Advertise on podcast: Tracking a Killer: The Cold Case Files

Alberta Khan was a mother of two young children who was killed during a robbery at her family’s convenience store in Markham, Ontario in 1997. Witnesses report seeing two males in the area shortly afterwards, but they have never been identified.

32-year-old Toronto mother of one, Irma Galastica, went missing in August of 2024. Investigators say they believe she was in the Burlington/Hamilton area before she disappeared. She has never been found.

40-year-old April Dobson was sitting on a co-worker’s porch in Barrie, Ontario on October 14th, 2005 enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers and some wine when shots rang out. The mother of one was struck in the head and died at the scene. The person who fired the gun that killed April has never been arrested.

University of Toronto student Elizabeth Bain disappeared from Scarborough, Ontario in 1990. Her boyfriend Robert Baltovich spent nearly a decade behind bars for her murder, but he was found not guilty in a retrial in 2008. Baltovich says they had the wrong guy and he wants to set the record straight.

It looked like a single vehicle crash, but it wasn't. It was a homicide. 56-year-old William "Billy" Neil was found shot dead in his vehicle on a road near Kingston, Ontario on February 14th, 1992. His killer has never been identified.

36-year-old mother of three Diane Dobson disappeared on February 14th, 1995. The next day her body was discovered in a ditch at Windsor's Brighton Beach. Police say they believe there may have been two people involved in this homicide, but they have never been identified.

21-year-old Margaret McWilliam went for a run in her neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario on August 27th, 1987. She never returned home. Investigators say her body was found the next day in a nearby park. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Her killer has never been found.

Just because a case is cold, doesn’t mean it’s closed. Tracking a Killer: The Cold Case Files returns for a fourth season with CityNews's Madison Fitzpatrick and News680's Fil Martino shining a light on eight cold cases. This season includes a look at a single vehicle crash near Kingston, Ontario in 1992 that turned into a murder investigation,  the violent death of a Windsor mother of three and the 2005 death of a woman in Barrie, Ontario woman who was shot while sitting on a friend's front porch. Plus, students at Guelph-Humber have been examining police files on the disappearance 34 years ago of Elizabeth Bain which led to the wrongful conviction of her boyfriend, Robert Baltovich. The new season of Tracking a Killer: The Cold Case Files launches February 2nd, 2026.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection calls it case fraught with a lot of sadness. 16-year-old high school student Mistie Murray disappeared from Goderich, Ontario on May 31st, 1995. Her adoptive father was charged with murder. He was acquitted in 1997. Mistie has never been found.

Michael Nigris was shot and killed in the Oshawa, Ontario plaza parking lot where he worked on March 30th, 2023. Durham Regional Police say they have been able to locate two individuals they believe were involved in his murder, but there have never been any arrests in this case. His sister says this is not going to be a cold case and they will exhaust every resource they have to get justice.

15-year-old Sharmini Anandavel left her Toronto apartment on June 12, 1999 after telling her parents she was headed out to see about a new job. She never returned. Months later her remains were found in Finch East Park. Police had a suspect early on, but there has never been an arrest in this case.

Unidentified human remains were discovered on July 16, 1980, in the area of Steeles  and Concession in Markham. For over 40 years the identity of the person was unknown, but with the use of genetic genealogy the remains were identified in 2023 as belonging to William Pennell. The 26-year-old had escaped from a correctional facility in Kingston.

21-year-old Patrick Santos’ body was found in the backyard of his father’s Scarborough, Ontario home on September 17, 2006. His hands and feet were bound and tape was wrapped around his head. Police say he had been beaten and suffocated. His mother is looking for answers all these years later and still seeks justice for her son.

24-year-old Alberta Williams from Vancouver, British Columbia disappeared in August of 1989 after being out with friends at a bar in Prince Rupert where she had been doing some seasonal work. Three weeks after her disappearance her body was found  on Highway 16. A missing person's case became a homicide.

See it. Say it. Stop it. The Crime Stoppers program offers anonymity to anyone providing information of significant use or leading to an arrest, but how effective is it when it comes to cold cases? In this bonus episode we talk to Sean Sportun, Chair of Toronto Crime Stoppers who says the program is 100 per cent relevant.