The Big Story
Dictionary & Telephone Line Lead to a Killer
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This episode of The Big Story recounts the investigation into the disappearance and murder of Emaline Rice, whose husband, John Rice, gave police a series of conflicting accounts. After Emaline failed to arrive for a visit, her sister reported her missing, and investigators began checking Rice’s claims about a trip to Chicago and a postcard he said his wife had sent.
As police examined the couple’s letters and questioned Rice, his alibi unraveled. He offered several different explanations for Emaline’s death and the location of her body, eventually leading investigators to an abandoned mine shaft in Ward, Colorado. The episode follows the case through the shifting confessions, the discovery of the body, and Rice’s trial and sentence.
The Big Story was a dramatic radio series built around newspaper reporting, bringing crime and other news stories to listeners through dramatized accounts. Here, the focus is on the patient work of checking details and the unsettling uncertainty created by a suspect whose story repeatedly changed. The episode is associated with Denver Post reporter Bernard Beckwith.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.