meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Trail Went Cold

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 13 - Father Rivera and Father Kerrigan

The Trail Went Cold

Robin Warder

True Crime, Tv & Film

4.53.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2016

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 7, 1982. Santa Fe, New Mexico. A Catholic priest named Father Reynaldo Rivera receives a phone call from a man asking him to administer last rites to a dying relative. After leaving to meet this man at a rest stop, Father Rivera disappears and is soon found murdered. Two years later, another Catholic priest named Father John Kerrigan disappears from the community of Ronan, Montana and though his body is never found, the evidence suggests he was also murdered. There are enough similarities between the two crimes that investigators start wondering if they might be connected and committed by a serial killer targeting Catholic priests. However, allegations have surfaced to suggest that one of the priests may have been harboring dark secrets which contributed to his death. I will be analyzing two unsolved cases on this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I attempt to figure out what happened to both Father Rivera and Father Kerrigan. Additional Reading: https://unsolved.com/gallery/fr-reynaldo-rivera/ http://charleyproject.org/case/john-patrick-kerrigan https://missoulian.com/news/local/list-of-priests-accused-of-sex-abuse-includes-believed-to/article_260a2a21-8c7f-5b29-ad6a-2cbc8583426d.html The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

August 7th, 1982, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

0:05.8

A Catholic priest named Father Rinaldo Rivera receives a phone call from a man asking him

0:10.5

to administer last rights to a dying relative.

0:13.2

After leaving to meet this man, Father Rivera disappears and is eventually found murdered.

0:18.8

Two years later, another Catholic priest named Father John Kerrigan disappears from the community of Ronan, Montana,

0:26.0

and though his body is never found, the evidence suggests that he was also murdered.

0:31.0

Authorities begin theorizing that both these murders are connected, but it turns out that one of these priests might have been harboring dark secrets.

0:39.0

After that, the trail went cold. Oh, uh, well. Oh, uh, uh,

0:54.0

uh,

0:55.0

uh, uh, uh,

0:56.0

uh,

0:57.0

uh,

0:58.0

uh uh uh uh uh uh uh...

1:01.0

uh... Oh, uh, it's not. Oh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, Hello everyone and welcome to episode number 13 of the trail went cold.

1:22.0

I am your host Robin Warder and I will be covering another

1:25.6

classic Unsolved Mystery segment today. This time you're essentially getting two stories

1:31.1

for the price of one as I will be covering two unsolved cases involving

1:35.3

Catholic priests which might be connected, the 1982 murderer of Father Rinaldo Rivera,

1:41.3

and the 1984 disappearance of Father John Carrigan.

1:45.0

This story is actually a listener request from one of the Trail Went Cold's biggest fans.

1:50.0

And she also happens to be the moderator of the Unsolved Mysteries Message Board at the sitcoms

1:55.1

online forum and goes by the handle Looks Like C Ricci, which if you're wondering means

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Robin Warder, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Robin Warder and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.