Kara Kopetsky

An undated photo of Kara Kopetsky

Kara Kopetsky was seventeen years old when she disappeared into thin air in the Kansas City suburb of Belton, Missouri. In many ways, she was a typical teenager: she was a bit rebellious with smoking and skipping school, yet extremely responsible about her part-time fast food job. On the day she disappeared, she was having a bad day.

She had forgotten her text book and to wash her work uniform, so she called her mom, Rhonda Beckford at around 9AM, asking her to bring her the book and wash her uniform. Her mom did both (dropping the book off at the office) before going to work herself. 

Later that morning, the cameras at Belton High School show her leaving the school in a calm manner. No one followed her out. She was seen talking to some friends, asking them to leave for a few hours with her, but everyone either couldn't or wouldn't, so she left alone. No one was home at Kara's house that morning, so it is not known if she made it home from school in the few minutes after she left. Her step-dad, Jim Beckford, realized she was not home at 3PM and called her. She did not call back, which was unusual for Kara. Her mom arrived home shortly afterwards, and they decided to go to her school. Kara was not there, so Jim decided to go to her workplace. She did not arrive for work at 4PM and hadn't called in, which had never happened before. Her stepfather waited for her until around 4:20 and she did not arrive. Meanwhile, Rhonda found Kara's work uniform on the bed where she left it.

Video of Kara's last seconds at school.

At this point, her parents called the Belton Police Department to file a missing person's report. However, because Kara had an earlier runaway report from over a year before, the police treated this as a runaway and did not begin investigating immediately.

The next morning, an officer arrived at Kara's house to tell them that a friend of Kara's had also filed a missing person's report simultaneously to the Beckford's filing theirs. However, she said she had not seen Kara for several days. When her parents asked why this friend didn't come to them, she had told the police she was "uncomfortable." Jim then volunteered to take a lie detector test and be interrogated. He was subsequently cleared as a suspect. (I do not know what the friend's motivations were or how much information she knows about Kara's whereabouts.)

A few days before Kara's disappearance, Rhonda had filed an ex parte order of protection against Kara's ex-boyfriend. That ex-boyfriend, Kylr Yust, was alleged to have abducted and assaulted Kara. Kylr was interrogated by police and did pass a lie detector test, but was not officially cleared as a suspect. (Note: Yust is currently serving a four year sentence for an unrelated crime, but did brag about "killing an ex-girlfriend and feeding her to pigs." He also had a previous conviction for assaulting a different girlfriend.)

Then, on June 2, 2007, Kelsey Smith, 18, was abducted from a Target parking lot fifteen miles away in Overland Park, Kansas. Kelsey was very similar in age and size to Kara, so police immediately wondered about a connection.  Sadly, Kelsey's body was found a few days later, minutes from Kara Kopetsky's home.

Kelsey Smith

Due largely to the video obtained from Target and excellent police work, Kelsey's murderer, Edwin Hall, was captured and arrested within a few days of her abduction. Despite intensive efforts, there was no physical evidence found to connect Hall to Kara. Hall pleaded guilty to the murder of Kelsey Smith on July 23, 2008.

Kara Kopetsky has now been missing for over seven years and police and her family are no closer to any answers about what happened to her. There are reasons to remain hopeful, though. Both men who may have killed her are in jail, and hopefully, one of them will start talking to a cell mate or guard. Also, the friend who filed the missing person's report may decide to speak up about what she knows. Until then, Kara's family will remain in limbo.