The Trail Went Cold - Episode 363 - Heidi Seeman and Erica Botello

The Trail Went Cold

Robin Warder

True Crime, Tv & Film

4.5 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 January 2024

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 4, 1990. San Antonio, Texas. While walking home from her friend’s house, eleven-year old Heidi Seeman goes missing after an apparent abduction. Nineteen days later, another San Antonio girl, seven-year old Erica Botello, is abducted from outside her apartment complex. The bodies of each victim are soon found at separate locations one day apart on the same weekend, but investigators are inclined to believe the murders are not connected. Both cases feature a number of compelling suspects, including an individual who was actively involved in the original search effort for Heidi, but there is not enough evidence to conclusively link anyone to either of these crimes. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved murders of two separate girls which traumatized the city of San Antonio. If you have any information about the murder of Heidi Seeman, please contact the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Missing Persons Hotline at 1-800-346-3243 or the Texas Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477). If you have any information on the murder of Erica Botello, please contact the San Antonio Police Department at (210) 207-7273. Additional Reading: https://www.dps.texas.gov/apps/coldCase/Home/Details/56 https://www.sacurrent.com/news/25-years-later-the-heidi-seeman-murder-case-remains-unsolved-2459807 https://www.kens5.com/article/news/crime/true-crime/three-decades-later-1990-heidi-seeman-erica-botello-murders/273-0b1a1b93-2682-4cc6-8832-44b2e80f557f https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/crime/article/Two-San-Antonio-girls-were-abducted-and-killed-30-15461432.php https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/08/04/august-marks-33-years-since-disappearances-of-heidi-seeman-erica-botello/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/364695644/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/435060934/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/590352539/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/968138763/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/356824573/ San Antonio Express-News (August 20, 1995) KSAT News Update (February 1996) “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon UK” in London on September 21-22, 2024. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to the event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD24”, by visiting their website. 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 4th 1990 and apartment complex and the bodies of each victim are eventually found at separate locations one day apart.
0:26.0	Investigators look into the possibility that the cases might be connected
0:31.0	and while there are a couple of compelling suspects for each of the crimes,
0:34.4	Heidi and Erica's murders are never officially solved.
0:37.9	After that, the trail went cold. Oh, uh, I'm not. Oh, uh, uh, uh, yeah. Oh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, Hello everyone and welcome to our latest episode of the Trail went cold.
1:21.0	I'm your host Robin Warder and today we're going to be exploring two
1:25.6	unsolved cold cases which took place in the same city during the same month. The
1:30.6	1990 murders of 11-year-old Heidi Seemond and 7 year old Erica Beteo.
1:36.0	Over the years, I've received a number of requests to cover the Heidi Seemann case,
1:40.0	but since the murder of Erica Batayo has always been so closely associated with it, I'm going to be exploring both cases.
1:47.0	In August of 1990, the city of San Antonio, Texas went through a very terrifying time when two young girls, Heidi
1:55.5	Seaman and Erica Botello, were abducted within 19 days of each other and their bodies
2:00.9	would eventually be found at separate locations on the same weekend.
2:05.0	Since both victims lived in separate sections of the city,
2:08.0	investigators have always been inclined to believe that the crimes are not connected, but the two cases are often mentioned in conjunction with each other.
2:17.0	There have been some compelling suspects in each of these murders, but there has also been controversy. In the Heidi Seaman case, it seems like different
2:26.0	investigative agencies have differing ideas about who the most likely perpetrator is, and
2:31.6	ironically, one of the prime suspects was a former supervisor of Heidi's
2:36.0	father who was actively involved in the search effort for.
2:40.3	It seemed like Erica Batio's case was going to be solved very quickly,
2:44.0	as three suspects were immediately charged with her murder,
2:47.0	but a grand jury declined to indict them due to insufficient evidence
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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.