The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello everyone
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome
back, everyone. Thank you so much for hanging
with us. I'm so sorry we had to take last week
off. As you've probably heard before, or maybe
if you're new here, I'm somebody who gets chronic
migraines and just had some really bad ones for
the past month. Usually the weather changing
kind of gets me. So I was... Down for the count.
But I really appreciate your patience and for
coming back to have another listen. Also, just
want to say thank you. We did have some really
wonderful and kind reviews come through on our
website, on Apple, on Spotify. Just all these
places, they were really coming through some
really positive comments and reviews. And also,
somebody was so kind and used the Buy Me a Coffee
link on our website to buy Eli and I coffee.
So thank you so much for that. We so greatly
appreciate it. It's such an honor that someone
would use their hard -earned dollars to help
support this podcast. But that option is always
there if you would also like to do that. Yeah,
here at Cold and Missing, you know, we're a two
-person team with Ali absolutely at the helm
of our team. So, of course, you know, we never
expect anything. So when it does happen, it's
always wonderful and it is very helpful. Any
coffee that's ever bought for us goes directly
back into... making this podcast more accessible
to everyone. That's always Allie's drive here
on the technical end and in everything else she
does. So thank you so much. Yeah, it just goes
right back into the podcast, into researching,
into trying to help these cases. So thank you.
But with that, I think we should go ahead and
get into this week's episode. That's right. We
are on episode... It's 126 this week, and it
is a missing persons case. And just as a quick
content warning at the top, this case does involve
a young person, and there are some brief mentions
of death by suicide. Today, we are talking about
the missing person case of Roger Ellison. And
this takes place in February of 1981 in Cedar
Edge, Colorado. But first, a little bit about
Roger. Roger is 17 years old in 1981. He is a
senior honor roll student at Cedar Edge High
School, but was already looking forward to college.
He'd been accepted to Western State College in
Gunnison, Colorado, and he had won a skiing scholarship
and had already put a deposit down and picked
out his dorm room. Roger was a gifted skier.
He had a dream of being on the U .S. national
ski team, like his older sister had done a decade
before him. He was the youngest of four siblings
and the only one left at home. The rest of his
siblings were older and married at this time.
Right before the timeline picks up, Roger had
competed in ski races in Telluride, Colorado.
He had been disappointed by the outcome. He was
hoping to secure a place on the U .S. ski B team,
but had failed to. His parents say that he was
disappointed but was already looking forward
to the next race, which was coming up that weekend.
And now, a timeline of events. Tuesday, February
10th, 1981. Roger started the day very normally.
He was eating breakfast in the kitchen with his
mother when he noticed the weather outside. It
looked like it was going to snow. He told his
mom it was a good sign for the upcoming race
in Aspen that weekend. Roger got ready and left
for school. He had his yellow backpack and $3
for lunch. He boarded the bus and headed to Cedar
Edge High School, which was about six miles away
from his home. Once at school, Roger caught up
with his friend and locker mate at their shared
locker, number 191. Roger shared the locker with
his friend Mitch. Mitch was just about to slam
the locker door shut when Roger called out for
him to leave it open. Roger and Mitch chatted
for a second. Roger was dropping off some books
at the locker and grabbing some stuff that he
needed for the day. Mitch headed off to class
while Roger was finishing up at the locker. Roger
told him he would catch up. This appears to be
the last confirmed sighting of Roger. Roger never
attended any classes that day. Even though Roger's
attendance was perfect up until this point, his
absence was not reported to his parents. Rogers'
parents didn't know anything was wrong until
he failed to get home from school that day. His
mother, Evelyn, says, quote, When he didn't come
on the bus, we thought he'd call. My husband
and I waiting up all night. The next morning,
we called the sheriff. He told us we had to wait
48 hours before he could begin a search. We tried
to explain that Rogers never done anything like
that before, that he always called or left us
a note on the kitchen table. This time, there
was nothing. End quote. Like Evelyn says in her
statement, when they tried to call police that
next day, Wednesday, February 11th, when Roger
failed to come home all night, the police didn't
take it seriously. They assumed Roger was with
friends or maybe with a girlfriend. His parents
stressed that this was not the case. He had only
taken his lunch money and the clothes he was
wearing to school. His skis, his car, his motorcycle,
and bank account were all untouched. Not wanting
to wait for the police to start their search,
Evelyn and her husband, Ernest, start searching.
She says, quote, we drove down back roads, we
combed the woods, we walked ditches. Gradually,
it dawned on us that something terrible had happened
to Roger and was happening to us. Suddenly, I
was living every mother's nightmare, end quote.
Over that weekend, Roger has been missing for
four days. His parents hope that he'll show up
to the race in Aspen since he had already paid
the entry fee. But he didn't show up to the race.
It doesn't appear that any major searches were
done for Roger at this point in his disappearance.
On February 25th, so Roger has been missing for
15 days, and police believe that he's a runaway
at this point. They believe that he had run away
to a ski resort and found a job or was looking
for a job. When asked about the length of time
and the fact that he hadn't contacted his parents
in 15 days, the police said that it wasn't unusual
for teenagers to behave this way. His parents,
however, are worried sick and think something
terrible has happened to their son. On March
11, 1981, Roger has been missing for a month
at this point, and it's his 18th birthday. Police
and his parents are hoping that he'll reach out
now that he's officially an adult and let them
know where he is. But the phone doesn't ring,
and he never calls. In May of 1982, so it's been
15 months since Roger vanished, and his father
has also passed away as well. Rogers' family
firmly believed that it was due to the heartbreak
of his youngest son vanishing. At this point,
Delty County Sheriff Detective Keith Weibel says,
It looks like Roger Ellison just disappeared
into thin air, but I know that can't happen.
We've never had a single solid lead. We can't
find a trace of where he went. This case has
turned me into a blithering idiot. I've known
the Ellison for years. They're a good family,
and I gradually became convinced Roger wasn't
a runaway. There was absolutely no evidence of
a drug problem, no hint of mental illness, nothing
to indicate Roger had been the slightest bit
depressed." Investigators have asked the FBI
to take a look at the case, but the FBI refuses
since there is no evidence that Roger ever crossed
state lines or that even a crime has been committed.
However, a break in the case appears to come
by the end of June of 1982, so just a few months
later. Roger has been missing for a year and
a half. And police say that Roger was seen alive
as recently as April of 1982, so just a few months
before this. Roger was seen working at a plant
nursery in Mississippi up until April. A co -worker
at the nursery reported it after seeing a story
about Roger being missing. Delta County Sheriff
says, quote, Ellison had been on the nursery
property in April, but he left and nobody knew
where he was going. We were close, but not close
enough. If Roger reads anything about this, we're
urging him to please contact his mother as soon
as possible. End quote. Police do believe that
this is a good lead and confirm that the person
at the nursery was using Roger's name and social
security number. However, years later, police
will say that this sighting was a hoax. But this
lead seems to stall the investigation for years,
as it appears that Roger just didn't want to
be found. But again, police say that this whole
sighting was just a hoax. However, by April of
1985, so it's been four years since Roger vanished,
and his mother is still trying to get coverage
for her son's case. She doesn't believe that
he simply ran away or doesn't want to be found.
She thinks something nefarious happened to him.
She also confirms that even after all these years,
his bank account, which had over $1 ,000 in it,
was still sitting untouched. In 1989, so it's
been over eight years since Roger vanished, and
the new Delta County Sheriff Bill Blair says,
quote, we have followed lead after lead after
lead, but nothing has panned out. It's really
tragic that we can't come up with something,
end quote. There have been sightings of Roger
over the years that have been reported to police.
There were reports of Roger living in a commune
in California. There was a sighting of him at
a singles bar in Pittsburgh. And then a woman
in Jacksonville, Florida, said that she had a
child with a drifter that fit Roger's description.
But none of these leads panned out. Investigators
say that in each and every one of these instances,
it was just someone who looked a lot like Roger.
In March of 1994, so it's been 13 years since
Roger disappeared, and police are taking another
look at the case. They decide to re -interview
classmates that were at school with Roger at
the time. During this process, a tip surfaces.
The tip is around a teacher that was at Cedar
Edge High School when Roger vanished. Pash had
taught psychology and coached wrestling at the
high school. Pash was also known to Roger's family.
He had stopped by the Ellison's house after Roger
vanished to tell his parents that he had been
counseling Roger at his home before he disappeared.
He shared with his family that Roger was suicidal,
but this didn't sound right to Roger's parents.
They didn't know the counseling sessions were
happening and were even more surprised as Roger
had expressed that he didn't like Pash as a teacher.
While it's unclear exactly what the tip was,
it prompts a search of Pasha's former home. At
this point, the home had been turned into a mortuary.
Police bring in ground -penetrating radar to
search the grounds. There are six spots that
show an anomaly underground, four in the yard
and two under the concrete garage. Police dig
in the four spots in the yard and nothing is
found. However, it doesn't appear that they ever
dug under the garage, so those spots remain unchecked.
In February of 1998, so it's been 17 years since
Roger vanished, and Sheriff Blair asks for the
public's help. He says, quote, someone out there
knows what happened to him. We don't have a body,
and even if we found one, we would have to have
someone involved say, this is what happened.
Either he went to some house close by or someone
was there to meet him and pick him up in a car.
I just don't know what happened to him, end quote.
During this plea for information, an English
teacher that Roger had mentioned this about his
time at school. She said, quote, he used to tell
me stories that the kids would chase him and
he would have to hide on rooftops. I don't think
he fit in all that well, end quote. Later in
1998, In September, a dying man comes forward,
saying that he wanted to clear his conscience
and that he knew what happened to Roger. Police
report that the man and his friend, quote, Supposedly,
it was over a bad cocaine deal. Ellison had absconded
with the money and given it to his friends, end
quote. The two men walked away and a few minutes
later heard two gunshots. The two men agreed
to never talk about it and forget about it until
one of them wanted to clear their conscience.
The Hunter friend confirmed the story. They both
were polygraphed and passed. They also both picked
a picture of Roger out of a lineup saying that
he was the young man being restrained. This confession
prompts a huge police search in the area that
the hunters pointed out. The Delta County Sheriff,
CBI, and the FBI all help search the area. They
even bring in students from an anthropology department
in case remains are found to help in the process
of documenting and recovering. No remains were
found, and this was really the last update we
get on Roger's case and the last big movement
on it that I could find. Over the years, Roger's
case is brought up in papers as part of cold
cases, but there's no new leads, no new evidence,
no new information on his case. So with that,
if you know anything about the disappearance
of Roger Ellison in February of 1981, or his
whereabouts today, please call the Delta County
Sheriff's Office at 970 -874 -2000. So that is
the missing person case of Roger Ellison. This
is one of those cases where, as I was listening
to the timeline, I kept getting up because I
wanted to walk back here to ask you questions
as you were talking about the timeline. And I
think I may have mentioned this last episode
when we were covering a case. Sometimes I can't
write down the questions fast enough, and that's
definitely the case here for Roger. Just first
off, I guess there's no real good way to kick
off rediscussing the timeline, but... I can't
not mention how law enforcement bungled this,
in my opinion. I don't—I never understand the
reaction of, wait, of wait, wait, wait, because
that always seems to be where the case goes wrong
and goes south for a lot of these victims, and
it's— It's excruciating to listen to because
some of the things that they are quoted saying,
like it was painful to listen to someone in law
enforcement say, it gradually came to me that
this is what's happening is what the parents
told us to begin with. And it's not. necessarily
an admission, but almost like a revelation. And
there's no time for you to have a revelation
about what you believe is happening to someone.
I know I sound passionate, but I'm angry on behalf
of this family. And now a lot of time has passed
and some people are gone. And as a listener,
it's just really difficult to digest that. To
digest that information, it's so unfair. Yeah,
it's very difficult to imagine in this day and
age telling parents of a senior who showed up
to school but never attended any classes that
they need to wait 48 hours before they can start
searching for him. Like, I just imagine that
story breaking today and it's like that whole
town would be turned upside down searching for
him. We say that sitting in 2025 and law enforcement
has learned a lot over the years. But I agree
with you. It's so maddening and frustrating that
these protocols, these things were put in place,
especially for children. Just there's I feel
like there's no excuse to not know where a child
is. So if we don't know where a child is, everybody
should be looking for them. Yeah. Again, to me
and obviously to you, it's an all hands on deck.
situation and the fact that those two parents
began the search on their own like I can barely
take saying that out loud that is horrifying
to feel I mean I don't know the feeling but to
know that they were just completely alone at
the beginning and you know his father passing
not that long after like This family was dealt
a lot and given next to nothing to deal with
it. Yeah. You know, the resources in this case
just felt like it all came way too late. Just,
you know, they missed, you know, that period
of time where the most critical information was
going to be. It was all missed. And that's really
unfortunate for Roger and for his family to try
to have to deal with that. Now, because the storyline
that you so beautifully put together for us involves
a lot of speculative nature on both law enforcement
and witnesses and even family of what they think
happened, I am kind of operating from asking
my questions because of those speculations. I
think my mind just naturally... followed the
speculative pathway but from multiple angles
so I'm going to try to balance them out as I
ask these questions. My first one being and I
have my own answer for this but what would be
his motive for running away? I was curious to
know what you thought especially because that
was something that was tossed around so much
between law enforcement that that was the speculation
that he left because he was running away. Yeah,
this is one where it's like, I don't really see
him running away at all. You know, like, I get
that he, you know, was kind of bummed at his
performance on the race the weekend before. But,
you know, he was getting ready to go to college,
had put down that down payment on the dorm room,
was looking forward to the race this weekend.
And then, you know, he left everything that he
would kind of need if he was running away. He
left his car. He left his motorcycle, he left
his skis, which were pretty important to him,
and left all his money. So I don't see him running
away from those actions alone and what was going
on around his life. It doesn't seem like a runaway.
This is where I feel, I think, wishy -washy.
I guess that's the best way to say it, about
being speculative, because... I definitely don't
want to add insult to injury, but when I asked
myself this question, what would be his motive
for running away, my general answer was kids
can hide a lot. They can hide a lot from their
parents. They can hide a lot from their teachers.
They can hide a lot from their friends. I think
it's possible that he has a motive that we don't
even know about. And I think because there are
so few details in this case, it's absolutely
possible that there is a motive. No, I think
that's a really important point is that like
truly we don't know anything. You know, at this
point, police have like kind of labeled this
as foul play is suspected. I think that while
not impossible, I think it would have been. harder
for a 17 year old to vanish without a trace without
taking some money taking some clothes like taking
some things to just vanish kind of in a very
short amount of time right before classes start
not impossible of course but does feel slim in
this case but I do agree with your point about
hiding things because it took years and years
for that english teacher to kind of come out
and say like he was bullied at school that was
never mentioned before and i thought that that
could have been you know again this is all speculative
but it's like well that's was that ever looked
at like could it have been bullies in the school
and like something got out of hand like could
that have happened I think what my mind is trying
to do is draw correlations together and knowing,
as we moved around in the timeline and found
out much later, that possibly he was facing mental
health issues and that maybe he was being bullied
in school. If he was trying to disappear himself,
those seem like more... probable motives as to
why for me I will say this though the the tip
about the teacher and like the counseling and
stuff like that I had the impression like based
off of the reporting at the time that this was
like kind of nefarious and suspicious that it
was like strange that this teacher was doing
this counseling like the parents didn't have
any prior knowledge that their son was being
like counseled by a psychology teacher that Roger
was even going to his house for this because
Roger had said that he didn't really like this
teacher so all of that was strange to the family
so I had the feeling that this teacher that all
that information was like very suspicious I also
had written down it was the next thing that I
was going to get to was that This child was essentially
having an unknown relationship to his parents
with another adult. I think that that will always
rise a red flag in my mind. And knowing that
there was ground -penetrating radar in both the
yard, which was dug up, and the... garage which
was not I am very interested to know what is
under that cement but I also know you know working
in maintenance and just like general construction
I know how expensive it is to pulverize cement
and dig beneath it because there's a lot of stuff
that you have to dig through and rip through
and I guess what I'm saying is I'm also I also
have eyes on this teacher as well along with
every other correlation my brain has tried to
string up in this case. Yeah, I would also be
interested to know, you know, in a perfect world
where we could just throw money at this and make
it happen. I would love to know just if there's
anything of value underneath the garage, especially
in Roger's case. I would also be interested to
know just if police ever had the chance to talk
to that teacher and interview him and interrogate
him. Because from my understanding, it didn't
seem like they had been able to. That teacher
had moved out of state at that point when this
tip kind of surfaced and they started digging
in what was his old yard. So it doesn't seem
like they ever talked to him. So I would be interested
just to know if. that happened and how police
felt after that interview. Yeah, especially because
there's such little information about it, but
it seems like a poignant and important relationship
to take note of and investigate in. Again, to
echo you, I'd love to know more information about
if there was any investigation done on this person.
Well, and also to validate his story, like, it's
strange that after Roger disappeared, he, I don't
want to say inserted himself into the investigation,
but, like, came to the parents and said, like,
you know, Roger was depressed. He was suicidal.
I was counseling him. Like, you know, just to
validate all that, like, was that true? Was this
just, like, a... that this teacher maybe tried
to tell the parents to make them feel bad. You
know, like, there's a lot of different ways to
think about it. So I would just want to know,
like, what parts of that story was true? Was
any of it true? Like, what was the reason for
all this? Yeah, and you say this to me all the
time when you and I are just discussing true
crime and true crime cases. When people start
to behave oddly around an event like this, around
a person going missing, take note of that behavior.
And to me, a teacher stopping by out of the blue,
that's something to take note of. I had another
question to ask you, and this is more just about
Roger. I wanted to know what you thought of the
untouched bank account. That's one thing that
I come back to again and again that makes me
think that maybe Roger didn't leave voluntarily.
From my understanding, this was money that he
had been saving up for and that he had won through
ski racing. As I was researching Roger for years,
I just saw him being awarded these skiing competition
titles. I don't know a lot about skiing, to be
honest. He was winning a lot and being mentioned
in the paper a lot for it. So if somebody, you
know, just a month before their 18th birthday
is going to take off, I think they would just
take a little bit of money with them, especially,
you know, 1981. Like there's no debit cards.
Like people would write checks. But he wasn't
even doing that. You know, none of that money
was being accessed. I think he would have taken
more than just the $3 for lunch and then the
clothes on his back. There would have been some
more outfits missed, just something else. It
would be really hard for him to just leave. The
reason I brought up the bank account is because
that is the one, honestly, fact about this case
that ties me to the reality that he didn't leave
willingly. As many correlations I can draw and
speculation I can come up with, that untouched
bank account stands out to me. And I thought
that it would for you too as well. And it seems
like we have the same thought about this is that
he would have taken just a sliver of something
else. And, you know, another like fact in this
case that I keep coming back to is just. If it
wasn't Roger, then who was the boy in the woods
that these hunters stumbled upon being restrained?
Like, what was that situation? Because if it's
not Roger, then it's somebody else. So who is
it? And, you know, just because nothing was found
in that area, like, you know, we've seen bodies
be moved before from one spot to another. Like,
that can happen. What is that story? What do
we know? What do we not know? These two people
kind of told the same story, saw the same thing,
backed each other up, passed the polygraph. So
something happened. And if it wasn't related
to Roger, it was related to somebody else. So
I think we need some answers there. Yeah, that
revelation in this timeline kind of came out
of left field for me. I wasn't expecting it.
At all. But I also, I left a little bit of room
in me to know that like both of those men could
have 100 % believed that it was Roger that they
saw. So therefore, they would pass that polygraph
test. Yeah, I just, if it wasn't Roger, then
who was it? In this scenario, I don't want to
believe that it was him because I know what the
end result is. I don't know what to make of that
deathbed confession. I think it's fascinating.
I think it's completely possible that because
of what we said earlier about how kids can hide
things and teenagers do all the time, that it's
possible that this was absolutely happening in
the woods and these men stumbled upon that and
then his body was moved and never recovered.
Yeah, I don't know. This case is tough. I get
why somebody would want to maybe get that off
their chest towards the end of their life. I
know we could speculate and try to draw conclusions
for hours. We do this when we're not on the mic.
So I don't think there's any great way to wrap
up discussing this case. I'm just very grateful
that you brought it to... My attention, our attention,
and I'm hoping that, you know, people who engage
with true crime do their thing and investigate
more and we get to hear more about just who Roger
was and maybe a few more of those details will
trickle in and fill in the gaps here. Somebody
absolutely knows what happened to Roger. That
much I do know. I think there's more information.
I think maybe somebody he went to school with.
Somebody knows something that they haven't come
forward with yet. Roger's siblings, you know,
still want answers for him. And, you know, I
hope someday that we're able to get those answers
and we're able to bring Roger home. However that
is, we're able to get him home. So again, if
you know anything about the disappearance of
Roger Ellison in February of 1981 or his whereabouts
today, please call the Delta County Sheriff's
Office at 970 -874 -2000. As always, Eli will
have graphics on our Instagram for you. It will
show pictures of Roger and also some age progress
photos. So what he would have looked like towards
his later 20s and then into his 40s as well.
So please take a look and share in your communities,
share in your stories. Just get Roger's face,
get his case out there so other people know about
him and are talking about him. And like I mentioned
at the top, thank you so much to everyone who
has left us a positive review, a positive comment,
five stars, thumbs up, whatever it is. Thank
you so much. Thank you to those who went to our
website to review. Appreciate it so much. And
extra special thank you to our listener who bought
us a coffee this week. And if you want to do
that, you can find that on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com, where we also have transcripts. So if you
need those because you might be hard of hearing,
you can find those there as well as all our old
episodes. That is all I have for you this week.
Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing.
I'm your host, Ali . And I'm your co -host,
Eli. Have a good week and stay safe, y 'all.
Stay safe, y 'all.