September 4, 1993.

Plano, Texas.

While attending a soccer game at a park with her family, seven-year-old Ashley Estelle

goes missing.

The following day, Ashley is found strangled to death next to a dirt road.

The investigation soon leads to a paroled sex offender named Michael Blair, who is subsequently

convicted of Ashley's murder and sentenced to death.

However, the evidence against Blair turns out to be faulty.

And DNA testing eventually exonerates him to the crime, but Ashley's real killer is never

found.

After that, the trail went cold.

Hello, everyone and welcome to the latest episode of The Trail Went Cold.

I'm your host Robin Warder, and today we're going to be exploring a brutal crime which

led to all sorts of controversy.

The 1993 murder of seven-year-old Ashley Estelle.

This case was originally suggested to me a while back by a listener named Jamon, and

only a few weeks later, another listener named Leslie sent in a request to cover it,

so I thought it deserved a look.

A suspect named Michael Blair would be convicted and sentenced to death for Ashley's murder,

and since he was a convicted sex offender who had been paroled after serving less than

two years, this led to the passing of some new legislation called Ashley's Laws, which

sought stronger punishment for criminals who harmed children.

...