Kara Kopetsky - 17 - Another family waits and wonders

[Gary Dee]

Jim and Rhonda Beckford, like thousands of others across Kansas City, watched with trepidation Wednesday as news unfolded about a body found just six miles from their Belton home.

Theirs, though, was a special brand of fear. Their 17-year-old daughter, Kara Kopetsky, has been missing since May 4. So while the search for Kelsey Smith http://www.crimeshots.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6495 took place, the Beckfords’ fears mounted.



Tarnished relief came after about an hour, when a Belton police sergeant arrived to tell them it wasn’t Kara Kopetsky.

Jim Beckford, Kopetsky’s stepfather, said the news was bittersweet because he knew it meant someone else’s little girl was dead.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the Smiths,” said Rhonda Beckford, who is still waiting for news about her daughter.

Investigators released this composite photo of a man who was possibly seen with Kara Kopetsky in Louisburg, Kan.

The police departments in Overland Park, where Smith was abducted, and Belton are comparing notes, but Belton Police Chief James Person said Thursday that no connection had been found.

The Beckfords said it was difficult to discount similarities in the cases, especially parts of the physical descriptions: Kara Kopetsky is a white female, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs 115 pounds, with light brown hair and hazel eyes.

“The only difference between Kelsey and Kara was we didn’t see her being abducted and we don’t have any proof of her being abducted,” Jim Beckford said. Soon after Kelsey Smith disappeared, surveillance video showed her being pushed into her car.

Rhonda Beckford said Kopetsky had walked to school on May 4. The last time she talked to her, she said, was just before school started; Kopetsky called home on her cell phone because she had forgotten a textbook. She also reminded her mother to wash her clothes for work.

Beckford dropped the book off at the front desk of the school and said Kopetsky had picked it up later. Kopetsky was last seen in a surveillance video at Belton High School at 10:30 a.m., walking down the hall.

But she did not attend her afternoon classes, and she has not been heard from since.

Rhonda Beckford started worrying when her daughter was late coming home from school.

Jim Beckford went to the Popeye’s restaurant where she was expected for her shift at 4 p.m. No one there had heard from her, he said.

“She’s never gone this long without contact with us — never gone a day without seeing us,” he said.

The 17-year-old’s room is exactly the way she left it the morning of May 4. A half-empty glass of water still sits on her desk. The iPod she had recently received is right next to her cell-phone charger.

Person said that investigators had looked up cell-phone records and contacted people Kopetsky had called, but that there was no activity on the phone after she was last seen at school. He said Kopetsky might have been sighted at a Burger King in Louisburg, Kan., on May 17, and a composite photo of a man who was possibly with her was released soon afterward.

That report frustrated Kopetsky’s friends and relatives, who said posters about Kopetsky were taken down as rumors spread that she had been found.

Crystal Evans, 17, who has known Kopetsky since eighth grade, said it was uncharacteristic of her friend to run off.

“She’s very open and would tell everyone what she’s doing and what she’s thinking,” Evans said. “She would have talked to someone.”

http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/141246.html

[Gary Dee]

Kara disappeared more than a month ago. This is her MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/melonmouth08

Kara vanished from Belton, MO, which isn't all that far from where Kelsey was abducted. A MySpace has been set up for Kara's disappearance, as well:

http://www.myspace.com/karakopetsky

Just as FindKelsey.com was set up in the effort to bring Kelsey Smith home, this site has been created for Kara's disappearance. Take note of the suspect sketch found here:

http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/

[Gary Dee]

Kansas: Police consider possible links between missing Belton teen and slain teen

BELTON, Mo. — Authorities investigating the murder of Kelsey Smith, the 18-year-old woman who was abducted from a Target store parking lot and found dead three days later, have also been looking into the disappearance of a Belton teenager who was last seen more than a month ago.

http://www.crimeshots.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6495

No link has been established between the disappearance of Smith and that of Kara Kopetsky, 17, who was last seen at Belton High School, blocks from her home, on the morning of May 4.

But Belton police Capt. Don Spears said two Belton detectives are assigned to work with investigators on the Smith case.

He said Belton police were examining evidence at the home of Edwin R. Hall, 26, who was charged Thursday with kidnap and murder in Smith’s death and is being held on $5 million bond. Belton police were also considering an additional search of the wooded area where Smith’s body was found, which is about six miles north of Kopetsky’s home.

Smith and Kopetsky did not know each other and did not have any friends in common, Spears said.

He said his office has received about 25 new tips on Kopetsky’s disappearance since Monday, two days after Smith was abducted from the Target parking lot. None of those tips have been helpful, however.

John Douglass, chief of police in Overland Park, where Smith’s abduction took place, said this week he “would not discount the possibility” that the Smith and Kopetsky cases were connected.

“We are working with the Belton police and certain representatives from the Missouri side,” Douglass said. The departments would look at the evidence in both cases “from every single possible fashion,” but so far there was no connection.

Authorities working the Smith case received more than 500 leads between Saturday, when Smith was abducted, and Wednesday, when her body was found. Spears attributed much of that attention to the video images caught on Target’s surveillance cameras, which showed Smith entering and leaving Target, as well as images of what appeared to be a struggle at her car before the car left the parking lot.

More than 50 detectives were assigned to the Smith case. Spears said that when a lead comes in about the Kopetsky case, he assigns “six or seven” detectives to investigate.

“We didn’t have evidence that she was abducted, and we didn’t have surveillance video like in the Smith case,” Spears said. “We’re concerned. There’s nothing to indicate she’s a runaway. And there’s nothing to establish she was abducted. But it’s possible she was abducted.”

When investigators in the Smith case announced Wednesday that a body had been found in Longview Lake Park, Kopetsky’s parents, Jim and Rhonda Beckford, waited nervously until Spears told them the body was that of Smith, and not Kara’s.

“Sitting here, a month later, and then you see somebody that has the same physical characteristics and not less than 30 minutes apart in distance wise and you start associating things,” said Jim Beckford, Kara’s stepfather. “We didn’t have the resources and the video tape, and we didn’t have proof that Kara was abducted.”

Kopetsky is about 5 feet 5 inches tall and 125 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. Smith, 18, was 5 feet 6 inches tall and 120 pounds with long brown hair and brown eyes.

The Beckfords said Kara had called the morning she disappeared asking her mother to wash her work clothes because she had to be at work at 4 p.m.

She also left behind her debit card. Her checking account has not been touched. No calls had been placed on her cell phone since the morning she disappeared, so her phone records were no help, unlike the Smith case, where police were able to track signals from her phone to the general area where her body was found.

“I’m trying to clear up confusion that she was a runaway,” Mrs. Beckford said. “We had not argued. She had no reason not to come home. ... We had normal teenager parent conflicts, but we were always able to talk it out.”

There was a report that Kopetsky may have been seen at a fast food restaurant in Louisburg, Kan., on May 17. A composite photo of a man who was possibly with her was released soon afterward. The Beckfords didn’t recognize the man.

“That morning was a really bad day, and I was feeling down,” Mrs. Beckford said. “It brought my hope back. But I would have felt a lot better if there was surveillance (cameras) and we could have seen whether it was her or not, because now we have no idea.”

http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews...160003651.html

[Gary Dee]

Cops Probe For Link To Missing Teen


AP) Authorities investigating the murder of Kelsey Smith, the 18-year-old woman who was abducted from a Target store parking lot and found dead three days later, have also been looking into the disappearance of a Belton teenager who was last seen more than a month ago.

Even though no link has been established between the disappearance of Smith and that of Kara Kopetsky, 17, who was last seen at Belton High School, blocks from her home, on the morning of May 4, Belton police Capt. Don Spears said two Belton detectives are assigned to work with investigators on the Smith case.

He said Belton police were examining evidence at the home of Edwin R. Hall, 26, who was charged Thursday with kidnap and murder in Smith's death and is being held on $5 million bond. Belton police were also considering an additional search of the wooded area where Smith's body was found, which is about six miles north of Kopetsky's home.

Smith and Kopetsky did not know each other and did not have any friends in common, Spears said.

He said his office has received about 25 new tips on Kopetsky's disappearance since Monday, two days after Smith was abducted from the Target parking lot. None of those tips have been helpful, however.

John Douglass, chief of police in Overland Park, where Smith's abduction took place, said this week he “would not discount the possibility” that the Smith and Kopetsky cases were connected.

“We are working with the Belton police and certain representatives from the Missouri side,” Douglass said. The departments would look at the evidence in both cases “from every single possible fashion,” but so far there was no connection.

Authorities working the Smith case received more than 500 leads between Saturday, when Smith was abducted, and Wednesday, when her body was found. Spears attributed much of that attention to the video images caught on Target's surveillance cameras, which showed Smith entering and leaving Target, as well as images of what appeared to be a struggle at her car before the car left the parking lot.

More than 50 detectives were assigned to the Smith case. Spears said that when a lead comes in about the Kopetsky case, he assigns “six or seven” detectives to investigate.

“We didn't have evidence that she was abducted, and we didn't have surveillance video like in the Smith case,” Spears said. “We're concerned. There's nothing to indicate she's a runaway. And there's nothing to establish she was abducted. But it's possible she was abducted.”

When investigators in the Smith case announced Wednesday that a body had been found in Longview Lake Park, Kopetsky's parents, Jim and Rhonda Beckford, waited nervously until Spears told them the body was that of Smith, and not Kara's.

“Sitting here, a month later, and then you see somebody that has the same physical characteristics and not less than 30 minutes apart in distance wise and you start associating things,” said Jim Beckford, Kara's stepfather. “We didn't have the resources and the video tape, and we didn't have proof that Kara was abducted.”

Beckford also noted that his stepdaughter disappeared the same day a tornado struck Greensburg, Kan. The story dominated media coverage in the area.

Spears said most media didn't give Kopetsky's disappearance the attention he thought it warranted.

Kopetsky is about 5 feet 5 inches tall and 125 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. Smith was 5 feet 6 inches tall and 120 pounds with long brown hair and brown eyes.

The Beckfords said Kara had called the morning she disappeared asking her mother to wash her work clothes because she had to be at work at 4 p.m.

She also left behind her debit card. Her checking account has not been touched. No calls had been placed on her cell phone since the morning she disappeared, so her phone records were no help, unlike the Smith case, where police were able to track signals from her phone to the general area where her body was found.

“I'm trying to clear up confusion that she was a runaway,” Mrs. Beckford said. “We had not argued. She had no reason not to come home. ... We had normal teenager parent conflicts, but we were always able to talk it out.”

There was a report that Kopetsky may have been seen at a fast food restaurant in Louisburg, Kan., on May 17. A composite photo of a man who was possibly with her was released soon afterward. The Beckfords didn't recognize the man.

“That morning was a really bad day, and I was feeling down,” Mrs. Beckford said. “It brought my hope back. But I would have felt a lot better if there was surveillance (cameras) and we could have seen whether it was her or not, because now we have no idea.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n2907018.shtml

[Pook]

This is interesting:

(with credit to: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/or...21285576.shtml )

Profile Says Kelsey Smith Murder Suspect Edwin R. Hall: Serial Killer?
By Mike Baron
Jun 9, 2007
Is Edwin R. Hall a serial killer? Investigators are looking into a possible connection between Kelsey Smith's murder and the unsolved disappearance of another teenager. 17-year-old Kara Kopetsky dissapeared May 4th after classes at her high school. The Kopetsky home is just a few miles away from the Target store where Kelsey was abducted.

Edwin Hall worked at Target at the time. Police also indicate that a sketch of a man seen with Kara bears a close resemblance to Edwin Hall.
Everyone is connecting his now deleted myspace page, but I found this on yahoo. It has the same name and says occupation, "cerial killer." The last update was 2001, so it is about the right age. Is it the same guy? who knows..


the linked site:

http://profiles.yahoo.com/captn_666_howdy

captn_666_howdy's profile

Basics

Yahoo! ID: captn_666_howdy
Real Name: dr. giggles(Edwin Hall)
Nickname:
Location: Your closet/ my house
Age: 21
Marital Status: No Answer
Sex: Male
Occupation: ceralkiller

More About Me

Hobbies: consumption of human flesh
Latest News: stay away from captnhowdy
Favorite Quote: All of lifes problems are a direct result of a lack of fleshly pain

[Gary Dee]

Case of missing Belton teen aired on America’s Most Wanted

The case of missing Belton teenager Kara Kopetsky was broadcast to a national television audience over the weekend.

Details of her disappearance aired at 8 p.m. Saturday on America’s Most Wanted, shown on the Fox network. The show reported that Kopetsky had been missing since May 4, when she was last seen at Belton High School. The show also mentioned physical similarities in Kopetsky and Kelsey Smith, who was abducted from the parking lot of an Overland Park Target and murdered.

Information about the case also is part of the show’s Web site at www.amw.com .

Belton police are continuing their investigation. Anyone with information about the disappearance is asked to call the Tips Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (474-8477).

http://www.kansascity.com/news/break...ry/145635.html

[Gary Dee]

Kelsey/Kopetsky Connection?

As the family of murdered kansas teen Kelsey Smith prepares to say their final goodbyes -- another family wonders if their missing teen has a Kelsey connection.

17-year-old Kara Kopetsky of Belton, Missouri has been missing since May 4.

Although they haven't found anything yet that leads them to believe the cases are related -- investigators have not ruled it out.

26-year-old Edwin Hall is charged with Smith's murder.

Police are working to see if he could have had anything to do with the Kopetsky disappearance.

Missing Missouri teen Kara Kopetsky and murder victim Kelsey Smith did not know each other.

But their similar appearance -- and the fact that Smith's body was found only six miles from Kopetsky's home -- have led some to speculate whether they met the same fate.

When it was announced a body had been found last week-- the Kopetskys feared the worst...but it was Smith's body that was found.

Now, Belton and Overland Park police are working together to look for connections.

The funeral for Kelsey Smith is set for Tuesday afternoon in Leawood, Kansas.

http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/7946872.html

[Bailey]

Thursday, June 14, 2007



Missouri police hope that releasing a surveillance video will offer clues about a teenage girl's disappearance more than a month ago.

Kara Kopetsky, 17, vanished early in May from her hometown of Belton, Mo., which is only about six miles from where the body of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith was found last week.

The newly released video shows Kara at her high school the morning of May 2, the last time she was seen.

Kara's mother, Rhonda Beckford, said her daughter had called that morning to ask her to bring her history textbook to school and wash her work uniform. But the teen never arrived at work that afternoon.

Though the last confirmed sighting of Kara was at her high school, there were also reports that she was spotted two days later on May 4 at an area gas station in Lewisburg, Mo., on the same day her cell phone and debit card were last used.

Smith was abducted from a Target store parking lot in Overland Park, Ill. Edwin R. Hall, 26, was arrested and charged last week with her kidnapping and murder.

"We're convinced someone knows something. [Hall] was from Olathe, which is as close as Overland Park. You know, it's 20 minutes [away]," Beckford told FOX News last week, implying that Hall could be involved in her daughter's disappearance.

Belton police said they were not ruling out a connection between Kara's disappearance and Smith's murder.

"I’m not going to discount the possibility these cases are connected … but I can’t draw that conclusion at this point," Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass told reporters last week.

Beckford said Kara had an ex-boyfriend whom police had interviewed several times, and he has been cooperating fully.

Kara is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs 115 pounds and has red hair and hazel eyes.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,282532,00.html

Kara Kopetsky Video Released by Police

[Royalpurple209]

Governor calls on Nixon to take action in Kara Kopetsky case

The governor says the AG should be more “engaged” in the case of a missing Belton teen.

By TIM HOOVER
The Kansas City Star
Mon, Jun. 25, 2007

JEFFERSON CITY | Gov. Matt Blunt on Monday suggested that Attorney General Jay Nixon was not doing enough to find missing Belton teenager Kara Kopetsky.

In a letter that prompted expressions of bewilderment at the attorney general’s office, Blunt told Nixon that “your office has not been engaged in this case,” and he urged Nixon to take action.

Nixon, a Democrat, is running for governor in 2008. Blunt, a Republican, has not officially announced whether he will seek re-election but is expected to run again.

“As we always are, the attorney general’s office is ready to work with and assist law enforcement in any way we are able,” said Scott Holste, a Nixon spokesman, responding to the governor’s letter.

Kopetsky, 17, disappeared May 4 after her morning classes at Belton High School. She has not been heard from since.

An online petition that purports to have more than 1,200 signatures calls for Blunt to order Nixon to take charge of the investigation and to take custody of all evidence collected by Belton police.

Blunt cannot order the attorney general to do anything, though he may request it.

The petition also calls for Blunt to investigate what the petition calls the mishandling of the Kopetsky case by Belton police, though it does not explain how police may have botched the investigation.

“I have been contacted by many Missourians who are as concerned as I am about the disappearance of Kara Kopetsky,” Blunt wrote. “The Missourians who have contacted me are concerned that your office has not been engaged in this case and believe that you should immediately assist with an investigation into Kara’s disappearance.”

When asked what prompted the letter, Blunt spokeswoman Jessica Robinson referred to the online petition and said Missourians had contacted the governor’s office.

But when asked what Nixon’s office should have been doing that it hasn’t done, Robinson could cite no examples. “The governor is simply following up on a citizen request,” she said.

Though the petition requests that Blunt conduct an investigation into how the case has been handled, the letter notes only that the Missouri Highway Patrol had “already been in contact with the Belton Police Department to offer their assistance in the case.”

Blunt’s letter asks Nixon to “take the appropriate action in response to their (citizens’) concerns and join the law enforcement agencies such as the Missouri Highway Patrol that are working to help bring Kara home safely.”

What would the appropriate action be? Robinson couldn’t say specifically, but when read Holste’s statement, she said, “That would be responsible to the governor’s request.”

A joint statement from Belton police and Kopetsky’s family Monday welcomed any outside assistance, but said “we do feel confident the department has the tools necessary to continue this investigation.”

www.kansascity.com/news/p...64889.html

[Royalpurple209]

Police Release Video Of Missing Missouri Teen Girl Disappeared On May 4

BELTON, Mo. -- Police released school surveillance video (Video: MyFoxKC) of a Missouri teenager who's been missing for more than a month.

Kara Kopetsky, 17, is seen in the video in a school hallway. She disappeared on May 4, but investigators are saying there's no evidence of an abduction.

Video
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=05E4B3399D332409B77CC21B1038E7E0 ?contentId=3483112&version=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfo...geId=3.3.1

[Bailey]

Kara Kopetsky, 17, left school early in Belton, Missouri, on May 4, 2007, and hasn't been seen since.


updated 7:04 a.m. EDT, Tue April 28, 2009
By Rupa Mikkilineni
Nancy Grace Producer


# Story Highlights
# Missouri teen left school early after an argument with a teacher
# School surveillance video shows Kara Kopetsky walking out
# Her cell phone shows no activity after 10:30 a.m. on May 4, 2007
# A $35,000 reward is offered for information. Call 816-474-TIPS


NEW YORK (CNN) -- On May 4, 2007, Kara Kopetsky, a 17-year-old high school junior in Belton, Missouri, was not having a good day.

She forgot one of her textbooks and called home and asked her mom to drop it off at the school office. She also asked her mother to wash her uniform so she could work the 4 p.m. shift at Popeye's Chicken.
Later that morning, Kara had an argument with one of her teachers in class, according to police and her family. Frustrated, she left campus about 10:30 a.m., ditching school for the rest of the day.
A school surveillance video shows her walking out. But no one can say which way she went, or whether she got into a car.
It was the last time anyone saw or heard from her.
Police say there has been no activity on Kara's cell phone since shortly after she walked out of school. They followed some pings from the phone, conducted some searches, but found nothing significant. Beyond that, they aren't commenting.
Kara's stepfather says the cell phone's long silence makes him suspicious.
"This doesn't make any sense," said Jim Beckford. "Kara was on her cell phone sending texts constantly. Her cell phone bill was typically 80-100 pages long."
When Kara didn't come home from school as usual, her family -- mother Rhonda, stepfather Jim and stepbrother Thomas -- grew worried. They filed a missing persons report later that afternoon.
Police told them they believed Kara was a runaway, and that she'd come back on her own in a few days.
Two years later, her family hasn't heard a word from Kara. She left behind most of her belongings -- money, clothes, iPod and a new carton of cigarettes. Her bank debit card was left in her school locker and her bank account, with $150 from her recent paycheck, remains untouched.
According to police in Belton, the case is being actively investigated. But with no certain evidence of foul play, police continue to characterize Kara's disappearance as an endangered and missing adult case.
The state of Missouri considers Kara Kopetsky to be an adult because she was 17 when she disappeared.
Belton Police Capt. Don Spears said police are looking at several persons of interest, but haven't narrowed their investigation to focus on a single suspect.
Her family says she has no history of running away. They say they fear that she was abducted when she left school that day.
"She is a very beautiful girl and so we often warned her to be careful, but like any teen, she had an attitude that she was invincible," her stepfather said.
About a month after she disappeared, Kara's case was eclipsed by another sensational case -- the abduction and slaying of Kelsey Smith.
Smith was taken from a store parking lot in Overland Park, Kansas, and her body was found in the Missouri woods, six miles from Kara's home in Belton. A suspect was charged, pleaded guilty, and is serving a life sentence.
Police in Belton and Overland Park compared notes but could find no connection.
According to family and police and Kara's MySpace profile, she had an on-again, off-again boyfriend. He lived in her neighborhood, was 18, and attended the same high school but dropped out earlier the spring Kara disappeared.
Kara was trying to end the relationship, friends told police. It is unclear whether the two saw each other the day Kara vanished.
A $30,000 reward is offered for tips leading to the whereabouts of Kara Kopetsky or the arrest of anyone responsible for her disappearance.
Police and family urge people to call the Belton Police Department's tip-line at 816-474-TIPS. Kara is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall and 125 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes.

http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/

[Bailey]

Kara Kopetsky


By EDWARD M. EVELD
The Kansas City Star

Another year, another anniversary, and still the haunting words: “Somebody knows something.”

Two years ago today, Kara Kopetsky disappeared. She was 17 years old at the time, 5 feet 5, 125 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair, and was last seen at Belton High School.

On Sunday afternoon, about 100 relatives and friends walked a one-mile stretch of Missouri 58, raising placards with Kopetsky’s name and those words: “Somebody knows something.”

Passing cars blew horns, and the walkers shouted “Thank you.” The walk was the third such event.

“We want to keep her name out there,” said Sandra Moore, Kopetsky’s “Granny.” “She’ll never be old news to us. We can’t go on from May 4, 2007, until we bring her home.”

Kopetsky was last seen on security cameras at school heading for an exit. Despite a $30,000 reward, there’s no information, said Rhonda Beckford, Kopetsky’s mother.

“But we’re not giving up,” Beckford said. “One day, with God’s help, we’ll get the answer we’re waiting for.”

Beckford expressed gratitude that so many came to Sunday’s event.

“It’s just amazing to have all these people support us two years later,” she said. “It helps you go on. It’s even great to hear all the cars honking.”

Among the walkers was Anna Rea, mother of Crystal Kipper, who disappeared at age 18 after her car broke down in February 1997.

“Through the investigation we know she was murdered,” said Rea, of Roeland Park, “but her remains never were found. You don’t want people to forget your loved one.”

Kim Howard was there, too. She is the mother of Michaela McClelland, who was a homicide victim 10 years ago at age 11.

“We come here to give support,” said Howard, of Lathrop, Mo. “We don’t use the word ‘closure’ because you never have closure. But at least we know where our baby is.”

Help find Kara Kopetsky
To give information, call the TIPS Hotline at 816- 474-8477 or the Belton police at 816-331-1500.

http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1176630.html