Cold Case - Fallout 76 Guide - IGN (2024)

Cold Case is a side quest in Fallout 76 given to you by Miss Annie, a Mrs. Handy Robot located at Wavy Willard's Water Park. This quest follows a decades old mystery involving Grafton Steel and the missing child of the company's owner, Mr. Woods.
Do you have what it takes to help Miss Annie solve the case?

• RadAway: Diluted
• (15) Fusion Cell
• 10mm SMG
• Plan: 10mm SMG
• Plan: Light Metal Legs

Walkthrough

You can obtain this quest by heading out to Wavy Willard'sand clearing out the ghoul resistance there. Once you get a bit of breathing room you will receive a miscellaneous quest prompting you to speak with Miss Annie. She is located directly below the Roller-coaster, in the same area as the lazy river.

Interact with her and she will tell you of a missing boy, one she took care of and believed to be kidnapped right here in Wavy Willard's, just before the bombs dropped. She gives you instructions to head to the security station and hack the terminal to gain access to the holotapes the employees were combing through before.

The security station is located in the south end of the park, near the entrance. It is locked behind a skill 3 lock, but fear not! A quick walk around the left side of the building reveals an opening large enough to get in, making the lock useless.

Access the Park Security Terminal and select the option [Holotape Review]. Reading the entries on each date will reveal the location of two Holotapes, One inside the safe within the Security room, and another in the basem*nt of the park. Listening to the holotape titled "WWWP Slither Slide 10172077 Daily" we hear someone offering the missing child a gift but the odd thing is they seem to know each-other. The child gets excited asking where his gift is, the holotape then cuts off.

To get the other holotape, head back to the front of the park and go around the edge of the park to the left. You will pass two dumpsters on your right then come across a broken down chain link fence.

take the employee entrance down to the basem*nt, follow the hall until you come right before the stairs leading back out to the park, there will be a room on your right hand side, just before the stairs.

Inside a Cabinet directly to the left of an entrance, you will find "WWWP log RIde Entry 10172077 Daily" the second holotape you need. This holotape will direct you to a mailbox directly outside the stairs around the corner. Inside the mailbox you will find a torn note titled "Letter to the Media" about Grafton Steel and some alleged truth that needs to come out. Along with the note is a key for a PO box in Clarksburg, that contains all the alleged evidence the media would need to see the truth. We learn through the holotapes that The child (Freddy) also had a KidSecure ID band that got lost in the park, with it's last known location being the top of the Slither Slide. Head to the top of the slide and search the wooden crate at the top, inside you will find Freddy's KidSecure ID band.

We are now done with Wavy Willard's and it is time to head to Clarksburg to see whats inside that PO box. Clarksburg is located just south of Wavy Willard's.

Head Towards the post office, but be ready! Super Mutants are crawling all over the area. Use the terminal behind the desk and select the option [Search by BOX NUMBER]. Select the box we received the key for (PO box 012) and find it belongs to an Otis Pike, who resides in Grafton.

Head over to Grafton and once in the town, head towards the houses in the hills to the south. Next to a bright yellow house you will found Otis' home (With the broken umbrella hanging over the deck. On the kitchen counter directly to your left when you walk inside you will find a note titled "Notice of Termination". This letter from Grafton Steel lets Otis know he was being terminated, due to the spreading of "ridiculous propaganda" about Grafton Steel. Suddenly this case seems more than just a simple kidnapping.

Head downstairs to Otis' basem*nt and along side a wooden crate with some goodies, there will be Otis' personal terminal. A read through his diary tells a story of a man conflicted. Grafton Steel was doing terrible things, harming the environment and dumping within the city's drinking supply, killing children. Although Otis' sister had married into the Powerful woods family, context clues lead us to believe she has now passed, and the Arthur Woods who now remains is not the same Brother-in-Law that Otis would like to remember.

So he took the evidence and told the media, ultimately ending in his termination due to the protests and backlash Grafton Steel received because of it. This leads Otis to resort to more drastic measures, which ultimately leads to him kidnapping Freddy from Wavy Willard's and holding him for ransom at the Grafton Dam.

Once you arrive at the Grafton Dam, after eliminating all the Super Mutants crawling outside, you will quickly realize the Dam is sealed, locked behind Skill:3 locks. Fear not! When facing the front of the Building (East) head to the left and walk around the side of the building until you reach the back where there is an opening in the railing.

Drop down to the drainage pipe below, and this will give you access to the damn if you don't have the lock-pick skill high enough to pick the locks.

Inside you will need to find 5 clues leading you to the next location you need to go. The clues are located:

Each clue can be easily found by walking the cat walk within the Dam, with the most "hidden" one being Arthur wood's Lighter. To find this location, simply walk to the top of the dam using the stairs and drop through the opening in the walkway at the top. This will drop you on top of one the offices below, giving you the lighter and a new holotape game! For more details about the layout of the dam head over to the Grafton Dam location guide.

These clues lead us to the Woods Estate, as Freddy managed to escape from Otis, but only moments before the bombs fell. Since the Woods were a very wealthy family, Arthur Woods managed to arrange to have Vault-Tec pick up Freddy and take him to a vault, however it is unclear weather Freddy ever made it.

His last note, in the desk upstairs, can be seen below:

Finally, discovering the fate of Freddy, it is time to head back to Miss Annie and give her the news. She takes the news surprisingly well, choosing to hope that Freddy made it safe to the vault and is still alive out there, somewhere.

That's It! collect your rewards and continue to explore Appalachia.