December 7, 2003. Montgomery, Alabama. 19-year old LaQuanta Riley stops off at her mother’s residence to borrow a jacket from her brother. He sees LaQuanta leave in a dark green car being driven by an unidentified man, but she subsequently goes missing. A few weeks later, LaQuanta’s mother receives a garbled message on her answering machine from a panicked woman whom she believes is her daughter and a male voice can be heard in the background. Even though a number of leads are explored, including LaQuanta’s name showing up on an apartment rental in Georgia, no trace of her can be ever found.

June 26, 2010. Selma, Alabama. 17-year old Tarasha Benjamin leaves her mother’s home to go shopping at the Selma Flea Market, but never returns. Tarasha is seen driving an SUV which she borrowed from a friend, but later that day, the abandoned vehicle is found alongside the Cecil Jackson Bypass with a broken door handle and two windows missing. While it is suspected that Tarasha was the victim of an abduction, there are very few leads to work with and Tarasha remains a missing person.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two unsolved missing persons cases involving young women from Alabama.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/laquanta-nachelle-riley

https://discover.hubpages.com/family/Missing-LaQuanta-Nachelle-Riley

https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2014/04/where_is_my_daughter_decade-ol.html

https://www.waka.com/2018/06/25/15-years-later-mother-of-missing-woman-still-searching-for-answers/

https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2019/05/search-continues-for-teen-who-disappeared-in-montgomery-15-years-ago-11000-reward-offered.html

https://elmoreautauganews.com/2021/02/26/missing-since-2003-officials-release-age-progressed-photo-of-laquanta-riley-today-is-her-birthday/

https://charleyproject.org/case/tarasha-benjamin

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570741799/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570741847/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570741897/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570817130/

https://www.wsfa.com/story/36273263/selma-family-pushes-to-uncover-clues-in-womans-2010-disappearance/

https://www.wsfa.com/story/15670452/exclusive-missing-selma-teens-mom-finds-new-hope/

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the AdvocacyCon, taking place at the Indianapolis Marriott East in Indianapolis on March 28-30, 2025. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL10”, by visiting https://www.advocacycon.com/.

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.