Latest / Gone Cold - Texas True Crime / The Disappearance of Jimmy Farenthold Part 2: The Death of Randy

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The Disappearance of Jimmy Farenthold Part 2: The Death of Randy · Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Gone Cold. Podcasts may contain violent or graphic subject matter.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Listener discretion is advised. The Gulf of Mexico keeps its secrets,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: but not forever. On the morning of June sixth, nineteen
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: seventy two, a fisherman wading the surf off Mustang Island
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: spotted something drifting in the water. At first, it looked
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: like a log, but as it came closer, the shape
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: was unmistakable. A man, face down, chained at the neck,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: his hands bound behind him. For nearly two days, the
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: tide had carried him beneath the waves. Now the water
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: was giving him back. The man was Randolph Randy Farenthald,
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  Speaker 1: thirty two years old, oil money in his veins and
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  Speaker 1: South Texas power in his name. Known around Corpus Christie
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: as a sportsman, Randy split his time between gambling, haull nightclubs,
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  Speaker 1: and the open Gulf. But the life that carried him
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: between those worlds ended with a blunt object to the head,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: concrete blocks leashed to his body, and silence that stretched
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: from the shoreline to the halls of power. It marked
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: the beginning of a spiral that would drag the Fharenthold
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: family deeper into violence, unanswered questions, and eventually a disappearance
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: that would leave no trace. Randy Farenthald was known around
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  Speaker 1: Corpus Christi as a high stakes gambler, offshoreman, and a
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: fixture on the city's nightlife. Randy moved fluently between those
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: familiar worlds. Two days before his body was discovered, he
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: was still present in those same circles, but on the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: morning of June fourth, something changed. He was attacked, his
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: hands bound behind his back and heavy concrete blocks tied
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: to his neck with rope and chains. Then he was
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: thrown into the gulf. For nearly two days, the tide
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: carried him beneath the waves, the water keeping the secret,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: albeit briefly. He finally washed up some one hundred feet
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  Speaker 1: off shore, about a mile south of beach Access Road
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Number one, about two miles south of the South Jetty
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: at Portoransas. The fisherman who found Randy's body, Cecil Butchert,
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  Speaker 1: called the coast guard, but it was a county matter
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: and turned over to the sheriff. There was no id
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: on the body, and it was several hours after it
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: was discovered before a positive identification was made. New Ace's
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: County medical examiner doctor Joseph Rupp, confirmed it was Randy
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: through dental records, fingerprints, and articles found on the body.
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  Speaker 1: Confirmation of the identity set off one of the most
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: intensive murder investigations in nue Ace's county history. Because of
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: where the body was found, the County Sheriff's office became
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: the prime investigative body, and the Corpus Christi Police Department
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: entered the investigation. Because of the possibility the crime had
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: been committed inside the city limits, the Texas Rangers joined
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: at the request of one of the other agencies, although
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: it's never been clear which. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: also threw their hat in the ring. A number of
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: out of town agents were brought in to assist the
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: local agents, but had little success. The attack on Brandy
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Farenthald had been brutal. Preliminary autopsy findings showed he'd been
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: struck at least twice on the back of the head
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  Speaker 1: with a blunt instrument, perhaps a pipe or a club.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Doctor Rupp noted that the body was badly deteriorated due
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: to exposure to warm salty water and required special treatment
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: before further testing could be conducted. The pathologist hoped to
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: determine whether Randy had still been alive when he was
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: dropped into the water, but acknowledged the question might never
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: be answered. He emphasized that the fatal head injuries, combined
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: with the restraints, made clear this was a violent killing.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: Evidence suggested he had then been ferried across Corpus Christie
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  Speaker 1: Bay by boat and dumped into the Gulf of Mexico.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Weighed down with concrete blocks. Investigators believed the wang of
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Randy's body was poorly done. Sheriff's deputies speculated that multiple
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: blocks had originally been attached, but at least two had
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: come loose, allowing the body to drift into shallow water
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  Speaker 1: and eventually wash ashore in the early hours following Randy's disappearance,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: his nineteen seventy one Oldsmobile Toronado was discovered under suspicious
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: circumstances the day after the body was found, at around
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  Speaker 1: three am on Wednesday, June seventh, nineteen seventy two. The
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: car was located at an apartment complex in the fifty
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  Speaker 1: two hundred block of Costora's Road. Reports indicate that the
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: vehicle had first been noticed at the complex earlier at
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: around seven thirty pm on Sunday, June fourth, several hours
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  Speaker 1: after Randy was last seen leaving Ciro's Galleon Theater, a
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  Speaker 1: nightclub in Parkdale Plaza. Prior to the car's recovery, a
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  Speaker 1: mind arriving at Randy's home on the two hundred block
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  Speaker 1: of del Mar Boulevard found a set of car keys
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  Speaker 1: just inside the screen door. This occurred on Monday morning,
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  Speaker 1: June fifth, and roughly four miles from where the vehicle
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: was ultimately found. The keys belonged to Randy's oldsmobile. At
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  Speaker 1: the time, the maid was unaware of the significance. The
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: apparent separation of car and keys raised immediate questions for investigators.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: The circumstances suggested that someone had moved the vehicle and
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: later returned to the residence, perhaps searching for additional items,
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  Speaker 1: and that the perpetrator had deliberately left the keys behind
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: to obscure the trail. Lawman noted the oddity of the situation.
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  Speaker 1: The detail hinted at both premeditation and opportunism, adding to
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  Speaker 1: the confusion in the case. In response, deputies began canvassing
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  Speaker 1: the lexing Go apartments where the vehicle was found questioning
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: residents about any unusual activity or sightings related to the car.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Investigators spoke with dozens of people who knew Randy Farenthald,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: some who'd been aware of his activities in the days
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: leading up to his death. Many recalled seeing him in
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Port Ransas and Corpus Christie, but most couldn't account for
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: his whereabouts after he left a nightclub in Corpus at
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: around one forty a m. On the morning of June fourth,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three. Within the next few hours, Randy was
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  Speaker 1: murdered and his body disposed of in the Gulf, likely
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  Speaker 1: in the deep water channel beyond the jetties at Port
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  Speaker 1: Ransas waters he had frequented countless times while fishing for
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  Speaker 1: big game. Earlier that night, he had visited two clubs. First,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: he stopped at the Electric Eel, a venue known for
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  Speaker 1: rock and roll bands and flashing lights. The club's proprietor,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Gary Minyard, stated that Randy did not behave unusually and
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: as far as he knew, left alone. Others reported his
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: behavior differently. From the Electric Eel, Randy went to Ciro's nightclub,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: where he had one drink. An employee described him as
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: appearing upset and withdrawn, a departure from his typically jovial demeanor.
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  Speaker 1: He seemed introspective, as though something weighed on his mind.
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  Speaker 1: When he left CEO's, Randy was wearing a navy blue
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  Speaker 1: T shirt, yellow and green checked pants, and white canvas
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  Speaker 1: slip on shoes, the same clothing in which his body
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: was later found save one missing shoe. Randy's movements during
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: the few dozen hours before his death were well documented.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: On Saturday, June second, he had breakfast with a friend
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  Speaker 1: in Port Oransis and discussed repairs needed for the Lollipops
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: bent propeller, damaged during a fishing tournament in New Orleans
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: several days earlier. The Lollipop was Randy's prized thirty five
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: foot custom built fishing boat. The boat's captain, Bill Hart,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: said they planned to take it to Billy Hughes's Yacht
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Service on the l Head in Corpus Christie for repairs.
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  Speaker 1: The remainder of Randy's day showed no signs necessarily that
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: anything was a miss until his time at the two
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: nightclubs he visited. Randy Farenthald left Port Ransis around noon Saturday,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: June third, and traveled to Corpus Christi. That evening he
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: had a date with a young woman, but called her
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: in the afternoon to cancel. Between four and four thirty pm,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Randy voted in in the primary elections at the Ayers
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Street Church of Christ. He spent part of the afternoon
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: at the local yacht club, then visited his two children
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: and their mother at their apartment. The children were preparing
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: to leave for summer camp and the former Missus Farenthald
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: mary Sue, invited him to dinner. He arrived around seven
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: pm and cooked steaks on a charcoal broiler outside the apartment. Afterwards,
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: they watched election returns on television. According to mary Sue,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: it was a pleasant visit. Randy left the apartment at
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: around nine to fifteen pm without specifying his destination, and
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: later arrived at the Electric Eel. He remained there for
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: a couple of hours before leaving for Zeeros. At both clubs,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Randy appeared distracted and pale, according to some witnesses. A
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: patron at the Electric Eel remarked that he seemed with
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: something the witness had never seen before. At Zero's, he
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  Speaker 1: paid a bill of twenty eight dollars and thirty cents
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  Speaker 1: with a one hundred dollar bill and insisted on tipping
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  Speaker 1: thirty dollars. He appeared sober, and when the waitress commented
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  Speaker 1: on his downcast appearance, she assumed he was upset about
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  Speaker 1: his stepmother losing the election. The primaries were presumably very
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  Speaker 1: important for the entire Farreentheld family. Randy briefly discussed the
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  Speaker 1: recent fishing tournament with the waitress as he exited the
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  Speaker 1: club and returned to his car. He handed her a
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: cocktail glass he had carried out and drove away. That
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  Speaker 1: was approximately one forty am June fourth, nineteen seventy two,
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  Speaker 1: the last confirmed sighting of Randy alive. At first, detectives
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  Speaker 1: felt robbery was a possible motive, but they couldn't get
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  Speaker 1: the evidence to fit. Randy carried no money when he
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: was found, yet his expensive waterproof wristwatch remained untouched and
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: still ticking on his wrist. Gambling debts were reviewed, but
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: police noted that while Randy was known as a high
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: stakes player, he had a reputation for paying what he owed,
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  Speaker 1: making unpaid gambling losses and unlikely cause. A third possibility
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: caught the attention of the FBI. Randy had been scheduled
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  Speaker 1: to be the prime government witness against four men accused
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  Speaker 1: of defrauding him. Randy's generosity often made him the center
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  Speaker 1: of attention. That open handedness, however, left him surrounded by
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  Speaker 1: people whose intentions were not always genuine. Friends observed that
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  Speaker 1: he was often too trusting, quick to believe the best
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  Speaker 1: in others, even when some of those around him had
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  Speaker 1: questionable reputations. His good nature and loyalty meant he gave
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: people chance after chance, sometimes to his own detriment. In
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: the months leading up to his death, Randy had filed
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: a complaint against four men, two from Corpus Christi and
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: two from Louisville, Kentucky, accusing them of conspiring to defraud
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  Speaker 1: him out of one hundred thousand dollars. According to the indictment,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: the scheme involved mafia's skim money offered at a discount,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: meaning they were to use Randy's business enterprises as a
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: means to launder cash. The transaction was arranged to take
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: place in a Houston motel room, but as the exchange began,
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  Speaker 1: a shotgun wielding intruder robbed the group, leaving Randy to
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: realize he had been conned. Following the incident, Randy reported
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  Speaker 1: the scheme to law enforcement, and he became a key
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: government witness in the federal case. His testimony was central
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: to the prosecute Usian's ability to pursue charges against the
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: four men. With Randy's death, the indictments against them collapsed.
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  Speaker 1: About a month after Randy's body was found, deputies from
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  Speaker 1: the Nuaces County Sheriff's Office discovered a vehicle containing hair
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: and traces of blood believed to match the man. The car,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: a light green nineteen sixty nine two door Chevrolet, had
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: been seized in early July, approximately one month after Randy's
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: body washed up on the surf off Mustang Island. The
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: car had been in the possession of one or possibly
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: two suspects around the time Randy was believed to have
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: been killed. Investigators noted that the vehicle had been washed,
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: but blood stains were found on the fenderwell of the
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: trunk and hair was recovered from the trunk latch. Samples
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: were sent to the Texas Department of Public Safety Laboratory
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: in Austin, and samples were also sent to doctor Ruth Guy,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: a blood expert in Dallas. According to DPS lab results,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: the blood taken from the trunk of the car was
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: type OH, which matched Randy's blood type. Comparisons of the
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: hair recovered from the trunk with hair taken from Randy's
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: body and from a personal brush showed the samples to
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: be similar. The car remained impounded in a garage at
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: a local wrecking yard. Officers noted that the vehicle had
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: been used during the period of Randy's murder by a
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: group of local men with extensive police records, although the
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: manner by which these men obtained the car was not disclosed.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: A hole was observed in the lower portion of the
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: right rear fender, which Nuece's County Sheriff Johnny Mitchell stated
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: he believed was created to drain water from the trunk
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: after washing, though its placement suggested it may not have
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: served this purpose. Sheriff Mitchell stated that the car and
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: forensic evidence represented a significant lead in the investigation, though
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: he did not speculate on potential arrests. Investigators theorized that
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: other individuals connected to the scheme, financiers, arrangers, or accomplices
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: who facilitated Randy's role in the deal might have had
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: a motive to prevent him from testifying. Despite the intensity
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: of the investigation, many questions surrounding Randy's death were never resolved.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: None of his other personal effects were ever recovered. His car,
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: abandoned at the Lexington apartments, raised as many questions as
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: it had answered. Investigators never identified who had been driving it,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: though they had their theories. Equally uncertain was how Randy's
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: body ended up in the gulf. He may have been
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: taken out by boat and dumped off shore, pushed from
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: the jetties at Port Ransas, or dragged into the surf
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: directly from the beach. If a boat was used, detectives
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: could not determine whether it departed from Corpus Christi or
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Port Ransis. Witnesses confirmed that Randy was seen in his
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Oldsmobile when he left the Electric Eel nightclub on the
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: night of June third, but no one ever reported seeing
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: him or the car After he left CIO's nightclub later
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: that night. Investigators suspected he may have been accosted as
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: he returned home, since one set of car keys was
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: discovered just inside the screen door of his residence. Another
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: set of keys remained missing, leading officers to believe that
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: his killers used them to move the car to the
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: apartment complex before abandoning it. The case remained open, unresolved,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: and marked by unanswered questions that only deepened the sense
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: of unease surrounding his violent death. A couple years before
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: the murder of Randy Farenthald, on August second, nineteen seventy one,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: forty five year old William Bill Richardson was gunned down
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: as he walked toward his Corpus Christie home. He was
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: struck by shotgun blasts fired from two directions. Richardson was
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: a wealthy oil man, a gambler, and a close friend
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: and skeet shooting champion of Randy Farenthald. Investigators soon charged
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Sam Mena and Otis Hammond of fort Worth with Richardson's murder,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: accusing them of being hired killers, but the key question
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: who hired them was never publicly answered. Nuace's County Sheriff's
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: Office Chief Deputy D. George Miller, who led the investigation,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: said Richardson's killing and the later murder of Randy Farenthald
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: were connected facets of a broader investigation. At the time,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: law enforcement dismissed mafia involvement as a factor, though both
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: murders bore the hallmarks of organized crime. In Randy's case,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: prosecutors presented the testimony of three state witnesses to a
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: grand jury. Among that evidence were statements identifying Bruce Lusk
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Bass the third as the man who strangled Randy on
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: June fourth, nineteen seventy two, while another assailant bludgeoned his head.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Another man named Theryl Smith, Bass's construction firm business partner,
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: was also implicated. Both blunt force, trauma and strangulation were
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: listed in the indictment as causes of death. In nineteen
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: seventy six, Bruce Bass was indicted for Randy's murder. Prosecutors
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: initially offered him a plea deal of twenty five years,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: which he rejected. Weeks later, facing trial in Judge Wallace C.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: Moore's Houston courtroom, moved there on a change of venue motion,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: the state reduced its offer to sixteen years. Bass pleaded
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: no contest and was sentenced on June twentieth, nineteen seventy seven.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Special prosecutor Robert Bennett later explained that weaknesses in the
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: case and the cost of a lengthy trial led to
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the plea deal. The bulk of their case relied on
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the word of a jail house snitch, Robert Walters, who
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: claimed to have helped Bass and Smith dispose of Randy's body.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: He also acknowledged that at least three other people were
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: believed to have been involved in Randy's killing, though no
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: additional arrests were ever made. Bass served only six years
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: of his sixteen year sentence. He was released least early
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: for good behavior, a decision that unsettled many observers given
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: the brutality of the crime. Within a year of his release,
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Bass was involved in another violent incident in Jackson, Mississippi.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: He was shot at a dispute at a bar and
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: hospitalized for a week. Police described him as attempting to
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: muscle in on or manipulate a local gambling operation. A
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and connection
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: with the shooting two months later. Bass's violent trajectory ended.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: On June sixth, nineteen eighty four, exactly twelve years after
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Randy's body washed up near Port Aransas, Bass was shot
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: to death outside Club Robert, a bar in Corpus Christi.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: He was forty five years old. The shooter, bar owner
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: b D. Bobby Horton, fired five times and later claimed
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: self defense. In nineteen eighty five, Horton was acquitted of
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: murder after a jury agreed it was During the trial,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: a doctor for the defense described Bass as a psychopathic criminal,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: while Horton's attorney likened his client's act to a rabbit
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: finally turning on a coyote after years of being hunted.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Bass's violent end closed one chapter, but left many questions
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: about Randy's murder and its ties to Corpus Christie's gambling
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: underworld unresolved. The Farenthalds were never just another Texas family.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: They were the kind of dynasty that looked bulletproof from
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: the outside. Oil and land, money, political power, European titles,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: and a name woven into the state's history books. But
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: behind the curtain, what really carried through the generations wasn't strength.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: It was fracture, addiction, silence, a habit of burying pain deep,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: though it still found ways to seep through to the surface.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Their tragedies stacked up like inheritance, a son murdered, marriages, undone,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: children raised in privilege but starved of stability, and through
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: it all the Farenthals learned to put on a public face,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: the polished, ambitious, camera ready version of themselves that played
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: well in Austin or Washington. The grief stayed locked inside.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: But one member of that family couldn't fit into the performance.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Jimmy Farenthald, the surviving twin, the restless son, the black
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: sheep who carried both privilege and a wound that never healed.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: He was charming and reckless, sweet and self destructive. He
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: wondered through jobs, families, treatment centers, and always seemed to
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: be on the edge of turning his life around until
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: the day he wasn't. In April nineteen eighty nine, Jimmy vanished.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: No note, no trail, no explanation, just silence, and that
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: silence was louder than anything the Farenthalds had ever faced before.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Next time, on Gone Cold, Texas True Crime, we step
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: into Jimmy's world, a world of charm and chaos, of
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: addiction and fractured family ties, a world where every chance
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: at redemption was shadowed by loss and will follow him
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: right up until the moment he disappeared, a disappearance that
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: still hangs over the family and still raises the same
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: unanswered question, what really happened to Jimmy Farenthald. If you
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: have any information about the disappearance of Jimmy Farenthald, please
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: contact the San Antonio Police Department at two to one
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  Speaker 1: zero two zero seven eight nine three nine. If you'd
• 25:02
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, y'all.