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 and is intended for a mature
audience.
Listener discretion is advised.
Welcome back everyone.
Welcome to Cold and Missing.
I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin.
I am your other host, Eli Sulkowski.
We are husband and wife and I do the research.
Eli brings the reactions.
That's not true.
You play a very important role.
I'm also, I'm making a movie right now.
We don't need to talk about that, but I'm a busy guy.
Yeah, you're a busy guy.
You have a lot of side hustles.
Hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle.
But no, I do the research, bring you the story and Eli's here listening for the first time
and reacting and being an active listener with you all.
So, yeah, that's Cold and Missing.
That's where we're at.
What episode is this?
This is eight, if I'm not mistaken.
Ocho.
Wow.
Sweet.
Two months we've been doing this.
Yeah.
Hell yeah, brother.
Yeah.
Wow.
That's really cool.
I'm very proud of you, honey.
Thank you.
It's been my goal just to get past that 10 episode hump.
A lot of podcasts will have what's called pod fade.
So there's a lot of podcasts-
What's that, the honeymoon phase?
Yeah.
So there's a lot of podcasts out there in the world.
This is when you start seeing the underwear on the floor.
Yeah.
Yeah, the dishes in the sink.
You start to notice.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So a lot of podcasts start to fade.
And a lot don't make it past their 10th episode.
So that's my goal, make it past 10.
I want to make it way past 10, but as of right now, those are short term goals.
Yeah, wow.
That made my heart sink a little bit.
I was like, what the hell is she saying?
I don't know this plan.
She's saying it on the air.
It's live.
It's not live.
It's not.
They know that.
Wow, giggly.
This is our first time recording at night, so we're a little tired.
Yeah.
Yeah, we've had a full day.
So this is interesting.
We're coming to you Sunday night.
This will drop tomorrow, Monday.
Sunday night.
Eli and I went to Monster Trucks recently.
So there's been a lot of announcer voice in the house.
And also, by the way, if you've never been to a Monster Truck rally, go.
Go.
What are you waiting for?
Yeah.
So you don't need to know a single thing about Monster Trucks to get into it immediately.
I knew nothing and immediately was like, OK, I get it.
They're big and they're doing stuff.
But I got the racing and the freestyle.
They're like bears on wheels.
Yeah, the handstand thing they're doing.
I got it.
I kept up.
And shout out to our friend Keaton, who is an announcer for Monster Jam.
And she hooked us up with tickets.
So if you're listening, thank you.
Yeah, thank you, Keaton.
You.
Hooray.
Yeah, it's so cool.
Shout out to Keaton.
Shout out to Monster Trucks.
A big shout out to Trucks.
Because they're so big.
Do you remember what we're on this week?
Missing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You got it.
So we're on Missing this week.
It's a 50-50 chance every week.
Yeah, so you got that going for you.
True or false?
Wowie.
So we are covering Joanna Gino Wright.
And this takes place December 18, 2016.
I'm going to call Joanna by Jino because that is the name that she went by.
And just like a quick note at the top here about pronouns.
She is a part of the LGBT community and is a proud stud, her words.
And so I just did a lot of digging on her Facebook just to make sure I was using the
correct pronouns.
And I saw videos where she was referring to herself as she her.
So I will use those pronouns throughout our podcast today.
Jino is 33 years old when this takes place in 2016.
But as of today in 2022, she would be 38 years old.
And this takes place in the Marquette Park neighborhood on the south side of Chicago.
A little bit of background information about her.
She's an LGBT activist and a proud stud.
She worked as a hairstylist specializing in braids and locks and had lived in the Marquette
neighborhood for 30 years and was well known and well liked by the community.
Hell yeah.
She also goes by the name Jojo and Doo Wop.
Wow.
Incredible nicknames.
Jino, Jojo and Doo Wop.
I would take any of those.
I know.
Great nickname.
I'm like, yeah, call me Jino.
What's up Jino?
Like what a great, it's a great name to shout.
Yeah.
Everyone wants a friend named Jino
For sure.
At the time of her disappearance, she was five foot two, a hundred pounds.
She had brown hair that she wore in locks, but the ends were dyed a really bright red.
Cool.
Yeah.
Brown eyes and lots of tattoos all over her body, but both of her sleeves or both of her
arms had tattoo sleeves on them.
And so a couple of her more noticeable tattoos out there for our listeners to be aware.
On one of her arms, she has the name Londa below two rainbow venus's, the name Joseph,
red orange, yellow, green and purple stars, swirls, a rose on her chest.
She has the name Mary and then 1936 through 2009 underneath it.
And then she has a tattoo on her throat as well.
And I couldn't quite make out what it is, but there's definitely like a number two that's
very large and centered on her throat.
It's very noticeable and then some words around it, but I couldn't quite make out the words
from the photographs that I was looking at, but it's a large number two.
So let's get into it.
Let's do it.
So December 18th, 2016, Jino was walking home from a friend's house on 63rd Avenue between
Rockwell and Tallman and 63rd for those unfamiliar with Chicago or with this area in Chicago.
This is a very busy street.
There's a major bus that runs along it.
The 63 bus runs along it and there's actually a bus stop within this block that we're talking
about and there's also a very large senior assisted living center that runs along several
blocks, but also includes this block that we're talking about.
So very busy intersection, lots of traffic.
At around 1 45 PM, a blue 2015 2016 Mazda pulls up next to Jino as she's walking home.
The blue Mazda has Ohio plates on it.
So three men jump out and attempt to throw Jino into the car.
Jino is yelling for help and trying to fight three men off while this is happening.
I know my heart is racing.
Yeah, I'm like this is like, well, I'm speaking from before my medical transition.
Well, I guess it's still now, but I think it's most women's worst fear.
And I guess it's still mine too.
So it's really, it hit me like, oh, my body immediately responded.
Yeah.
Every time I read it, like my heart races.
So three men are attempting to pull her into this car, but she's fighting them off.
And then possibly a fourth man or one of the men, it's unclear if it's three or four men,
but possibly a fourth man hits her in the head and throws her in the car.
Yeah.
So they get her into the car and witnesses see Jino being abducted because it's 1 45
in the afternoon.
It is during the middle of the day.
No one did anything.
Well, immediately 9-1-1 is called.
So police are there quickly, but nobody intercepted as she's fighting.
Why?
I don't know.
I don't know if maybe people saw like, you know, at the old folks home.
So they were like inside, like up several flights of stairs.
So like the quickest thing they could do was call 9-1-1.
Like they couldn't, I don't know if there was nobody out on the streets.
I don't know what you would think cars would pull over.
You would think that.
Um, yeah.
And again, it's December, so not a lot of people are outside.
It's colder.
Yeah, but, but witnesses see it.
Oh, oh, she, she is like screaming for help when this happens.
So I know, I know.
Investigators will attempt to track Jino by using her cell phone, but the last location
for the phone is where she's abducted from.
They probably immediately turned it off.
That's what I'm assuming.
Um, it, it's unclear.
I could never find, um, again, like other cases that we've gone over before, there's
not a lot of information out there about this.
Sometimes there's missing pieces to our puzzle because, because they are, there are cases
that are on, they're cold and missing.
Like we don't have it.
Pieces are going to be missing.
Exactly.
So, and I mean, our hope is that somebody out there knows something.
Yeah.
Hopefully one of you has a missing piece or knows someone who knows someone who has a missing
piece, you know, that's like why we're doing this.
Yeah.
It's unclear if her cell phone is retrieved from that location.
If maybe it's dropped and that's why it's pinged or if it's immediately shut off.
Uh, unclear, but the last location it pings is the place she is abducted from.
This happens December 18th, Christmas and New Year's will come and go.
And there's not a lot of reports about it or what's happening.
But in January, January 11th, actually the family will gather to pass out flyers and
to get the word out about her being missing and her abduction.
And police at this point are not calling it a kidnapping.
And as of 2022, in their description of her case and like her last known whereabouts,
they'll say that she was possibly abducted.
To me, it's an abduction.
If somebody is yelling help and being forced into a vehicle where I'm sitting, that's
an abduction.
Yeah.
I'm going to go ahead and say yeah to that.
As of January, 2017.
So this would just be a few weeks after Jino went missing, but we're in a new year now.
Police are gathering security video in the area because again, it's 2017.
There is a lot of good security footage out there.
And this is again, a busy road for our listeners out there that follow us on Instagram.
I'm going to include some Google Earth images that I mean, it'll show you even if you're
completely unfamiliar with Chicago that this is a busy road and it would be wild to think
about somebody being abducted in broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon and it's still
go this far with nothing.
And as of January, 2017, the alderman for the ward will offer a $500 reward for information.
And then there's not a lot of updates.
The next update that I could really find happens November 15th of 2017.
Your birthday.
That stuff always happens on my birthday.
I know October, November, December always has like wild stuff happening.
I know I remember like, I think from like some of the like classic serial killers who
don't need any more attention.
They tend tended to kill a lot around my birthday.
Hey, didn't you know I was going to be born 40 years later?
How could you?
The drama.
So yeah, almost a year later on November 15, 2017, police confirm that they have located
the car that they believe was used in the abduction of Gino.
But there was no trace of Jino anywhere in the car.
And I saw one report that the vehicle with the Ohio license plates, this 2015, 2016 Mazda,
that it could possibly have been a rental car.
So it'd be like professionally cleaned in between uses and stuff.
Right.
Yeah.
And there would be like hundreds of like fingerprints and stuff.
Yeah.
But there should be a pretty clear record of who had the car on that date.
You know?
Yeah.
So and that's, yeah.
No report of who rented the car, if it was a rental car, even if it was a rental car.
But yeah, and it could have been a rental that was stolen.
Yeah, there's a lot of possibilities about this car.
But police confirmed that they seem to have located it, but there was no trace of Jino
with the car.
And so at the one year mark, December 16, 2017, or around the one year mark, I should
say, family hold a vigil for Jino.
At the vigil, the family of Marlo, I think it's pronounced Gully.
I'm going to look more into this.
His family is also there.
And Marlo is a friend of Jino.
And Marlo goes missing within blocks of where Jino was last seen on October 9, 2017.
So less than a year later.
And like I said, Marlo and Jino were friends and knew each other.
Yeah.
So his family is there to support and to be with Jino's family.
But then they are also joined by the family of Shanti Bohannan.
And she went missing within blocks, July 23, 2016.
So that's five months before Jino.
And yeah, disappeared within blocks of Jino and Marlo.
And her body is later found in a trash can in an abandoned building.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
And the case is still unsolved.
So Jino, Marlo, and Shanti all knew each other according to community members.
So they all seem to have known each other, but Marlo and Jino knew each other the best.
Like they are in like Facebook photos together, that kind of thing.
Wow.
Oh shit.
Yeah.
So community believe- In a trash can.
I know.
Well, there's also, and I think I'm going to cover like this stuff and Marlo as well,
because they are both unresolved.
So I think I'm going to cover them kind of right after this as like part of a little
series because they all do seem to be connected.
So also the Chicago Strangler theory and two of those bodies were found in trash cans.
So I want to like look into it all a little bit more.
Yeah.
I think that, I definitely think that we should.
And I have a feeling that some of our listeners will want to like maybe go on that navigational
journey with us.
Yeah.
So community members believe that all of these deaths are connected, but police have never
confirmed or denied this.
And then to quote a community member, Dawn Valenti, quote, we know that something is
happening over here, that people just keep disappearing over here, end quote.
Sierra Mobley, who was Jino's girlfriend at the time, is also quoted as saying, God is
the only one to have the last say, no matter what they could be doing to her, if he's not
ready for her to come home, he won't send for her, end quote.
But that's it.
What?
That's it.
That's all that I could find on Jino.
And I know we discussed this before when we talked about Trevelle Henley, who is missing
in Columbus, Ohio.
You know, Jino is a young black gay woman, you know?
And there was no real big media coverage when she was abducted.
Yeah.
I'm like, I'm like embarrassed that I don't know about this.
Yeah.
Almost like I have that feeling like, I don't know.
Well, yeah.
I mean, it's Chicago, you know, this is my city.
Yeah.
You know, like how do I not?
It's our city.
And you know, we're part of the queer community.
Yeah, exactly.
And it's, you know, how could this happen to somebody in our community, you know, and
us not know about it?
Yeah.
I mean, it's like the whole, like, if she had been a young white woman who was being
grabbed off of the sidewalk in the middle of the day, it just like, I don't think would
have happened the same way.
No.
Well, I mean, we almost have like a direct comparison.
There were those recent attempted kidnappings in the West Loop, West town area of Chicago.
Yeah.
You know, but they were attempts.
They were attempts because the women I believe were white that were being attempted to be
abducted, but people intervened every time.
Yeah.
It's like, see, that's what I'm saying.
I guess.
Sad that like somebody was asking for help and nobody came, screaming for help and nobody
came even though there were people there.
Yeah.
I mean, that happened to me on the train when they grabbed my shit.
I was on a train filled with people and nobody came over.
Like, yeah, folks, a lot of the time folks don't intervene when they should.
Yeah.
It's that theory of like every day you are going to like pay a price for like being quiet
or for being brave, you know?
Like there's always like a cost and it's like, what am I going to pay for today?
And most people like, I will pay to be quiet, to just like not engage.
Yeah.
To not be involved.
Yeah.
Sorry.
I didn't mean to pull the focus over to me.
It just like, I know it's the exact same, but that experience of like yelling for help
and seeing other people and like thinking like, why is the help not happening?
And like having that thought while you are in the moment of the danger.
That's where like the worst nightmare is coming through is like, not only is this happening,
it's almost like in a dream, you know, when you're like trying to stop what's happening
and it won't, but like you know that you can.
That's like what was going through my mind also in this situation while I was being attacked,
which is like a whole other level of trauma, you know?
So what are our sources?
Is there anything that, anyway, we can be helpful or similar listeners or sources and
stuff?
Yeah.
So we have some sources for today's story, The Charlie Project, ABC 7 News, Disappeared
Blog, R Black Girls, CBS Chicago, NBC 5 Chicago, Gino's Own Facebook and Gino's Family's Facebook
and then WGN 9 Chicago.
So if our listeners know anything about the disappearance, the abduction of Joanna Jino
Wright, they are encouraged to call the Chicago Police Department at 312-747-8380.
Thank you all so much for listening.
Yeah, we cannot say enough how much joy it is bringing us to like watch the following
numbers grow and not just because that's awesome, but like because that means more eyes on these
cases that really deserve the attention.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
More eyes and ears.
Yes.
Yeah.
Being able to bring light to cases that aren't as well known and especially that are unsolved.
Like, I know this has been talked about a lot recently, especially with the Dahlmer
documentaries dropping on Netflix or the Ryan Murphy documentary type thing.
It's not like a true documentary, but biopic, whatever.
You know, about the ethics of true crime as a genre and what that means, like the content
that you're consuming, right?
Like it's somebody's worst day.
It's a family's worst day.
And you know, that sucks.
It sucks that sometimes families are forced to relive that trauma over and over without
consenting to it.
Yeah.
And I think, you know, from our perspective, since we haven't experienced something, you
know, exactly like that, like that sucks is like putting it as lightly as possible.
Yeah.
Like, yeah, I just like, we talked about it.
Like I couldn't imagine like, you know, putting on something like Dahlmer and being like,
that's my sibling being murdered right now.
Yeah.
That's like that.
Yeah.
So, you know, here at Cold and Missing, we just do cold cases that still need answers
and unresolved missing person cases.
And part of when I'm researching these cases, I always look to see like, is the family still
really active in this search and like, are they still wanting answers?
Because if there are recent reports of them asking for media attention, then for sure,
like yeah, for sure cover it.
And we feel good about that.
Ali does, well, first of all, she does very extensive research across the board, but she
makes it a point to make sure that, you know, privacy is respected.
Sometimes families, they don't want it brought up again, even if it's cold or missing.
So Ellie makes sure that these are cases that people still want public attention on.
Yeah.
So, I don't know if you've been thinking about like your true crime ethics recently, if all
the discourse has got you thinking about it.
I just want to be forthcoming with where I'm sitting and like where I'm pulling my cases
from and my motivation behind it.
I'm never wanting to shock and awe you.
I'm just genuinely trying to get all the information out to give as complete of a timeline as possible
to try to get memories jogging and tips flowing.
Yeah.
I understand crimes in a timeline fashion, so that's how they're always presented.
I hope you like it too.
I love it.
Yeah.
You're doing great.
Yeah.
And with that, thank you so much.
We will post pictures of Gino and the road where the abduction took place on our Instagram,
which is at Cold and Missing.
I also started a TikTok.
It was very complicated for me.
I was very embarrassed to do it.
I was glad I had the house to myself.
Oh my gosh.
It was like being in a nursing home.
I was like, well, how do you get the thing to come up?
I was Ali's orderly for the TikTok.
Truly.
Teaching.
So, you can find us on there too.
I'm sure we'll only get better and better as I learn what all the buttons are.
It doesn't... When you're as hilarious as you are, you really don't have to do much,
honestly.
Oh, but that's for your personal... The Cold and Missing TikTok is not hilarious, but Ali's
personal TikTok is.
Please differentiate the two because we just talked about how we are respectful.
Yeah.
I'm like, it's hilarious.
On our Instagram page, you can buy us a coffee.
Thank you so much.
Someone bought us five coffees last week.
Yes.
Wow.
They did it anonymously.
Aw, cute.
Yeah.
Thank you so much.
We really appreciate it.
Wow.
That makes you think.
I know.
It was so cool.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
So, thank you.
Thank you so much.
If you would like to leave a little tip for us, buy us a coffee, that link is in our Instagram
bio.
Of course, please like, subscribe.
We got some new reviews this week, just some five stars.
Thank you so much to everyone who's left a review.
We appreciate it so much.
Yeah.
Our faces, after we see that more people are listening and are getting involved, our faces
at the end of those conversations hurt because we're, Ali and I are just smiling at each
other.
Yeah.
It just feels like we're on the precipice of something really great.
I'm so proud of the little community we're building.
That's really great.
Thanks, honey.
It's really great.
Yeah.
I'm just so proud of the community that's being built and the True Crime community,
the True Crime podcast community has been so great and so welcoming.
Yeah.
What up, weirdos?
Sleuths.
Yeah.
Yeah, but that's all we got.
Have a great week, y'all.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening.
Bye.