forensics still has the evidence, law enforcement has the case. I haven't received any reports from law enforcement. You never lose hope. We will continue to investigate, but I don't think it would surprise anyone that we were expecting a break by now. And as much as we talk about the family and their frustrations, you know, I think police get very frustrated as well. You know, when they have these tips, these leads, and they don't pan out. That's got to be incredibly frustrating.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. And they're being asked the same questions, right. From the family, but also people in the community, hey, have you solved that case yet?
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Because nobody wants who they believe is a killer running around their Community.
Listener Voicemail
Right.
Mike Ferguson
People want those cases solved. They want to know who did it, and they want to know that that person is locked away so that they can't hurt anybody else. Houston added, we still have the same suspects or people of interest or whatever you want to call them. These sons of bitches need to know that justice doesn't sleep. We're going to continue to work this case for Tracy and her parents. They deserve it. And for the community. Elmore county deserves to see justice served them. Sons of bitches.
Mike Gibson
Sons of bitches. Sounds like he's got people he really believes had something to do with this.
Mike Ferguson
Oh, yeah, I think so. Also. That's a very rural term.
Mike Gibson
Sons of.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. I don't know that people walk around New York City calling other people sons of.
Mike Gibson
I feel like that's. Did you ever watch Smokey and the Bandit?
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Didn't you just bring up Smokey Bandit on smoking the Bandit on a case like a week or two ago?
Mike Gibson
I probably did.
Mike Ferguson
I think you asked me if I'd
Mike Gibson
seen it, but that.
Mike Ferguson
Who hasn't seen Smokey in the Bandit?
Mike Gibson
There's somebody out there who has it, but that. The sheriff and that one.
Mike Ferguson
Oh, and his son. Yeah, the. Paul Williams or what's his name? I. I don't know what his name is, but yeah, but he says themselves. Yeah, I. I kind of think of it being said in that tone, with that kind of accent. Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said in 2019, One day we're going to get that one little piece of the puzzle that we can go to the DA's office and they say, aha. And we can jump and run with it. Then we've got a good suspect and we can go ahead and try to get an indictment together and put it before the court. He noted a recent tip that put investigators back on the trail in the case, but he couldn't elaborate. That's part of the frustration. Right. In unsolved cases, police know some things that they often can't share. But I'm also taking from what this guy said in conjunction with what the DA said, that they have a suspect or suspects. They just can't tie anything to them. Yeah. That is solid enough to be able to charge them. Now, again, frustrating when they can't say who it is, but obviously there's a reason why they can't do that. In late April 2025, Alabama Crimestoppers added $5,000 to the reward, bringing the total to $15,000. Tracy's parents previously offered 10,000 and an anonymous donor contributed $4,000, but Crime Stoppers couldn't confirm if those rewards were still active. DACJ Robinson said that they didn't know exactly what happened and, but they did believe Tracy was killed. He also revealed that during the 2018 search, cadaver dogs found evidence that a body had been decomposing on the property, but a body wasn't found.
Mike Gibson
So just evidence of a body being there?
Mike Ferguson
Well, cadaver dogs. Right. Alerting would be evidence that a body was once there. And cadaver dogs, from what I understand, are specifically trained not to alert on, let's say deer or other types of animals.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. Very specific human remains.
Mike Ferguson
So if that is true, what does it mean that potentially the body was there at, but then later moved? Could be.
Mike Gibson
Could be.
Mike Ferguson
Robinson said, per wsfa. I do think in meeting with the family after that extended search and some of the stuff we found, I think there was not complete closure about what happened. But I think it did help answer some questions. I'll be honest with you. It primarily narrows down to one primary suspect that I still think killed her. And I still think that at some point in time that one witness that we need out there will come forward and I hope they spend the rest of their life in prison.
Mike Gibson
I mean, to me it sounds like it's somebody local then.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, yeah, it does to me as well. And I get, and I understand why they can't come out and name the suspect because they don't have the information to really properly call them a suspect. But they really feel strongly that this person is involved.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
And I can't help but wonder, Gibbs, if they're talking about Tracy's ex husband. You have this 350 acre farm just 5, 10 minutes away from where the, the car is found. You know, also, let's look at the 2 year old. Did somebody roll the windows down like you said? Maybe even turn on some soft soothing music? If that was the case, then you could make an assumption that that person had some level of emotional attachment to that child, if not love.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. And could you also say as far as those mixed reports of the car being, you know, the car was running and. But other reports, you know, from the police saying, well, no, it was just in the auxiliary mode. Could it have been running earlier when people went by and then somebody turned it off and put it in auxiliary mode because someone was going back and forth checking on the car because they were checking on who was in the car?
Mike Ferguson
Possibly.
Mike Gibson
Possibly.
Mike Ferguson
Both investigators and Tracy's family believe there was foul play involved in her disappearance. But as of April 2026, no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection to her case. Authorities have not publicly identified any of the suspects they've mentioned. Tracy was described as 5 10, 140 pounds. She had brown frosted hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing pink shorts, a white floral top and white tennis shoes. If you have any information about Tracy's disappearance, you can call the police or Crime stoppers using the 24 hour tip line at 334215 stop. Or 1833 AL one stop.
Mike Gibson
You know, I wonder, once the daughter gets to a certain age, if she's going to recall anything, remember anything, you know, either on her own or through hypnosis that could provide some needed detail.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's possible. I think, you know, one of the problems is that, you know, she's in her 30s now, so not to say that it couldn't happen, but you, you kind of think if it was going to, it might have already at this point. But as we wrap this case up again, I think authorities have in their mind a really good idea of who they think did this. And I think there's some reasons for that that they can't share. But obviously they don't have enough to publicly name anyone to bring any charges against anyone. But I do think this is a case that, you know, could be solved and we could find out somewhere down the road that, okay, someone's getting charged and taken to trial for this murder. Yeah, but who that is, we have no idea. But it's a sad case. Right? We talked about it early on. You know, you have a young mother kind of starting life over after a divorce. She's never been heard from or seen again. You have the, the two year old who was left in the car thankfully unharmed. Again. What does that say about the killer? Yeah, if there is a killer who hurt Tracy but didn't hurt the infant.
Mike Gibson
So they're compassionate about kids or are they comp. Passionate about that kid?
Mike Ferguson
And I think that's a great question because if you can answer some of those questions or any of those questions, it can lead the police down a path. But to me, they, they can't even get some of these initial questions answered. It's why they, I think they have a hard time or have had a hard time finding just even some of the little pieces of the puzzle.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, I think they're just hoping one day something will slip or somebody will come forward or someone will come forward and that's all they're going to need.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, hopefully. But that's it for our episode on the disappearance of Tracy Kegley. We got a voicemail. You want to check that out?
Mike Gibson
Let's hear it.
Listener Voicemail
Hey, this is Sarah. I was listening to the Jody Susan trip episode now. I love listening to the more popular cases through different podcasts. I love you guys. I was listening to Nancy Ng a few days ago, and after it got done, I was looking up to see if the March 2026 search ever happened or had an update. It's mid April right now, and I couldn't find a single article even mentioning that the search was supposed to be done again in March 2026. And I was just wondering if you guys had heard any updates about it or anything like that. Thank you. Keep your own, Tom Chicken. Bye.
Mike Ferguson
All right, thanks for the voicemail. I mean, I think that's one of the tough things when you research a case, and a lot of times you're using newspaper articles and things like that, you'll get a report about something that is going to happen.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
But then never see anything else about it.
Mike Gibson
And it makes you, like, wonder what happened.
Mike Ferguson
Right. It's like they only report when something happens. When something doesn't happen, even if it was supposed to happen, that it's not newsworthy. So you don't. You don't find anything about it. But no, I. I've not heard anything. Gibbs, you heard anything?
Mike Gibson
I have not.
Mike Ferguson
So maybe we'll check it out.
Mike Gibson
Yep.
Mike Ferguson
But most of the time, we're busy researching the next one or the next couple. But. All right, buddy, that is it for another episode of True Crime, all the time unsolved. So for Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.
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In this episode, Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson delve into the unsolved 1998 disappearance of Traci Pittman Kegley, a young mother from Montgomery, Alabama. The hosts dissect the timeline of Traci’s last known movements, the discovery of her abandoned vehicle—her two-year-old daughter unharmed inside—and the decades-long investigation, including family efforts, major search operations, and lingering questions about suspects. The discussion balances empathy for the victim’s family and the hosts' characteristic conversational style, mixing grave analysis with occasional light-hearted banter.
“We drove around all night looking for her. I was hanging out a car window, shining a spotlight in those deep ditches... I thought she had had a wreck and was in one of those ditches.” (09:54)
"Right now we are treating this as an abduction or kidnapping, and I don't know how you couldn't." (16:16)
"Somebody abducted her and hurt her and hid the body in that deep, cold, black water." (21:00)
"We believe this is as close as we've come to a break in the case for several years." (32:07)
"We had such high hopes then... There were a lot of bones on that property... [but] it was deer bones." (39:24)
"These sons of bitches need to know that justice doesn't sleep. We're going to continue to work this case for Tracy and her parents. They deserve it. And for the community. Elmore county deserves to see justice served them. Sons of bitches." (41:26)
"I'll be honest with you. It primarily narrows down to one primary suspect that I still think killed her. And I still think that at some point in time that one witness that we need out there will come forward..." (45:01)
"What does that say about the killer? If there is a killer who hurt Tracy but didn't hurt the infant." (49:36)
“It’s this up and down of emotions, and I can only imagine how rough it is on the family.” (31:41)
“Justice doesn’t sleep. We’re going to continue to work this case for Traci and her parents. They deserve it. And for the community.” (41:26)
“It bothers me so bad sometimes... after going through so much and relaying so much, it gets to you.” (26:05)
“You reach out for anything. The things they told me made sense. Like, one of them said, her body will be found within a 50 mile radius of where her car was found." (23:30)
“That’s a pretty broad general statement.” (23:47)
“I can't help but wonder, Gibbs, if they're talking about Tracy's ex husband... If that was the case, you could make an assumption that that person had some level of emotional attachment to that child, if not love.” (45:59)
The episode thoughtfully examines the enduring mystery of Traci Kegley’s disappearance. Family pain, local rumor, and procedural challenges are explored with sensitivity, skepticism, and a determination to keep the story alive. With the passage of time, justice may seem distant, but for Traci’s loved ones and investigators, the case is far from cold.
Hosts' Closing Sentiment:
“But that's it for our episode... As we wrap this case up... I think authorities have in their mind a really good idea of who they think did this... But I do think this is a case that, you know, could be solved and we could find out somewhere down the road that, okay, someone's getting charged and taken to trial for this murder.” (48:15–50:28)