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.

Leanna "Beaner" Warner

Chisholm, Minnesota is a small city of roughly 5,000 people about an hour and a half northwest of Duluth. It was founded as a mining town and the area is called "meebeega" by the Chippewa tribe, which translates as "rough earth." I believe this also translates to the people who live in this tough little Iron Range community. It is also a town where people don't believe bad things can happen.

Leanna Warner, who was nicknamed Beaner by her grandfather, was five years old on June 14, 2003, when she arrived barefoot at her friend's house around the corner. The family had gone to Wal-Mart, so she headed back the way she came. She was last seen by two different neighbors between 5:00 and 5:15 that evening. She was reported missing by her parents, Chris and Kaelin Warner, at around 9pm after doing their own search.

There is very little to go on in this case. Initially, the police believed she had wandered off, and there was not enough information to issue an Amber Alert. (There has to be a known abduction to issue an Amber Alert.)

Bloodhounds used in the search tracked Leanna's scent to Longyear Lake, which is just two blocks away from Warner's home.  Her footprints were also found there, but it wasn't until October of 2003 that the police pumped some water out of the lake to check for evidence. They had to stop pumping because the lake was freezing over and never checked the lake again.

Leanna's parents did not do lie detector tests and are not considered suspects in this case. Although there was a history of domestic violence, this was many years before Leanne's disappearance and there were no recent issues or any plausible reason why either parent would want to harm Leanna.

Leanna was wearing a blue denim jumper, no shoes and a red earring in one ear at the time of her disappearance. She has brown hair and brown eyes. If she was abducted by a stranger, it is an extremely rare event. Of the 800,000 children reported missing every year, only 115 are abducted by strangers or acquaintances who plan to keep them long term. This does remain a possibility, especially since there was a festival that day that brought in a thousand or so strangers into the community. However, many people were interviewed with no clues.

Leanna Warmer, age progression to 14

Leanna Warner was born January 21, 1998 and disappeared on June 14, 2003 from Chisholm, MN. She has pierced ears. There is a $10,000 reward for any information leading to her safe recovery or successful prosecution of her abductor.

Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos

Officer Steve Calkins, the last man to see Santos and Williams alive.

This is a blog about missing persons who have not been found. I have mostly older cases now, but I will add new cases if they do appear to be truly missing. My hope is that by putting all of the information out there and updating it, we can solve these cases and/or put pressure on law enforcement to solve these cases.

Felipe Santos

My very first case I am profiling because both of these men disappeared in similar circumstances and had the very same person see both of them last alive. However, that person has not been prosecuted and their bodies have not been found.
Their names are Terrance Williams, 27 and Felipe Santos, 24. Both lived in SW Florida at the time of their disappearances. Felipe disappeared first, on October 1, 2003. Since he was an undocumented worker, he did not have a driver's license. He was involved in a minor car accident on his way to work that morning. A Collier County Sheriff named Steven Calkins arrived at the scene and cited Santos for reckless driving and driving without a license or insurance, handcuffed him, and put him in the back of the police car.

Later that day, Santos' boss called the jail to bail him out, and learned that Santos was never booked.Calkins claimed that he changed his mind about the arrest because Santos was "polite and cooperative" and left him at a local Circle K and drove off. The other driver in the accident contradicted that report, stating that Calkins was agitated about Santos' lack of documentation. "He just stated that he was tired of pulling people over that didn't have licenses," she said.

Two weeks later, after Calkins submitted his incident report, Santos' family filed a missing persons report as well as a complaint against Calkins. An investigation cleared Calkins of any wrongdoing. Santos has not been heard from since. Felipe Santos' wife was never interviewed by police and began questioning the investigation.

Terrance Williams

Early the next year, Terrance Williams made a poor decision. He was close to the end of his license suspension, had just purchased a used Cadillac, and wanted to drive it to a party. However, his tags were also expired, so he decided to drive back roads, hoping to not get caught. He did get to the party, but his roommate became worried when he did not arrive home that night.

Williams' mother, Marcia Williams, filed a missing person's report the next morning. Shortly afterwards, Williams' aunt was able to locate Terrance's vehicle. It had been towed from a Naples cemetery because it was obstructing traffic. The tow report was signed by no other than Steven Calkins, but no incident or arrest report was filed with the tow report.

However, witnesses from the cemetery verified that Terrance drove in ahead of Calkins, who had his lights on. He asked for ID, which Williams did not have. Employees of the cemetery then stated that Calkins patted him down and put him in the back of the police car. Calkins then asked the employees to leave the Cadillac alone until he returned. He did return approximately 15 minutes later to change the position of the Cadillac. Terrance was not in Calkins' car at that point.

Following the witness statement by the cemetery employees, the Williams family repeatedly called the police station asking to speak to deputy Calkins. He was contacted by dispatch and asked about the incident. He claimed to have no memory of having any cars towed on that day and claimed he did not arrest anyone on that day either. However, when he was contacted a few days later, he remembered Williams' in fairly good detail. He was asked by his supervisors to submit an incident report. Calkins' report states that he first came in contact with Williams at 12:15pm after noticing that the car he was driving was "in distress". He claimed he followed him to the cemetery parking lot. Calkins claimed that Williams asked for a ride to a nearby Circle K because he was late for work. (Williams did not work at the Circle K). After dropping him off at the Circle K, Terrance told him the paperwork for the car was in the glove compartment of the vehicle. Calkins claimed that he returned to the Cadillac and discovered that there was no proper registration or insurance in the car. He stated that he felt deceived, so he called Circle K from his work issued cell phone and asked to speak to Terrance. The clerk allegedly told him over the phone that Terrance did not work there. According to the report, he then called in the license number and found that the plates were expired. However, upon further investigation, it was discovered that phone and surveillance records did not back up his story. There was no sign of Williams or Calkins on the available surveillance footage from the Circle K and the phone records from Calkins cell phone showed no phone call to the Circle K. Circle K could also find no witnesses who placed either man there. Marcia Williams then filed a complaint against Steven Calkins.

Further suspicion was cast on Calkins when the recording of his call to dispatch requesting the tow of Williams' car revealed further conflicting statements. In this recording, he described the car as abandoned and blocking the road. This statement contradicted both his incident report and the witness statements. Both reported that Calkins himself moved the vehicle to its location, which blocked the road. Calkins also joked with the operator: "Maybe he's out there in the cemetery. He'll come back and his car will be gone." He was also heard using inappropriate and racist language during the call, describing the car as a "homie Cadillac" Approximately 20 minutes later, at 1:12 pm, Calkins requested a background check on "Terrance Williams", with an incorrect birth date. This contradicts his earlier statement that he never knew Terrance's last name. He was questioned on these inconsistencies and could not explain them. Following this interview, he stopped cooperating with police and was fired from the police department.

Because the main person of interest in the case was a police officer, the Florida Dept of Law Enforcement and the FBI were called in to work on the case. Various other investigative techniques were used, including the covert placement of a GPS on Calkin's vehicle and a forensic investigation of the patrol car. Cadaver dogs were used to survey the areas identified by the GPS in Calkins' vehicle but these turned up no further evidence.
There is currently a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is involved in this case. We all know it is Steve Calkins, so I guess the $100K is to find some way to prove he did it.
It has been 11 years since these men disappeared and their family needs closure.

 

Missing Poster for Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos