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The Unforgotten

Episode 5 Breakdown: Catch and Release

The Unforgotten

Free Range Productions

Texas, True Crime, Journalism

4.6961 Ratings

🗓️ 3 September 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hosts Adam Rittenberg and Kyle Bonagura break down episode five of Finding Dolores Wulff, reflecting on what went wrong when Carl Wulff was finally arrested.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey everyone, it's Adam Rittenberg and Kyle Bonagura, hosts of The Unforgotten Season 3, Finding Dolores Wolf,

0:05.9

and we're here to recap episode 5, catch and release, which dropped on Monday.

0:12.3

You know, Kyle, in this episode, we very much return to the case and focus on the year 1985,

0:19.2

which was a really significant year, six years after the disappearance,

0:23.4

or I guess five and a half years after the disappearance of Dolores Wolf from her home

0:27.4

in Woodland, California. And, you know, the year begins with a major development in the case,

0:33.5

which is the arrest of Carl Wolf following pressure from Dolores' family, the Roches.

0:39.4

And the question then becomes, is he going to remain behind bars?

0:43.6

And ultimately, is he going to be convicted?

0:46.1

Because as we've sort of established in the podcast, there wasn't much doubt among the district attorney,

0:52.7

obviously her family, the police, Ron Heiliman, that Carl was

0:56.6

responsible, but could they get a conviction? And, you know, this episode goes through all the

1:01.4

different legal maneuverings and different hearings throughout the year 1985, you know, ending

1:07.2

with the decision at the end of that year that, you know, regardless of whether Carl Wolf was guilty or innocent, you know, ending with the decision at the end of that year that, you know, regardless of whether

1:12.7

Carl Wolf was guilty or innocent, he was going to walk free because his right to a speedy trial

1:18.4

had been denied. And that's really the conflict we get into in this episode. And we spoke to Rick

1:24.6

Gilbert, the original district attorney about this and his conflict over whether to arrest Carl earlier.

1:33.8

And would they have enough to convict him?

1:35.9

And they only had one shot.

1:37.5

And then ultimately, that decision to wait so long ends up costing them.

1:41.8

What were your biggest takeaways just from this episode and

1:45.5

talking with Rick and some of the others who were involved in what was a pretty dramatic

...

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