Robin Warder (who does that Trail Went Cold podcast I wrote about not too long ago) did an MP-related Cracked article that got published yesterday: The 5 Most Insane Twist Endings Of Real Missing Person Cases. Included was the case of Bobby Dunbar, who was “found” in 1912 but is actually still missing (long story). I thought I’d let y’all know about this article. Like most Cracked articles it’s interesting, informative and funny.
Incidentally, the most recent podcast for The Trail Went Cold is for two Catholic priests, father Reynoldo Rivera and Father John Kerrigan. The former was the victim of a horrific murder; the latter disappeared and was never found but was almost certainly also murdered. Both cases remain unsolved. There’s some speculation that the cases are related, although the murder happened in New Mexico and the disappearance in Montana. Father Kerrigan had spent some time in New Mexico, and in both cases, it seemed like whoever did this had a serious grudge against the church.
I actually updated Father Kerrigan’s casefile last month, with some significant new information. (I found out he was accused of sexual abuse.) I wonder if it’s a coincidence, then, that Warder did this podcast now. I haven’t listened to the podcast yet so I don’t know.
Podcasts are fun and entertaining, and I highly recommend them to true crime buffs, but unless I have some time to kill, I usually don’t listen to them myself. If I’m already familiar with the case, a podcast usually just provides a few shreds of extra info for the most part, or sometimes nothing at all. It would take much less time to read an article about the case and those often have more info in them. I wish more podcast included the written text as well as the recording.
The Charley Project Blog 
Many thanks for plugging the Cracked article and the podcast. I don’t think I’d ever have such a big interest on missing persons cases or be doing projects about them unless I stumbled onto the Charley Project many years ago. Thank you for all the hard work you do.
I had no idea you updated Father Kerrigan’s profile, so that is a neat coincidence. I see you updated the profile four days before the episode came out, by which time it was already in the can. I covered the case on request from someone who grew up in that area of Montana, where the disappearance was a very big deal. I do not think it’s a coincidence he went missing only two days after he was transferred to a new parish and believe it was a vigilante-style killing tied to sexual abuse allegations from his past.
Anyway, on my next episode coming out on Wednesday, I actually give a shout-out to the Charley Project in my intro. I also originally provided a rundown on Charley in episode#6 (the Laureen Rahn disappearance) since it was my primary source of info on the case.
I listened to the podcast and got some more info from it I’m going to put on the Charley Project. I admit the idea of blackmail had never occurred to me before, but it is strange that Kerrigan was carrying around so much cash. It would be unusual for most people, and priests don’t make that much, do they?
When I first wrote up Fr. Kerrigan’s MP case, before I learned about the lawsuit, I had a hunch that he might have been one of the abusive priests — mainly because of that stay at that place in New Mexico and because of the fact that he kept bouncing from parish to parish. Of course I said nothing because I don’t want to make accusations like that with no evidence. But when I found out about the lawsuit and how Kerrigan was accused of abuse, I wasn’t the least bit surprised.
But murder is murder, no matter what he may have done.
I believe the cases were probably connected and not it is not a coincidence that both had been working in NM. New Mexico had the unluckiness to be a clearinghouse for priests accused of pedophilia. The church allowed them to be assigned parishes in New Mexico rather than allow law enforcement to investigate.
no Select-It-Sunday this week? no time for that either?
I hit my head over the weekend and I’ve been dealing with a splitting headache since then. I was in bed for most of the day on Sunday.
That’s unfortunate. What did you hit your head on? Might want to see a doctor if it get’s too bad.
I hit my boyfriend’s bed, the backboard. I’ve been to the doctor and they said I’m all right but it sure doesn’t feel that way. For days it’s felt like my skull’s splitting apart.
Is it possible that Father Kerrigan was not murdered and in fact murdered someone else and disappeared? That much cash seems very odd but the blood on his clothing could not have been DNA tested at the time especially since there was no body recovered. I agree the clothing belonged to him but the blood was on the passenger’s side of his car! Maybe I’m late to this but it is bothersome.