The Trail Went Cold - Episode 438 - Mike Hearon and Barbara Bolick

August 23, 2008. Blount County, Tennessee. After leaving his condo in Maryville, 51-year old Mike Hearon drives to his rural farm with plans to mow the lawn and some neighbours see him driving away from his residence on his ATV. Mike vanishes without a trace and the abandoned ATV is eventually found on a steep hill located a mile from his property. Mike’s family suspects that he may have stumbled upon something he wasn’t supposed to see and became the victim of foul play, but there is no evidence to work with and Mike is never found. 

July 18, 2007. Ravalli County, Montana. 55-year old Barbara Bolick goes hiking in the Bitterroot Mountains on the Bear Creek Overlook Trail alongside a friend named Jim Ramaker. According to Jim, they were headed back down the trail together when he stopped at a scenic overview, but even though he only took his eyes off Barbara for about a minute, Jim claims that she vanished without a trace and he was unable to find her. A massive search effort fails to turn up any trace of Barbara and while Jim is not considered to be a suspect in her disappearance, there is no evidence to explain what happened.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two baffling missing persons cases involving victims who seemingly vanished into thin air in remote areas.

if you have any information on the disappearance of Mike Hearon, please contact the Blount County Sheriff’s Office at (865) 273-5000. If you have any information about the disappearance of Barbara Bolick, please contact the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office at (406) 375-4005.

Join us on Saturday, July 5 at 8:00pm ET for an online streaming marathon where we will be watching classic segments from “Unsolved Mysteries”. You can enter our screening room by clicking on this link.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/michael-edwin-hearon

https://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/50-volunteers-join-search-for-missing-maryville-man-ep-411119166-359796801.html/?page=1

https://www.thedailytimes.com/news/family-of-missing-man-still-searching/article_26118160-9967-54c5-8f13-1aed52c1a285.html

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/aug/27/missing-man-still-mystery-4-years-after/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/128530073/

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/mike-hearon-man-missing-in-the-mountains/51-354008626

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/special-reports/the-vanished/vanished-mike-hearon-missing-in-the-moutains/51-d4855ea8-13ba-4710-a534-0ce8f1dc8441

https://parkpredators.com/the-local/

https://charleyproject.org/case/barbara-assunta-bolick

https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/ground-search-for-missing-woman-suspendedposted-on-aug/article_623e4d47-a337-5984-bfa5-aa64697c3439.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/411502280/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/352194122/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/352194127/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/352194122/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/352194127/

https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/missing-bitterroot-woman-still-a-mystery

"The Trail Went Cold" will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20, 2025. To get a 20 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “ROBIN20”, by visiting https://www.truecrimepodcastfestival.com/. 

“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 produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.