logo
episode-header-image
Jul 3
37m 11s

The Murders of Kathy Perry and Rhonda Tr...

AUDIOCHUCK
About this episode

In a nine-month span between 1986 and 1987, two women were found brutally slain in the same Rhode Island city. Investigators believed that the first was abducted from the side of the road on her way home from work in the middle of the night, while the second appeared to get into an unknown vehicle voluntarily. Both were found a few miles away from the locations they were last seen alive, cruelly discarded in industrial areas.

Decades later, thanks to creative contemporary investigative strategies led by a bullish cold case detective, the cases were reenergized, producing new leads, new evidence, and a new suspect who had been right under the noses of law enforcement all along

  • If you have any information relating to the 1986 murder of Kathy Perry or the 1987 murder of Rhonda Travers in Warwick, Rhode Island, please contact the Warwick Police Department Detective Division at (401) 468-4233. You can also share information with retired Warwick PD Sgt. Fred Pierce via the Kathy Perry Facebook page. Any information shared with Sgt. Pierce will be forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

View source material and photos for this episode at: darkdowneast.com/kathyperry-rhondatravers

Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.

Up next
Jun 26
The Murder of Walter Page (New Hampshire)
Walter Page was a longtime member of the Freemasons in Manchester, New Hampshire. As treasurer of his local lodge, Walter had overseen the philanthropic efforts of their chapter for years, and he had also helped sort out the mess following more than one major financial theft. In ... Show More
33m 36s
Jun 19
REMEMBERING: The Disappearance of Kristopher Bryan Lewis
On this date two years ago, I released an episode about the disappearance of Kristopher Bryan Lewis. Kris was just 13 years old when he seemingly vanished after school one day. In February of 2025, marking the 11-year anniversary of his disappearance, the National Center for Miss ... Show More
28m 13s
Jun 12
The Murder of Kenneth "Kenny" Jerome (Vermont)
Kenneth Jerome got up that summer morning in 2005 and said goodbye to his girlfriend and children, just like he did every day. He set about his usual chores on the farm, just like he always did, and he expected to feed the cows, like he had for years. But July 7th was not like ev ... Show More
38m 2s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
243- The Murder of Shirley McAvoy
When thirty-two year old Shirley McAvoy didn't show up for her youngest daughter's birthday everyone knew something was wrong.  After being unable to reach her, Shirley's estranged husband, Brian, reported her missing to the Pittsfield Police Department in Maine. Initially, inves ... Show More
1h 14m
Jun 2
Episode 677: The Murder of Anthony LoConte
On the evening of May 10, 1988, a passing driver on Howard Street in Brockton, MA, stopped to investigate something unusual on the side of the road. When the driver got closer to what they thought was a bag, they realized it was actually the body of twenty-four-year-old Anthony L ... Show More
47m 38s
Jan 2025
Episode 639: The Unsolved Murder of Melissa Witt
On December 1, 1994, nineteen-year-old Melissa Witt planned to meet her mother at a Fort Smith, Arkansas bowling alley, but by all appearances, she only made it as far as the parking lot. Two days later, investigators discovered Melissa’s car abandoned in the Bowling World parkin ... Show More
52m 11s
Dec 2024
Episode 624: The Murder of Cheryl Perveler
When police were called to the scene of shooting at the Castillion Apartments in Los Angeles on April 20, 1968, they assumed the victim, twenty-two-year-old Cheryl Perveler, had been shot in a robbery gone wrong. However, when they began looking into her personal life, they soon ... Show More
53m 30s
Dec 2024
Bethany Collins Buckles Part 2: Targeted
Last week, you heard Part 1 of Bethany Collins Buckles’ story. You learned about her life, struggles, and sudden disappearance just as she planned for her mother’s Thanksgiving visit. Jolinda had expected to hear from Bethany, but she grew concerned when the call didn’t come. At ... Show More
1h 17m
Dec 2024
Michelle Yvette Busha
In May 1980, a woman’s body was found near Blue Earth, Minnesota. In 2015, the woman was identified as 18-year-old Michelle Yvette Busha, who had been buried in an anonymous grave for nearly 35 years. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss the murder of Michelle Busha. In 1988, a fo ... Show More
1h 5m
Aug 2024
Episode 593: Lee Roy Martin: The Gaffney Strangler
In the winter of 1968, reporter Bill Gibbons got an anonymous call from a man who wanted to confess to three murders in the small town of Gaffney, South Carolina. Gibbons thought the call was a prank, but he took it to the sheriff and the two men travel out to the first of three ... Show More
1h 6m
Feb 2025
The White House Farm Murders
On August 7th, 1985, an entire family was murdered at their farmhouse in Essex, England. Authorities initially believed it was a murder-suicide, but suspicion soon turned to Jeremy Bamber, the surviving family member who called police to the house that night.Join Mike and Gibby a ... Show More
1h 19m
Apr 2024
BODIES FOUND, POOLS OF BLOOD DISCOVERED, AS MOMS MISS BIRTHDAY PARTY
Fifteen days after Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelley are reported missing, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced the recovery of two bodies. The identity of the remains has not be confirmed as yet, but we do know the remains have been sent to the Oklahoma Medical ... Show More
42m 25s
Mar 2025
Episode 344: Janice Lillie
On the morning of November 12th of 1991, 41-year-old Janice Aschraft Lillie left her volunteer work at Belle Chasse High School to go to her office in Gretna, Louisiana. Janice’s husband, 41-year-old Norman Lillie, needs her help collecting back rent from their tenants. The coupl ... Show More
52m 19s