SheWhoMustNotBeNamed
Former Member
Missing Since: January 22, 1998 from Kansas City, Missouri
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date of Birth: December 22, 1981
Age: 16 years old
Height and Weight: 5'9, 170 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Long has a chicken pox scar on her right cheek.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A white t-shirt, a green and black jacket, jeans and tennis shoes.
Details of Disappearance
Long was last seen at East High School in Kansas City, Missouri school on January 22, 1998. She was a sophomore at the school at the time. She attended her first two morning classes, then got into a fight with some other students and left the campus at 9:30 a.m. Long apparently went to a nearby grocery store afterwards, where she met Wesley Ira Purkey, a local handyman. She got into his white 1989 Ford pickup truck and has never been heard from again.
Initially it was believed Long left of her own accord. She had an unstable home life, and she had recently transferred from Ruskin High School and felt unsafe in her new school. However, she was about to take her driver's license test, and her family maintained that she would never have run away from home. Eventually her disappearance was reclassified as an abduction.
Purkey confessed to Long's murder while he was in prison for murdering an elderly woman. He has a long criminal record and was addicted to alcohol and drugs in 1998. He stated he would assist in the investigation if he was transferred from a state to a federal prison. He was charged in Long's death in October 2001. Purkey stated he had taken Long to Lansing, Kansas, raped her and stabbed her to death. He claimed he dismembered her body and burned it in a fireplace. Authorities searched several areas for Long's remains but never found anything.
Purkey was convicted of Long's murder in 2003 and was sentenced to death. There was a report that her remains were found in January 2004, but the report was false and she is still missing. Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Kansas City Police Department
816-234-5000
