Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

In December 1978, 18-year-old Debra Sue Wilt Reiding and her new husband, Robert, arrived in Austin, Texas, after leaving their small Montana hometown in search of warmer weather and better opportunities. Married just weeks earlier, the couple settled into a modest apartment in South Austin, where Robert worked for a relative and Debra found employment at a nearby restaurant. Despite their financial struggles, the newlyweds were building a life together and looking forward to their future.  

On January 22, 1979, less than two months after their arrival, Robert returned home from work to find his wife brutally murdered in their bedroom. Debra had been bound, gagged, and strangled, with shallow cuts inflicted on her neck and shoulder. The disturbing circumstances of her death baffled Austin homicide detectives, who found no signs of forced entry, no witnesses, and little evidence pointing to her killer.   

Throughout the 1970s, Austin had experienced a series of violent, seemingly motiveless murders that investigators described as "faceless crimes." Debra's death bore troubling similarities to several unsolved killings of young women in South and Southwest Austin, prompting detectives to explore possible connections. Despite their efforts, the investigation stalled, and Debra's murder remained unsolved for decades.  

In 2013, renewed attention from the Austin Police Department's Cold Case Unit brought fresh scrutiny to a former coworker who had been questioned during the original investigation. Advancements in forensic testing eventually led to a DNA match, and in 2019, an arrest appeared to bring Debra's family closer to answers after forty years.  

But the case took an unexpected turn when questions surrounding the evidence threatened the prosecution, leaving Debra Sue Reiding's murder unresolved once again.

If you have any information about the murder of Debra Reiding, please call the Austin Police homicide tip line at (512) 477-3588, the Homicide Unit at (512) 974-5210, or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at (512) 472-8477. 

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In 1975, Austin, Texas, was experiencing rapid growth and cultural change, bringing new challenges for a police department already struggling with an increasing number of violent crimes that seemed to have no witnesses, no clear motives, and few promising leads. Investigators had a name for the troubling phenomenon: “faceless crime.”

On February 10, 1975, 21-year-old Phyllis Lee Callison Butto was found brutally stabbed to death inside the southwest Austin apartment she shared with her husband, an airman stationed at Bergstrom Air Force Base. The violence of the attack shocked even veteran investigators. Despite an intensive investigation, police struggled to establish a motive or identify a suspect.

Four and a half months later, on June 23, 25-year-old Martha Lynn Read disappeared while showing a vacant apartment to a prospective tenant at a nearby complex she managed. Her body was discovered a little more than an hour later. Like Phyllis, Martha had suffered a vicious knife attack that left investigators searching for answers.

The similarities between the murders were difficult to ignore. Both victims were young, married women who managed apartment complexes, both had husbands serving in the Air Force, and both were killed during the morning hours in southwest Austin.

As detectives pursued witness accounts, suspicious encounters involving other apartment managers, and possible connections between the crimes, the investigation grew increasingly complicated. What initially appeared to be two isolated acts of violence raised disturbing questions about whether someone was deliberately targeting women working in Austin's apartment communities.

Despite numerous leads, public appeals, and mounting investigative files, the murders of Phyllis Butto and Martha Read remained unsolved.

If you have any information about the 1975 murders of Phyllis Butto or Martha Read, please call the Austin Police homicide tip line at (512) 477-3588, the Homicide Unit at (512) 974-5210, or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at (512) 472-8477.

You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast

Find us at https://www.gonecold.com

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By 1983, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie’s grandson Colby had spent more than two years seeking answers about their reported encounter. Their account had reached national television, attracted civilian investigators, and prompted official inquiries. Continuing health complaints kept the search personal, while the helicopters they described remained central to their belief that the government knew what had happened.

Claims of inside knowledge offered possible explanations. Air Force special agent Richard Doty and UFO author William Moore became sources of information about an alleged experimental aircraft. But evaluating those stories required more than military connections or assurances of secrecy. Attorney Peter Gersten and investigator John Schuessler sought supporting material as the family’s efforts moved toward federal court.

Legal proceedings unfolded alongside medical appointments, mounting expenses, and further television appearances. Betty continued receiving treatment in Alabama. Vickie sought assistance as her eyesight affected her ability to work. Colby faced health complaints, frightening memories, and the attention that followed being publicly associated with a UFO encounter.

As the years passed, the case accumulated another history: the history of how it was told. Newspaper articles, documentaries, anonymous tips, and dramatic reconstructions introduced competing explanations. Questions arose about the roadway, the car, and the witnesses’ recollections. Early interview notes and recordings became important in distinguishing details reported near the beginning from interpretations attached later.

Betty and Vickie continued writing officials and speaking publicly, maintaining that information about the encounter could matter to their medical care. Their experiences became part of a wider debate about military secrecy, witness credibility, and the reliability of purported government sources. For the people who had been inside the Oldsmobile, however, the questions remained rooted in one night and its consequences.

Part three of three.

Happy Halloween!

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In the months after their December 1980 encounter on a rural road in southeast Texas, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie’s grandson Colby continued living with its effects. Medical appointments, persistent health concerns, and Colby’s fear of helicopters kept that night close. For Betty and Vickie, finding out what they had seen was tied to another question: whether someone could explain what had happened to their health.

An unexpected conversation at a helicopter display in Dayton became one of several leads pursued by aerospace engineer John Schuessler. His investigation focused heavily on the aircraft the witnesses described surrounding the unidentified object. Tracing those helicopters meant contacting military installations, questioning pilots, and comparing accounts from people who had been elsewhere in the area that night.

By August 1981, the search had brought Betty, Vickie, and Colby to Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin. They arrived with questions about medical testing, military responsibility, and where they could turn for help. Their efforts also drew the attention of Texas health officials, whose work introduced a separate examination of the reported encounter and its possible consequences.

As the story reached national television, more people became involved. Additional witnesses described helicopters and unusual lights over southeast Texas. An Army inquiry examined possible military participation, while physicians and researchers considered the medical information available to them. The accounts, records, and interpretations did not always align.

Through 1982, Betty and Vickie continued seeking treatment and pursuing answers. Questions about the roadway, the helicopters, and the nature of their reported injuries became increasingly intertwined with the question of responsibility. What had begun as an attempt to understand a frightening drive home was becoming a prolonged effort to navigate medical uncertainty, government offices, public attention, and the first steps toward a legal claim.

Part two of three.

Happy Halloween!

You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast

Find us at https://www.gonecold.com

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On the night of December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie’s six-year-old grandson, Colby, were traveling along a remote stretch of road through the Piney Woods of southeast Texas. What began as an ordinary evening out would become one of the most disturbing and controversial reported UFO encounters in American history.

While driving between New Caney and Huffman, the three noticed an unusual glow through the trees. Within minutes, they found themselves confronted by an enormous, brilliantly illuminated object hovering above the roadway. The intense heat, deafening sounds, and terrifying appearance of the unidentified craft left them fearing for their lives. Even more puzzling was the presence of numerous helicopters that appeared in the sky shortly afterward, seemingly following the mysterious object.

But the ordeal did not end when Betty, Vickie, and Colby finally made it home. All three soon experienced troubling symptoms of a strange illness, and Betty's condition deteriorated so severely that she required prolonged hospitalization. As doctors struggled to determine what had caused her injuries, the women feared that revealing what they had witnessed would only invite ridicule and disbelief.

Eventually, their account reached UFO researchers, including aerospace engineer John Schuessler, whose investigation would bring new attention to the reported encounter. Interviews, medical records, and examinations of the isolated roadway raised questions about what had happened that December night and whether there was evidence beyond the witnesses' extraordinary testimony.

The Cash-Landrum Incident would ultimately become a case involving not only an unidentified aerial phenomenon, but also allegations of military involvement, unexplained illnesses, and a search for answers that would continue for years. At the heart of it were three people whose lives had been profoundly altered by an experience they could neither explain nor forget. Was it a hoax, a secret military maneuver, or something else entirely?

Part one of three.

Happy Halloween!

You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast

Find us at https://www.gonecold.com

For Gone Cold merch, visit https://gonecold.dashery.com

Follow gone cold on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Search @gonecoldpodcast at all or just click https://linknbio.com/gonecoldpodcast

#CashLandrum #HoustonTX #Texas #TX #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #Unsolved #MissingPerson #Missing #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #MysteryPodcast #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #Disappearance #Vanished #UFO

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gone-cold-texas-true-crime--3203003/support.