38-Year-Old Cold Case

Since January 2018, KYK9 has been working on a 40-year-old cold case. "Sam" was a teenager who went missing around 1980. More than a decade after he disappeared, a serial killer on death row confessed that he had murdered Sam. He drew a map indicating where he had dumped Sam's body, but his body was never located.

Fast-forward to 2018 when a new officer re-opened the case and contacted KYK9. With that officer, KYK9 put together a team of professionals including a forensic anthropologist, two archaeologists, a DNA scientist, a botanist, a GIS professor, dedicated law enforcement officers, and the original detective. We pored over old case files, interviews, news coverage, letters and maps, reevaluating the entire case. We identified two areas of interest where we wanted the dogs to search. I was stunned when Scout, Remy, and Pocket, in very short order, each independently alerted in the same wooded area. Witnessing the dogs bring the past into the present felt miraculous.

We conducted a 3-day archaeological search of the area. Downed branches and trees, vegetation and leaves were cleared away. Then we probed the soil and the dogs rechecked and confirmed their original alerts. Shovels came out, clearing the top 3-6 inches of dirt into buckets, which we sifted through looking for bone fragments. On the third day, a deputy found evidence in the dirt. That evidence currently is being tested for DNA.

When we contacted Sam's mother and stepfather, they were so grateful that after so much time we were willing to search for their son. Both kept saying, “It is so important to us that Sam has not been forgotten. Our prayers have been answered.”

Once again, working to reunite families and provide closure is our mission and our passion. We ask for your financial support to help continue our work helping families like Sam's.