In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum is joined by former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent Ed Newcomer and retired Idaho Fish and Game conservation officer Tony Latham for a look at the danger, isolation, and critical work of wildlife law enforcement. They discuss the murders of Idaho game warden Bill Pogue and Conley Elms by Claude Dallas, the cold case of Art Teed, an Idaho game warden who disappeared in 1934 while investigating illegal deer kills, and the family memory that helped bring answers to Idaho’s oldest cold murder case nearly 90 years later. Ed also explains how wildlife crimes can connect to broader criminal enterprises, how wildlife officers became part of the Christopher Dorner manhunt, and what listeners can expect from the new wolf-focused season of Nature’s Secret Service, where wolf recovery, poaching investigations, and the politics of conservation collide.

Highlights:

(0:00) Sheryl McCollum opens Zone 7 with the danger and isolation of wildlife law enforcement before welcoming guests Ed Newcomer and Tony Latham

(2:45) Why wildlife crimes are often connected to broader criminal activity

(4:00) Tony recounts the murders of Idaho game wardens Bill Pogue and Conley Elms by Claude Dallas

(7:00) How the Christopher Dorner manhunt unexpectedly intersected with California wildlife officers

(11:45) The 1934 disappearance of Idaho game warden Art Teed

(13:30) Art Teed’s locked vehicle, uneaten lunch, and the massive search that followed his disappearance

(15:15) The false report that shifted the case and left Art Teed’s family without answers for generations

(17:15) Karen Downing reads a local newspaper and connects a family story to Art Teed’s murder

(19:00) George Pentland, two child witnesses, and the family accounts that finally helped close Idaho’s oldest cold murder case

(21:45) Ed previews the wolf-focused season of Nature’s Secret Service and the controversy around wolf recovery

(26:30) Sheryl closes with Theodore Roosevelt’s words on the courage and hardiness of game protectors

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Ed Newcomer is a former special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where he spent more than 20 years investigating wildlife trafficking and other wildlife crimes. He is the host of Nature’s Secret Service, a true crime podcast focused on wildlife law enforcement, poaching, trafficking, and the officers who protect wild animals and plants.

Tony Latham is a retired Idaho Fish and Game conservation officer and regional investigator who worked on overt and covert wildlife crime investigations, including cases involving the illegal killing of Idaho’s big game. He is the author of A Case So Cold: The Murder of an Idaho Game Warden, which examines the 1934 murder of Idaho game warden Art Teed.

Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an active crime scene investigator for a metro Atlanta police department and the director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, which partners with colleges and universities nationwide. With more than four decades of experience, she has worked on thousands of cold cases using her investigative system, The Last 24/361, which integrates evidence, media, and advanced forensic testing.

Her work on high-profile cases, including The Boston Strangler, Natalie Holloway, Tupac Shakur and the Moore’s Ford Bridge lynching, led to her Emmy Award for CSI: Atlanta and induction into the National Law Enforcement Hall of Fame in 2023.

Social Links:

Email: coldcase2004@gmail.com

X: @ColdCaseTips

Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

Instagram: @officialzone7podcast

TikTok: @Sheryl.McCollum

Sheryl’s new book, Swans Don’t Swim in a Sewer: Solving the Cold Case of the Flint River Killer’s Daughter, is available now wherever books are sold.