A chilling investigation into the unsolved “boy in the woods” murder; journalist Jim Cosgrove chronicles his decades-long quest to uncover the truth of a family friend’s disappearance and death — perfect for fans of I’ll be Gone in the Dark and Memorial Drive.

RIPPLE: A Long Strange Search for A Killer
by Jim Cosgrove
Steerforth, April 2022

For nine years, South Carolina officials struggled to identify “the boy in the woods,” whose body had been discovered just south of Myrtle Beach in a fishing village called Murrells Inlet. Meanwhile,1,200 miles away in Kansas City, Missouri, Frank McGonigle’s family searched for him at Grateful Dead concerts and in the face of every long-haired hitchhiker they passed. Consumed by guilt for how they’d treated him, Frank’s eight siblings slowly came to understand that — like Jerry Garcia sang — he’s gone and nothin’s gonna bring him back. Frank McGonigle was finally found — and identified as “the boy in the woods.”
Four years later, the case still unsolved, Jim Cosgrove, a McGonigle family friend and investigative journalist, picked up the trail of Frank’s cold case and began uncovering connections to a ruthless local crime boss and blunders by the threadbare sheriff’s department. When his research began to stall, a chance meeting with the soft-hearted, straight-talking “energy reader” Carol Williams provided a metaphysical spark that reignited Jim’s resolve. Although his work as a journalist trained him to be skeptical, Cosgrove found himself starting to become a believer when Carol provided details about Frank’s murder that turned out to be freakishly accurate. In 2019, Cosgrove returned to Murrells Inlet with one of Frank’s brothers to dredge up some old leads and settle Frank’s case once and for all…

Award-winning entertainer, author, and speaker Jim Cosgrove is a former feature writer for the Albuquerque Journal and staff writer for Hallmark Cards, Inc. Young music fans may be more familiar with Cosgrove’s persona as beloved kid-rocker “Mr. Stinky Feet.” Over the past 23 years, he has performed more than 4,500 high-energy shows throughout North America and Europe and twice at The White House Easter Egg Roll. His nine family albums have earned an impressive collection of national parenting awards. His YouTube channel has more than 2.5 million views. In 2020, his music was streamed more than one million times on Spotify alone. Cosgrove lives in Kansas City with his wife and two daughters.