Boys on the Tracks: Why We Are Reopening Arkansas’s Most Notorious Cold Case

In August 1987, two teenage boys were found lying side by side on railroad tracks in Saline County, Arkansas. Don Henry and Kevin Ives were dead, partly covered by a tarp, with a rifle nearby. The initial ruling was that they had fallen asleep on the tracks after smoking marijuana. A second autopsy raised serious questions. Nearly 40 years later, their deaths remain unsolved.

Co-host Jonathan Hirsch returns to the case that started Crime Scene to examine where the investigation stands today, the troubling questions surrounding the original inquiry, and why he still believes there are answers to be found. The prosecutor who led a grand jury investigation was later convicted on drug charges, while questions about a possible connection to drug trafficking have never fully gone away.

Now Jonathan has acquired boxes of archival material collected by the Ives family, along with files from a federal task force investigator whose work on the case reportedly put him at odds with local authorities. Could any of the evidence still be tested? What might these records reveal about an investigation that has gone unanswered for decades?

Jonathan is taking a fresh look at the case — and the investigation will continue in a new Boys on the Tracks series coming to The Binge for the case’s 40th anniversary in 2027.

For important links from this episode, check out our source material here. 

▶️ Listen to Doctor Billions here, and Doctor’s Orders here. 

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