January 26, 1980. Nantucket, Massachusetts. The brother of 49-year old Margaret Kilcoyne wakes up and discovers that she is missing from her vacation home, even though her car, coat and winter boots have been left behind. Prior to her disappearance, Margaret had completed a scientific research breakthrough at her job in New York City, but was also displaying erratic behaviour to suggest she was suffering from mental health issues. Over one week later, some of Margaret’s personal items, including her wallet and passport, are discovered in a swamp area about a mile from her residence, though the authorities suspect the items may have been planted there following the original search effort for her. While Margaret’s brother believes that she chose to end her own life by walking to a nearby beach and drowning herself in the Atlantic Ocean, other people associated with the case suspect that something else happened, but no trace of Margaret is ever found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel to the island of Nantucket to explore what is considered to be the area’s most famous mystery.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Nantucket Police Department at (508) 228-1212.
Additional Reading:
https://nantucketcurrent.com/people/nantucket-s-greatest-unsolved-mystery-the-disappearance-of-dr-margaret-kilcoyne
https://charleyproject.org/case/margaret-mary-kilcoyne
https://garyholmes76.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/kilcoyne-story.pdf
"New York Magazine" (April 14, 1980)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xzBW2WEKCY
https://www.newspapers.com/image/842021871/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/438533635/
“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at AdvocacyCon, which is taking place at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 11-13, 2026. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAILCOLD10”, by visiting https://www.advocacycon.com/.
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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.
