IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #33

[song22]

Where did Klunder live in Florida and does anyone know what work he did while he lived there? TIA.

 

[Bootsctr]

Where did Klunder live in Florida and does anyone know what work he did while he lived there? TIA.

Excellent question. I do not believe he ever lived in Florida. If he did, and they could pin a murder on him in Florida, I might believe he was the one who took Elizabeth and Lyric's lives.

This is all I found in regards to Florida:

Once released, Klunder attended a semester at a Des Moines community college, married 33-year-old LF in Florida last year, and recently bought a house with her in Stratford, records show. Klunder, 6 feet 6 inches tall and 240 pounds, had to periodically check in with authorities as a registered sex offender.]

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/ne...cle_1042c3a8-c1fa-11e2-8e63-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[carbuff]

Where did Klunder live in Florida and does anyone know what work he did while he lived there? TIA.

I found a reference to the Tampa area on a website I can't link to from WS. No idea how accurate it was -- it referred to an article in a Tampa newspaper but the article isn't available any more

 

[Bootsctr]

2012 was a busy, busy time for Michael James Klunder, not only did Klunder attend college, get married and buy a house, but he also had time to attend a child's birthday party:

But the kidnapping allegations and suicide have stunned Klunder's family, said RO of Mason City, whose son is married to Klunder's sister. RO said he met Klunder last year at a child's birthday party and "he seemed like a pretty nice guy to me." He said relatives thought Klunder was turning his life around after prison.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/michael-klunder-kidnapping_n_3327303.html :facepalm:

 

[georger]

http://globegazette.com/news/local/...cle_36b8ec80-db89-11e2-acb2-0019bb2963f4.html
<sniped & BBM>

A timeline of violence: Lulls between Klunder attacks never more than a year

KS, died from multiple sharp and blunt force injuries about the head, according to Iowa State Chief Medical Examiner Julie Goodin.

Those same type of injuries were suffered by his first victim, ELG &#8212; also 15 &#8212; some 27 years before. She had been pistol-whipped about the head by Klunder after he trapped her in a Kensett restroom. Her injuries required she be hospitalized for several days.

* &#8220;The violent nature of the defendant&#8217;s prior offense would indicate that the defendant does constitute a danger to the public,&#8221; said Judge Jon Scoles of the Gansen attack a few years later, when Klunder, 17, was being tried on the choking of a co-worker.

The discovery of Shepard&#8217;s body brought to a close the life of a man whose hallmark was predatory violence.

The majority of Klunder&#8217;s life could be measured by spans in jail, courtrooms, mental institutions and prison cells.

There was never a lull of more than a year following his first incarceration when Klunder did not assault someone, between his release from prison, in 2011, and the Dayton kidnappings in May of this year.

However, authorities aren&#8217;t sure there were not other victims.



He was 18 at the time.



But it did happen again. Court records and newspaper files show Klunder was found guilty of assaults or kidnappings, or both, five times. He was dead before he faced judgement in the case of the Dayton victims.

Cerro Gordo Sheriff Kevin Pals said he was not sure there weren&#8217;t more victims. Pals did not know Klunder but followed the case over the years. He has been asked to provide copies of records and complaints against Klunder, a Kensett native, to authorities working the Dayton case.

One thing is clear to Pals: Klunder &#8220;was not going to stop.&#8221;

How someone could entice girls into his truck in the era of warnings against strangers is hard to imagine.

&#8220;But he was clever; there was a reason he did what he did, &#8212; because he was that good at what he did&#8221; when it came to abductions, Pals said.

&#8220;He had years of practice,&#8221; he added.

I think there was an intense search to try and connect Klunder to Evansdale in any material
way, and the search failed. I think a lid has been put on the whole thing until such time as LE
feels it is safe to reveal the details of the search and search results without compromising the Evansdale investigation - otherwise any found connection would have been announced already.

 

[Bootsctr]

Don't get me wrong! I want it to be Klunder too, but as georger says. . . much time has passed. At first LE said they were hoping for results "next week" and that has turned into months as we are entering the last of July. Klunder had racked up (from what I can count - math is not my strong suit) 7 victims, poor Kathlynn Shepard and "D" being his last. If he was responsible for L&E, that would bring my count of Klunder's known victims to 9. I also believe, if Klunder had been the serial predator that had snuffed out E&L's lives, by May 20 of 2013, he would have been chomping at the bit for his next victim/victims. Alas, I fear, that E&L's untimely abduction and deaths are unrelated to Klunder. Possibly Klunder would have been the second serial murderer to be "working" that area of Iowa, I just do not feel it is likely at this point. So, I have come full circle, and it is a vicious one circle. Who killed Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook?

 

[Bootsctr]

I have scribbled on my calendar that DM had a court date on July 8. I may have missed the update on that court appearance, if it even happened at all. Does anyone know? Dr. Know, you always have your wonderful link for the court happenings, but I have a brand spanking new computer and unfortunately I have had to start from the beginning with links related to this case. Help ?

 

[Foxfire]

I think there was an intense search to try and connect Klunder to Evansdale in any material
way, and the search failed. I think a lid has been put on the whole thing until such time as LE
feels it is safe to reveal the details of the search and search results without compromising the Evansdale investigation - otherwise any found connection would have been announced already.

The evidence from the L & L investigation was only sent to the FBI Crime Lab in Quantico, VA, 34 days ago, georger..

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/tag/elizabeth-collins
desmoines register Links: BLOG POSTS TAGGED &#8216;ELIZABETH COLLINS&#8217;

<sniped & BBM>
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/...ansdale-cases-headed-to-fbi-crime-lab/article
Evidence in Dayton, Evansdale cases headed to FBI crime lab
7:12 PM, Jun 21, 2013 | by Emily Schettler

Some of the evidence gathered from crime scenes in Dayton and Evansdale is being sent to the FBI crime lab for analysis, a state official said Friday.

&#8220;It&#8217;s predominately evidence that would have DNA relevance,&#8221; Meyers said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve been working for the last week or so to determine what evidence would meet the necessary submission for the FBI crime lab.&#8221;

Investigators are looking for possible connections between kidnappings; two kidnappings in the past 12 months that both involved the abduction of two girls.

Meyers said the FBI analysis likely will be a lengthy process and that other work will continue locally at the same time.

 

[Foxfire]

Cherokee Mental Health Institute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
<sniped & BBM>

The Cherokee Mental Health Institute is a state-run psychiatric facility in Cherokee, Iowa. It has operated from 1902 until the present day, currently under the authority of the Iowa Department of Human Services.

Early years[edit]
As early as 1890, a movement was begun to build a fourth mental hospital in the state and northwest Iowa was the logical location for it. The plan was to relieve crowding from the other hospitals in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Clarinda, Iowa, Independence, Iowa, In 1894, Cherokee residents started an active campaign to get the legislature to select their city for the new hospital..

The original plan for patients was to hold alcoholics, geriactrics, drug addicts, the mentally-ill, and the criminally-insane.
The hospital was opened for patients on August 15, 1902 under the name Cherokee Lunatic Asylum.

With the discovery of psychotropic drugs in the 1950s, the push for getting rid of restraints, community-based services and the establishment of Mental Health Centers in the 1960s, the massive asylum census continued its decline. Today, the average daily census is approximately 44 patients as the emphasis for community-based services increases and lengths of stay shorten due to medical advances and psycho-social rehabilitation.

Beginning with about 600 patients, the hospital population increased year by year until the peak was reached in December 1945 with a total patient census/population of 1,729, beds in every hall and every building being overtaxed. Then began the gradual campaign to send patients who had reached maximum hospital benefits back to their own counties.

Initially, social workers found placements for the mentally-retarded and the indigent in the community and at the "county farms". With the discovery of psychotropic drugs in the 1950s, the push for getting rid of restraints, community-based services and the establishment of Mental Health Centers in the 1960s, the massive asylum census continued its decline.

Today, the average daily census is approximately 44 patients as the emphasis for community-based services increases and lengths of stay shorten due to medical advances and psychosocial rehabilitation.

Cherokee Mental Health Institute (CMHI) is one of 11 programs at the "Cherokee Regional Resource Center", a 208-acre (0.84 km2) campus under the direction of the Iowa Department of Human Services. Out of Iowa's 99 counties, CMHI serves the public mental health needs of 41 counties for adults and 56 for adolescents. CMHI receives 530 inpatient admission per year, has an average daily inpatient census of 44 patients, and an average length of stay of 25 days.

Most of the south wing is currently home to a prison and is surrounded by prison-grade fencing. It also holds criminally-insane and violent patients.

 

[Foxfire]

http://globegazette.com/news/local/...cle_b448708a-db89-11e2-bf27-0019bb2963f4.html

Nov. 15, 1986 &#8212; Attacks Ev Leasure, 15, in Kensett. Klunder is taken into custody by juvenile authorities and is eventually found guilty of a delinquent act.

Klunder is sent to the Boys State Training School in Eldora, to Meyer Hall in Des Moines, to Bremwood (a juvenile home) in Waverly and to the Mental Health Center in Cherokee.

February 1988 &#8212; Klunder is released from juvenile detention. He returns to Mason City and moves in with his father and stepmother.

(Note: Ruse)
Feb. 22, 1989 &#8212; Klunder appears at the home of a Mason City co-worker and asks to use the phone, saying his car had stalled. When the co-worker offers to give him a ride home, Klunder accepts. As they walk to her car, he strikes her to the ground and tries to choke her. Court records show he choked her until she had trouble breathing, and had visible marks on her throat.

March 30, 1989 &#8212; Cerro Gordo, IA. He is charged with assault with intent to commit serious injury.

He is also charged with second-degree burglary that had occurred on Feb. 15, 1989, but no other details of the burglary are released.

May 17, 1989 &#8212; Klunder is sentenced to five years in prison and two years for assault with intent to commit assault; sentences to be served concurrently; the sentence came after a plea bargain.

 

[Cherry]

what does this above article have to do with this case? Until a DNA link is established isn't this just rumor?

 

[Foxfire]

'In the late 1980s, I could see Bremwood inmates/patients, either going on field trips to 7 Bridges Park or being allowed to have picnics there with their parents/family members on visitation day, or on facility field trips'..imo

In the 7 Bridges video posted earlier, with the retired firefighter/spouse & journalist. The spouse mentioned that picnic tables were located all around the park for families to enjoy.

The Bremwood facility was a Lutheran Youth/Faith based facility that participated in community projects such as painting houses and cleaning churches, etc. Imo, it would be possible, if not probable, that the Bremwood inmates helped in maintaining the grounds at 7 Bridges Park; picking up liter, etc.

http://www.neiasynod.org/synod_news/pdf/mad_2003_summer.pdf

Bremwood is a psychiatric
residential treatment center for
troubled youth.

 

[Bootsctr]

I keep going back and forth on how much preparation went into Elizabeth and Lyric's abduction.

It's natural to think that a crime will go better if it is planned out in advance, that the perp will leave less evidence, etc. The flip side of that, though, is that often what trips a perp up is the pre-planning. If you substitute the term "staging" for planning, then it's easy to come up with many examples of how it was the perp's efforts at staging that actually led to their apprehension.

Some of the most difficult to solve cases that I've read about were spur of the moment impulses on the part of the perp. They didn't try to hide the crime, they just grabbed and got out. And by doing so left much less evidence behind.

Statistically, I believe most abductions are random events, i.e. just being in the wrong place at the wrong time; people being too trusting. Serial killers seem to be pretty lucky in general with snatch and grab, I agree. Somewhere along the way they hone their craft and I think often that is where they start to slip up and become careless or even start to play cat and mouse with LE. Regarding Elizabeth and Lyric, whomever did this seems to have gotten away it for over a year now and that makes me very sad and fearful for the community of Evansdale.

 

[Foxfire]

what does this above article have to do with this case? Until a DNA link is established isn't this just rumor?

Just seeking answers, Cherry....

RE: (Note: Ruse)
Feb. 22, 1989 &#8212; Klunder appears at the home of a Mason City co-worker and asks to use the phone, saying his car had stalled. When the co-worker offers to give him a ride home, Klunder accepts. As they walk to her car, he strikes her to the ground and tries to choke her. Court records show he choked her until she had trouble breathing, and had visible marks on her throat.


Showing a pattern of various ruses used by MJK. He used a firearm to gain compliance of his first known victim(newspaper girl) at age 15, and then the ole broken taillight ruse to abduct the college student. In KS and DH's abduction, MJK used a gra$$ cutting ruse. MJK, was very calculating and creative, yet violent rage seemed to be the end result..

 

[Foxfire]

Statistically, I believe most abductions are random events, i.e. just being in the wrong place at the wrong time; people being too trusting. Serial killers seem to be pretty lucky in general with snatch and grab, I agree. Somewhere along the way they hone their craft and I think often that is where they start to slip up and become careless or even start to play cat and mouse with LE. Regarding Elizabeth and Lyric, whomever did this seems to have gotten away it for over a year now and that makes me very sad and fearful for the community of Evansdale.

Agree Bootsctr...
Thankfully many, if not most serial killers/sexual predators are identified and apprehended early in their dark journeys. With each innocent victim devoured, they hone their skills and become better at what they do, while increasing confidence and escalating. MJK had 20+ years to review his past mistakes, become forensically aware, learn investigative strategies via ms media, literature, and other inmates..

The following article is very informative concerning a serial killers' traits, honing of skills, motives, and the cat & mouse games that many seem to play with LE.

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/investigators/serial_killers.html

Serial Killers - A Homicide Detective's Take
By Lieutenant Nelson Andreu (Retired)
Miami Police Department

Contents

Credentials and Interest
Common Knowledge
Genesis of a Serial Killer
Victim Selection
Victim Objectification
Denouement
Case Histories

 

[iamnotagolem]

Michael Klunder Timeline
May 15, 1971 - Michael Klunder born.
November 1986 - Klunder's first known victim - ELG, age 15 years - Klunder's age 15 years. Klunder is sent to the Boys State Training School in Eldora, to
Meyer Hall in Des Moines, to Bremwood (a juvenile home) in Waverly and to the Mental Health Center in Cherokee.
February 1988 — Klunder is released from juvenile detention. He returns to Mason City and moves in with his father and stepmother.
1989 - The violent nature of the defendant’s prior offense would indicate that the defendant does constitute a danger to the public,” said Judge Jon Scoles of the Gansen attack a few years later, when Klunder, 17, was being tried on the choking of a co-worker.
February 1991 — Klunder is released from Mount Pleasant Treatment Center.
Dec. 15, 1991 - Klunder kidnapped a 21-year-old woman, who escaped.
Dec. 16, 1991 - Klunder kidnapped two 3-year-old girls, who were found alive in a garbage bin.
May 16, 1992 - Klunder’s son is born.
Dec. 25, 2011 — Klunder is paroled, having served 18 years of his 41-year sentence.
2012 - Klunder attends one semester of college, marries in Florida, buys house in Stratford, Iowa.
July 13, 2012 - Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins missing.
Dec 2012 - L&E's bodies found.
May 20, 2013 - Kathlynn and D abducted. Kathlynn murdered. Klunder commits suicide.
Friday, June 7 — Shepard’s body is found in the Des Moines River. An autopsy shows she died of sharp and blunt-force trauma wounds.

http://globegazette.com/news/local/...cle_b448708a-db89-11e2-bf27-0019bb2963f4.html

This guy must have had something about him that attracted women, it didn't take long after being released to get someone pregnant. Then in dec 2011 he was released and was married within a few months.

 

[carbuff]

Don't get me wrong! I want it to be Klunder too, but as georger says. . . much time has passed. At first LE said they were hoping for results "next week" and that has turned into months as we are entering the last of July. Klunder had racked up (from what I can count - math is not my strong suit) 7 victims, poor Kathlynn Shepard and "D" being his last. If he was responsible for L&E, that would bring my count of Klunder's known victims to 9. I also believe, if Klunder had been the serial predator that had snuffed out E&L's lives, by May 20 of 2013, he would have been chomping at the bit for his next victim/victims. Alas, I fear, that E&L's untimely abduction and deaths are unrelated to Klunder. Possibly Klunder would have been the second serial murderer to be "working" that area of Iowa, I just do not feel it is likely at this point. So, I have come full circle, and it is a vicious one circle. Who killed Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook?

May to July is not a long time by LE standards. It takes forever to get test results, information from other jurisdictions, court approval to unseal juvenile records, etc. etc. etc. I don't know what the backups are like right now at the FBI labs or other places, but I'll be surprised if we hear anything before the end of the year.

 

[Marilynilpa]

O/T - can you believe this!?!

Vermont authorities are warning residents in advance of a high-risk pedophile being released from prison Friday.

Residents are being told to be extra cautious with their children as a high risk pedophile is set to be released from a state prison Friday, with 12 to 13-year-old blond-haired, blue-eyed boys said to be at highest risk, according to reports.

snip

Timothy Szad, 53, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after handcuffing and repeatedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old autistic boy in 2000. With his sentence coming to an end Friday, authorities are warning the public he is at risk for re-offending, according to reports.

Szad is required to notify the state of where he chooses to live, but he will not be under supervision.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...dophile-sex-offender-getting-jail-Friday.html

BBM

Huh? A child will probably be molested, maybe even killed by this unsupervised RSO. It's sickening.

 

[Bootsctr]

This guy must have had something about him that attracted women, it didn't take long after being released to get someone pregnant. Then in dec 2011 he was released and was married within a few months.

yeah! No kidding! Makes the hairs on my neck stand up! From what I've read he put the mother of his child through a living he!! And they both ended up changing their last names. I am very thankful that someone felt he was dangerous enough to warn her that he was getting out of prison. :scared:

 

[Bootsctr]

O/T - can you believe this!?!

Vermont authorities are warning residents in advance of a high-risk pedophile being released from prison Friday.

Residents are being told to be extra cautious with their children as a high risk pedophile is set to be released from a state prison Friday, with 12 to 13-year-old blond-haired, blue-eyed boys said to be at highest risk, according to reports.

snip

Timothy Szad, 53, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after handcuffing and repeatedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old autistic boy in 2000. With his sentence coming to an end Friday, authorities are warning the public he is at risk for re-offending, according to reports.

Szad is required to notify the state of where he chooses to live, but he will not be under supervision.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...dophile-sex-offender-getting-jail-Friday.html

BBM

Huh? A child will probably be molested, maybe even killed by this unsupervised RSO. It's sickening.

All I can think is OMG! OMG! OMG! :scared: :scared: :scared: :stormingmad:

P.S. I hope your BF is doing much better! Always good to see you Marilyn :seeya: