Madison McGhee.Photo:Trevor Paul
Trevor Paul
Madison McGhee was 6 years old when her father was murdered. Twenty-one years later, the case is unsolved and justice remains elusive. But with her new podcast, titledIce Cold Case, Madison is trying to change that.
On July 11, 2002, John Cornelius McGhee, known to everyone as J.C., was shot in the head in the doorway of his home in Belmont County, Ohio, near the West Virginia border. But the circumstances of the tragedy remain murky — and it has become his daughter’s mission to find answers.
Now living in Los Angeles, Madison, 28, has worked as a television producer for the past several years. But when things shut down early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, Madison watched countless videos of amateur sleuths on TikTok trying to solve cold cases. She decided to dive headlong into her father’s unsolved murder in search of answers.
Since 2020, she has conducted interviews with members of her extended family, many of whom she had never met before, and has pored over police reports and other evidence. It’s been an intense experience, forcing her to grapple with her family trauma head-on.
“Rollercoaster doesn’t even feel like the right word,” Madison tells PEOPLE. “I feel like I’m going to outer space and coming back all in a day.”
For the decade after it happened, Madison was misled about how her father really died. As a 6-year-old, she was told it had been a heart attack. It wasn’t until she was 16 that she learned that it was murder. Not knowing the truth for ten years meant Madison had to grieve her father’s death twice.
According to police, the murder was the result of a home invasion gone wrong, but that explanation has never sat right with Madison, who has problems with the way police initially investigated the incident.
J.C. had been a drug dealer-turned-informant who had helped police arrest a number of people, including his own family members, Madison says.
The podcast delves into the confounding details of the killing. Madison had been told that armed men kicked in the door of the home of J.C.’s sister, who lived next door to J.C. with her son. Minutes later, J.C.’s door was kicked in and he was shot once in the head with a shotgun. The gunmen ran away, apparently having stolen nothing.
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Madison’s investigation has introduced her to a side of her family she had never met. It also gave her the opportunity to reconnect with Alyssa, with whom she hadn’t spoken in 20 years.
“She’s been incredibly helpful and incredibly supportive of getting me information when I need it,” Madison says.
John Cornelius McGhee, center.Courtesty of Madison McGhee
Courtesty of Madison McGhee
As of Wednesday, there have been eight episodes ofIce Cold Casereleased. The original plan was to stop after eight, but because of the “overwhelming” response, there are more on the way, Madison says.
“People that I’ve never met before reaching out with love and support and encouragement, and they are impressed with what I’m doing,” she says.
Madison says she’s prepared to do as many episodes as it takes to catch the killer.
Since the podcast was first released, she has since heard from people in the Ohio and West Virginia areas who remember the murder, and who have volunteered their recollections. That’s been exactly what Madison wanted.
Her callout for the podcast has been clear: “Help me solve my dad’s murder," she says.
Listen toIce Cold Casehereor wherever you listen to podcasts.
source: people.com
