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 it will just be me coming to
you this week. I actually have to travel for
my day job, so I am doing some traveling, some
work travel this week, and Eli and I are not
together this week, and I'm terribly sad and
I miss him so much, but I just wanted to still
bring you another episode this week. Right at
the top, I just wanted to say thank you again
to everyone who's been able to leave us reviews
recently or recommend us. I was actually on Reddit
and it was like somebody asking for a recommendation
of podcast and somebody on there was like, Cold
and Missing is my favorite in the comment section.
And I was like really blown away by that. Thank
you to whoever that was. I'm not going to say
their Reddit username here, but thank you for
mentioning us. Like, it just meant a lot to me.
I was like, this is really cool that someone's
doing that. So thank you if you're recommending
us, telling your friends, family that enjoy True
Crime about our podcast. I just really appreciate
it. So thank you for reviewing. Thank you for
recommending us to people. It really helps get
these cases out there, which is, you know, the
whole mission here at Cold and Missing. But with
that said, I think we should just go ahead and
get into this week's episode. We are on a cold
case this week, and this is episode 146. And
just as a bit of a content warning at the top,
this case does involve a young person. Today,
we are talking about the cold case of Levi Frady,
and this takes place in Forsyth County, Georgia,
in October of 1997. But first, a little bit about
Levi. Levi was just 11 years old in October of
1997. He lived with his mother, Marilyn, and
his twin sister, Lacey, on Burris Mill Road,
a quiet rural stretch of Forsyth County, Georgia.
Levi loved the country and loved living in such
a rural environment. He loved spending time outdoors.
Levi's parents were separated, but Levi and his
sister still saw their dad quite often and thought
the world of him. Levi loved exploring the woods
near his home, riding his beloved red and black
bicycle to visit friends, and enjoyed shooting
his BB gun in the open fields. He was curious,
adventurous, and full of life. His grandfather,
Lamar Frady, once said, That bicycle up there
was his best friend. That's all he had. Levi
loved pizza, his grandmother's pancakes, fishing,
roller coasters, and was teaching himself to
play his grandmother's piano. He was scared of
the dark. That Halloween, he wanted to be G .I.
Joe. Those who knew Levi remembered his smile
and energy. His children's minister, Joseph Hamley,
described him as, quote, he could bring a smile
to your heart very easily. And now a timeline
of events. Wednesday, October 22nd, 1997. This
was a pretty notable day. It was the fifth day
of the World Series. Levi had a regular day at
school, and after school, at around 4 .15, he
left home on his bike to go to his friend Roman's
house. The two of them had planned to do their
homework together. Levi was expected to be home
at 6 .30 in time for dinner. According to some
reports, Levi does call home at one point. His
mom was in the bathtub, so his twin sister picked
up. Levi asked his sister to ask their mom if
it would be okay if he stayed for dinner with
a different friend. Him and Roman were going
to go to a third friend's house for dinner. Marilyn
told Lacey to tell Levi to come home. When 6
.30 rolled around, Levi's curfew, he didn't walk
through the front door. At first, his mother
and sister weren't worried. He had been late
before. He had pushed that 6 .30 time more than
once. However, by 7, they started to worry a
little bit. The minutes kept ticking by. Finally...
A little bit after 7, Marilyn and Lacey decided
to go out and get Levi and bring him home for
dinner. While they're out, Lacey was the first
to spot Levi's bike. It was lying in a ditch
on Little Mill Road, about a mile from their
home. The kickstand was folded up, and the tires
were slightly low, but that was normal for Levi's
bike. He liked a softer landing when he went
off of a ramp. According to Lacey, Her mother
didn't really have a reaction when they found
the bike. We do know that Marilyn and Lacey go
to Roman's house at about 7 .15. Roman tells
them that Levi had left around 7. Roman tells
them that he had watched his friend pedal off
down Crow Road. If Levi had taken Crow Road,
it would have been the longer route home. However,
Levi usually took the longer route. There were
some big barking dogs on the shorter way that
he liked to avoid. Marilyn decides to try the
third friend's house, the friend that Levi wanted
to have dinner with. She thought that maybe he
went to go have dinner anyway, even though she
had said no. When Marilyn arrives at the house,
she knocks on the door and waits, but nobody
comes and answers the door. She assumes that
the family must have gone out for dinner and
taken Levi with them. With that thought, she
turns around and takes her and Lacey home. Marilyn
stays up waiting, but eventually she does fall
asleep. In the early hours of Thursday, October
23rd, Marilyn wakes up around 2 a .m. She realizes
that Levi has not come home. She went back out.
She goes back to that third friend's house and
knocks on the door. But at that early hour, nobody
answers. Marilyn thinks that everyone must be
inside and asleep. She assumes that her son is
also safe inside the home, sleeping. However,
the morning didn't bring any signs of Levi. He
didn't come home, and he didn't show up for school.
By 8 .30 a .m., Marilyn decides to call the police
and report him missing. Very quickly, about 100
officers and volunteers begin searching the area
around Levi's home and where the bike was found.
They really focus on where the bike was found
first, spanning out from that area. For seven
hours, they combed thick brush and undergrowth,
but found no clues of where Levi might be. Until
around 2 .30 that afternoon. At around 2 .30,
Three hunters in the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management
Area, which was about 15 miles from where Levi
was last seen, they make a devastating discovery.
They find Levi. He is still fully clothed. He's
laying face up, but a portion of his upper body
had been submerged in water that had gathered
in a pit. About 20 feet away from the body was
a large pool of blood, and a few feet from there
was Levi's backpack. The hunters head out of
the woods and flag down a police car to report
the findings as quickly as they can. Police halt
the search for Levi and head over to the woods.
Police at first are not able to determine a cause
of death, so they decide to wait on an autopsy
before announcing anything officially. They start
searching that wooded area for clues. We do know
that they are able to collect some evidence.
For instance, we do know that they are able to
create a cast of tire tracks found in that area.
The day after finding Levi's body, Friday, October
24th, his autopsy is conducted. He had been fatally
shot. But police don't release details at this
time. They don't say how many times he had been
shot or where. Preliminary autopsy results showed
no signs of sexual assault. Ballistic experts
began working to identify the type of firearm
that was used, but again, police refused to disclose
specifics. However, after the autopsy, authorities
emphasized that Levi's death was not an accident.
It was a homicide. The rural community was reeling.
Crimes against children simply did not happen
in this area. Parents no longer let children
walk alone from bus stops, and neighbors kept
a vigilant eye on one another. Marilyn was devastated.
But this was not the first person she had lost
in this way. Her father had been shot and killed
15 years earlier, though police confirmed that
there was no connection between these two cases.
On Saturday, October 25th, police get to work
interviewing families, friends, and neighbors.
Police consider everyone a suspect but truly
believe that Levi's killer was known to him because
statistically, that is the most likely scenario.
We know that Marilyn is interviewed for hours
and she's given a polygraph test at some point.
In addition, police are also wanting to question
Levi's dad, Milton. However, Milton was laying
low. He had an outstanding warrant for burglary
charges from a few years before Levi's murder,
so he was trying to avoid the police at this
time. On Sunday, October 26, just three days
after his body was found, Levi is laid to rest.
Hundreds show up to pay respects to the little
boy, so much so that they're spilling out of
the church and into the lobby and hallways. Police
are at the funeral, and they're looking for Milton
to question him. However, Milton skips his son's
funeral out of fear of the police. On Monday,
October 27th, this is the day after the funeral,
and police are still very tight -lipped about
specifics in this case. It does seem like they
were able to determine what kind of gun was used,
but they don't give us any details. No caliber.
No casings, no bullet type, nothing. We don't
have any details about what type of gun was used.
Police continue to interview family, friends,
and neighbors, but they keep running into dead
ends. No one is emerging as a suspect at this
point. On Wednesday, October 29th, just shy of
a week of Levi's murder, and Milton turns himself
in to police. Police question him for hours,
and ultimately, they rule him out as a suspect
in his son's murder. However, they do arrest
him on the outstanding warrant and take him to
jail. We also know on this day that police are
desperate for a lead or a break in the case.
They set up roadblocks near where Levi's bike
was found and stop every car that passes by.
They ask every driver where they were on the
night that Levi was murdered and compare tires
to the tire track treads that they were able
to get from the crime scene. However, nothing
comes of this. We do know that police were able
to get other evidence. They mentioned that all
of the evidence collected is a priority at the
state lab. However, we have no details on what
kind of evidence was collected or if there were
any results, such as DNA, that was collected
as a result of the testing. On Halloween that
year, the mood is somber in Forsyth County. Levi
was not able to go as the G .I. Joe he wanted
to, and parents keep an eye on all of the trick
-or -treaters that evening. Police continued
the investigation. Police say at about a week
that they have interviewed over 200 people, but
they still don't have any leads or suspects in
the case. Investigators explored the possibility
that Levi's murder was retaliation against his
father due to past criminal involvement, but
there was no strong evidence suggesting this.
On November 5, 1997, two weeks since the murder,
police released sketches of two men they hoped
would come forward so that way they could talk
to them. One of the men does end up coming forward
and police question him and he gives some information
to police and police run it down. Nothing really
comes out of that. The man is ruled out as, you
know, any person of interest or suspect in the
case and he doesn't have anything to add that
helps Levi's case. The other man, according to
police, was seen in the Dawson Forest Wildlife
Management Area around the time of Levi's murder.
He's described as a white male. He would have
been around 45 to 55 years old. He was clean
-shaven and was around 6 foot. Slim build with
white or gray hair. The man was driving a 1980
to 1985 medium blue Toyota two -wheel drive pickup
truck with a white camper shell over the bed
of the truck. To date, police have never been
able to find this man to talk to him about Levi's
case. On November 9th, police confirm that they
believe that Levi was abducted. They believe
Levi had been taken off of his bike and driven
to the woods and then he was killed in the woods.
The family tell media that they had been told
that Levi was shot in the head. The next update
comes on December 20th, 1997, so this would be
nearly two months after Levi's murder. His family
and friends are faced with the first holiday
without him. Investigators do believe that Levi
got into the car voluntarily. They don't think
that he was forced off of his bike and into the
car. Therefore, police think that Levi recognized
the person driving the car. But beyond that,
they don't really have a lead. Levi's family
thinks this is preposterous. They don't think
that anyone in Levi's life would do this to the
little boy. On January 9th, 1998, So it's been
over two months since Levi's murder, and police
release another sketch of another person that
they would like to talk to. According to police,
around 6 .30, a witness saw a man walking along
Little Mill Road the day that Levi was abducted.
He was a white male in his late 50s with a scruffy
gray beard. He was wearing a faded blue baseball
cap and walked with a stoop. Police believe that
he could be the key to unlocking the case. They
think this man must have seen who took Levi,
since Levi's bike was found on Little Mill Road.
In June of 1998, so it's been nine months since
Levi's murder, and Marilyn talks with the media
for the first time. She says that everything
that she kind of knows about Levi's case, she
learned through the questions that police gave
her during the polygraph test. For example, she
says the police would ask her, Did you know that
Levi was shot three times? Because of this, she
believes that her son was shot three times. She
tells the media she believes it's twice in the
chest and once in the head, based off of the
questions that police had asked her. However,
really after this, the case appears to really
go cold for years. The first anniversary in October
of 1998 comes and goes without any new information.
In October of 1999, so that's the two -year anniversary,
the GBI is still working on the case. But they
say that it is one of the rarest cases they've
ever had. GBI profiler Jim Hallman says, quote,
We've never had another case in the country where
a child was taken and murdered for no apparent
reason. It's as if somebody rode down the road
and spirited him away. In April of 2000, a task
force is created following a petition from over
2 ,000 local residents asking for closure in
Levi's case. The task force does seem to get
together and work on Levi's case. They go over
all the information they have, but the GBI isn't
involved in the task force. They're invited,
but they decide not to participate. The task
force is made up of Forsyth and Dawson County
police. However, it doesn't appear that the task
force really finds any new information. In 2002,
it's been five years since Levi's murder, and
Georgia implemented an Amber Alert system named
in Levi's honor. It's called Levi's Call in Georgia.
Levi's Call has gone on to recover many abducted
children in Georgia, which is amazing. In 2017,
so that's 20 years since Levi was murdered. And
his mother reflected, quote, There's still nothing
after all this time. I've heard so many rumors.
I know that somebody knows. It has to have been
more than one person that knows. To me, it's
just mind -boggling. His twin sister, Lacey,
now has a son older than Levi ever was. But the
son brings so much joy to the family. But that
is truly all we know about Levi's murder. So
if you know anything about the murder of Levi
Frady in October of 1997, please call the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation tip line at 1 -800 -587
-8471. So that is the case of Levi Frady. When
I first read about Levi's case, the first thing
that I... I really took note of was that he was
a twin. You know, in so many cases that we cover,
most of them, you know, our victims or the people
missing, they do have siblings. You know, that's
very common, but very few of them have twins.
And for Levi to have a twin sister, something
about that bond and this tragedy happening. Like
that really devastated me in a way that like
truly I'll never understand. I am not a twin.
I don't know what that bond is like. But seeing
that bond, you know, in my friends who are twins
is always something that is very different than
any other sibling relationship that I've encountered.
And, you know, my heart just really, really goes
out to. Of course, Levi's family, but especially
his twin sister and just the heartache that the
family must feel, you know, and the juxtaposition
that must happen around, you know, birthdays.
Like, of course, it's such a sad day because
it's a year that Levi's not getting, but then
you want to celebrate for, you know, the year
that his sister is getting. I can't even imagine
what that family has gone through. And truly,
my heart goes out to them and their family and
their healing. You know, I think ultimately in
this case is we need some answers. There's no
moving on from murder cases. There's no closing
a door. You know, that's something I've heard
again and again from families. minds around it
help the community this case is mind -boggling
I think his mother said that mind -boggling like
and it is it's why I mean the biggest question
the overarching question here is just why was
Levi killed what happened there you know that
that quote from the GBI profiler about You know,
there's no other case where a child has been
murdered without motive. And, you know, I'm trying
to think of one to point to differently, but
it's like I really can't. And, you know, when
children are murdered, typically we can kind
of see a little bit of the motive there. But
in Levi's case, there's really no motive. You
know, we know he was not sexually assaulted.
It doesn't seem like he was robbed. His backpack
was there, and I don't think he had anything.
truly of value on him, you know, maybe besides
his bike, which was abandoned. You know, when
I was researching this, I thought, you know,
maybe was he hit by a car and someone panicked,
but his bike didn't seem to have any damage to
it. None that's reported. And there are even
pictures of police, you know, collecting the
bike as evidence. And, you know, there's no bent
rims. It's fine. It's a perfectly working bike.
I don't think that's happening. And then I also
thought, could this have been an accident where,
you know, we know this is a more rural area,
maybe with somebody firing their gun off, or
we do know that deer hunting season was about
to start. So, you know, could it have been, could
he have been riding past woods and somebody just
shot and accidentally hit him, but then with
him being shot three times? That's not an accident.
That's somebody pulling the trigger three times
on an 11 -year -old. So why? Why get him in a
car? Why drive him, you know, 15, 20 miles away
to the woods and then shoot him? What? Like,
you know, when you just break it down, that's
simply of just what happened. What? Why? You
know, there's no world where this 11 -year -old
boy was, like, a threat to anybody, you know,
where somebody would fear their life. You know,
it's just every, like, time I try to wrap my
mind around why somebody would do this to a little
boy, I just seem to get, like, further and further
away from what happened because it's just so
absurd. Like, what happens? Clearly, I'm... I'm
flabbergasted by this. I just really, I cannot
get over the lack of motive and police truly
don't seem to have a motive here. It leaves me
with so many questions, just so many questions
in his case. I do wonder if in, you know, the
stacks and stacks of files that have been made
on this case, which is something that's talked
about again and again is, you know, how many
filing cabinets full. All of those interviews,
did police actually talk to the killer? And,
you know, they just answered the questions correctly
to not really raise suspicion and were able to
just walk out of the police department without
raising an eyebrow? I just have to think that,
like, in this small of a community, that if you're
casting that wide of a net and talking to, you
know, So many people, I believe it's well over
200 people they talked to. You would think that
they would have crossed paths with the killer.
So I wonder if you just go back and really get
into those details and track everything you can.
Would there be some discrepancies that could
maybe give us some clues as to who did this and
why they would do this? If I could ask one question
to police, so if I just got one, I think I would
just want to know what evidence they collected
in this case. Like, what were they able to send
for testing? And I guess it's a two -parter question,
and were they ever able to get DNA? I'd be really
interested if we had any DNA in this case. You
know, 1997, it's just like kind of at that beginning
of DNA collection and using it to solve... murders
and cases. But I just feel like there's opportunity
for DNA. Specifically, my mind keeps going back
to the backpack that was found at the crime scene.
I have questions around that. And some of them
are very mundane, like, you know, just was everything
accounted for in the backpack? Like, was all
of the homework there? You know, did they have
Roman? take a look at the backpack and see if,
you know, anything was missing. Um, you know,
was there a trophy taken, you know, even something
as like that, like was anything missing, even
if it wasn't something of note, like, you know,
maybe a book or a homework or a pencil case,
you know, just was anything taken that the killer
might have taken as a trophy, as a personal memento.
Um, but yeah, my mind keeps coming back to that
backpack and just I'm wondering, like, could
that be a source of DNA? Like, was it handled
by the killer? Did they throw it out of, you
know, their car? Did they grab it, you know,
to grab Levi? I don't know why the backpack comes
so much into, you know, the front of my mind.
I think it's because it's one of the few things
we actually have in this case. I think that's
why I kind of cling to it. And then another thing
I would just want to know is, What kind of gun
was used? And I'm really surprised they didn't
at least say the caliber at the time. You know,
in rural communities, people tend to have guns
and they tend to have more than one gun. But,
you know, listing out what kind of, you know,
millimeter maybe was used, that could be information
that someone might recognize. You know, if it's
a more unique thing, like a .44 caliber, not
a... Not every person has those, so maybe that
limits it a little bit. Yeah, I just, I really
wonder just what evidence we have, like what
are the solid facts we have in this case, just
because there's so many questions out there.
For me, personally, I have so many questions
in this case. But I do hope that in all the evidence
that was collected, that there was something
that maybe, if not tested then, we can test now.
This case does feel solvable. You know, it wasn't
that long ago. It was in 1997. And it was such
a unique crime to this area that I think a lot
of people really remember it. And I think they
remember details about their life at that time
and their community at that time. So I really
hope that we are able to get some answers in
this case for... first and foremost for Levi's
family, but also for this community that got
rocked by a child's murder, a very senseless,
all child murders are senseless. There's no reason
a child's life should ever be taken. But like
in Levi's case, it's like, this is completely
senseless. We have no sense. You know, we have
nothing to point to, to even be like, that is
why they did. Like, it's just, it's mind boggling.
To quote his mom again, mind -boggling. But yeah,
I would really love to see justice in this case,
and I would just love to have someone answer
for what they did and to be held accountable.
So again, if you know anything about the murder
of Levi Frady in October of 1997, please call
the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tip line
at 1 -800 -587 - 8471. We will have pictures
of Levi up on our Instagram at coldandmissing.
And we'll also have those suspect, not suspect,
but the witness sketches. I can't believe I didn't
talk about this in the wrap -up portion. But
yeah, the witness sketches. We will have that
on our Instagram too. These two men who were
seen in... very important area so near where
the bike was abandoned and then where near where
Levi's body was found these two men were seen
we have some really great sketches of what these
men would have looked like in 1997 so somebody
should be able to recognize them one man recognized
himself from the sketches and like came forward
with whatever information he had and it wasn't
a lot but Somebody should be able to recognize
these people, family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances.
Somebody knows them. So we will have that up
on our Instagram too. And hopefully somebody
recognized them and is able to call police and
they're able to connect. And we're able to get
some information in this case and get answers
for Levi. But we will have pictures of Levi,
those witness sketches. was also able to find
a picture of his bike. So we'll put that up as
well at our Instagram, at coldandmissing. If
you're not following us, please do give us a
follow. We always update if we ever have to miss
a week. We always put it on our Instagram. So
follow us there for updates in the case. And
then we are always posting just other true crime
things that are happening. So active missing
person cases or cold cases that are getting solved,
all that stuff. So it's a great resource if you
like a little true crime. Also, as I mentioned
at the top, rating and reviewing us does help
others find this podcast. It lets people try
out our podcast. A lot of people won't try a
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really does mean so much and it just gets these
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in your reviews that these are lesser known cases.
even more reason for them to get out there. So
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Thank you. Thank you so much. And if you or someone
you love is hard of hearing, we have official
transcripts on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com. But that is all I have for you this week.
Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing.
I'm your host, Ali. Have a good week and stay
safe, y 'all.