"The Disappearance of Detra McGuire" was the second episode of season one of True Cold Case Files that was uploaded to YouTube on January 22nd, 2019. This was the first video, to anyone's knowledge, that was done on Detra's case on the internet.
Synopsis[]
On the night of November 3rd, 1988, a child was thrown from a moving vehicle that was traveling on Interstate 10 west near Lake City, Florida. Aaron Dale Stokes of Lake Butler was driving a semi-truck shortly after in the child's path and nearly hit it. When he got out to see what he nearly hit, it was a girl about 2 years of age lying in the road. Another motorist named George Champion went to the nearest gas station to contact law enforcement.
The next day the Columbia County Sheriffs Office received information that a woman and her child had went missing. The mother's name was Detra Renvictoria McGuire, and the child's name was Roshanda McGuire. Roshanda was 2 years old.
Jason discusses the events surrounding this case, as well as persons of interest who may have been involved in the case.
After the Episode[]
After the episode was released, a young woman from Lake City came onto YouTube to discourage the video and discourage anyone from trying to help in the case, conceding that the family had moved on from the case and that they wanted to move forward.
Jason addressed the concern publicly on Facebook by stating that because Detra is a missing person and that her daughter was brutally murdered, there is no reason to adhere to "the wishes" because there is no reason not to help. Additionally, he stated that by not doing anything about Detra's case and not giving it attention, it doesn't help solve her case.
In August 2020, a friend of Jason's who was planning to work on a full length series discussing Detra's case received the official police file. It contained hundreds of documents concerning the case, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's 2002-03 investigation into the case complete with notes. It was stated that Elara Murphy, Detra's boyfriend at the time she disappeared, took a polygraph test on November 8th, 1988. Despite Elara telling Detra's family he passed the polygraph, it was noted that he did not pass it and that he is still considered a suspect in her case.
A followup episode on Detra McGuire is planned for the future on From The Vault.
Reception[]
The episode on Detra McGuire was met positively by viewers on YouTube. It received high viewership within the first month of the episode's release; growing up until the episode's removal in June 2020, which was replaced by the podcast version of the episode.