Ricochet, Part 5: The Impact

Jhalil Shands, 25 years old, was out on a date with his high school sweetheart in Old City, Philadelphia, when three people jumped out of a car and brutally shot and killed him. He was loved by his family and lived a good life, but still found himself in the middle of a dangerous world. In the fina…

Ricochet, Part 4: The Investigation

Sixteen-year-old Kahree Simmons was playing basketball on a Thursday evening when a van pulled up and bullets started firing. He was hit in the neck and died. We hear Kahree’s story, ride along on patrol with police officers in the neighborhood where he was killed, and talk with law enforcement and…

Ricochet, Part 3: The Wound

Lou Berrios was coming home from his first Eagles game, about to open his front door, when he was shot in the back in a suspected attempted robbery. He survived, but between surgeries and PTSD, his recovery is a lifelong struggle. In this episode, we focus on the physical impacts of getting shot, h…

Ricochet, Part 2: Shooter

Jermaine Robinson was bullied as a kid, until his mom, Andrea, taught him how to box and “protect himself.” She says something clicked in her son’s head that day. He began to carry a gun, run with the wrong crowd, and get picked up by police. His friends called him "Shooter". He was in and out of t…

Ricochet, Part 1: The Trigger

In October of 2019, two children were shot within hours of each other, including two-year-old Nikolette Rivera.  A bullet from an assault rifle struck her head and instantly killed her. It was at the hands of a man named Tayvon Thomas, who grew up abused and neglected, and turned to drugs. We dig i…

Coming soon: Ricochet

Gun violence is a national crisis. In Philadelphia, more than 10,000 people have been shot in the last five years. 2,100 people have died.  Every bullet fired has a ripple effect. In this series from Gone Cold, we’ll examine the issues through stories from those affected the most: victims, defenda…

Manhunt: Catching a killer in Chesco

Danelo Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison on August 31 after being sentenced to life in prison without parole the week before for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend. For two weeks, neighbors in a quiet and mostly rural suburban county west of Philadelphia anxiously waited for the ca…

The Boy in the Box, Part 2

His name is Joseph Augustus Zarelli. He was found dead in a cardboard box in February 1957, naked, scratched, bruised and scarred. More than 65 years after he was found, investigators have answered maybe the most important question in the mystery of the “Boy in the Box.” This is the story of how th…

Update: Is this the face of the Fairmount Park Rapist?

The Philadelphia Police Department has released a new composite picture of the suspect known as the “Fairmount Park Rapist” based on his genetic profile. It’s the first time the department has used the technology. Parabon NanoLabs used DNA collected at the crime scenes to create a composite of the …

9-11 special: The investigators who helped bring victims back to their families

September 11th is a day America will never forget. What began as a ‘bright blue day’, quickly turned into a generationally traumatic event -- the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil in US history. While the nation watched in horror, first responders and investigators jumped in, trying to pi…