KS KS - Karol Sullens, 18, Galena, 31 Aug 1991

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The Doe Network:
Case File 291DFKS

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/291dfks.html


Karol Marlene Sullens
Missing since August 31, 1991 from Galena, Cherokee County, Kansas.
Classification: Endangered Missing



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Vital Statistics
•Date Of Birth: December 23, 1972
•Age at Time of Disappearance: 18 years old
•Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'3; 100 pounds
•Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; green eyes.
•Marks, Scars: Pierced ears, appendectomy surgical scar.
•Clothing: Long green shirt like dress.
•Medical Conditions: Sullens has an pelvic inflammatory disease which scars the bones in her pelvic region.


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Circumstances of Disappearance
Sullens was last seen at the "Valley Of The Dolls" nightclub on 7th Street in Galena, Kansas on August 31, 1991. She went outside to speak to two men in a dark-colored pickup truck with a camper shell. She was working as an exotic dancer in 1991. Sullens has never been seen nor heard from again.
Authorities have said they believe Sullens died of a drug over dose and that her body was hidden by the person or people who supplied her with the drugs. Despite repeated searches along area water ways in abandoned mine shafts and in wooded areas in Kansas and Oklahoma her body has never been found.
Donald D. Kidwell was was charged with second-degree murder in Sullens’ death in June 2001. The warrant used to arrest Kidwell alleges that he was responsible for Sullens’ death“unintentionally but recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.” Kidwell pleaded guilty to battery and obstruction of official duty in a plea agreement and received a sentence of 18 months in the Cherokee County Jail and a $1,500 fine for his involvement in her disappearance although he stated he did not sexually assault Sullens and did not intend to cause her death.
According to the agreement Kidwell must make a full statement as to what he recollects about the events surrounding Sullens' apparent death. He is also to make a statement, to the best of his recollection, about where her remains might be.



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Investigators
If you have any information concerning Sullens' whereabouts, please contact:
Cherokee County Sheriff's Department
316-429-3992
--
Kansas Bureau Of Investigation
800-KS-CRIME
All information may be submitted on an anonymous basis.

NCIC Number: M-514166127
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
NCMA
The Joplin Globe
The Morning Sun (Pittsburg, KS) 5/1/02

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/sullens_karol.html
More details at Charley Project.

http://books.google.com/books?id=UO...wBg#v=onepage&q=Karol Marlene Sullens&f=false
Book paragraph about Karol.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/386/0/
NamUs profile:
Dental: NA
DNA: intial inquiry underway
Fingerprints: NA

NamUs case report snipped:
Circumstances Unknown. Carol was last known to have gone outside the Valley of the Dolls Exotic Nightclub in the vicinity of 7th St. in Galena, KS to talk with an unknown male individual. She was last seen standing beside his truck

Karol has been missing almost 19 years. Come home soon.
 

Attachments

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2016:

Wednesday marks 25 years since her disappearance and in the past quarter-century, Sullens' body has not been recovered and no one has been formally charged with her murder, leaving lots of questions for her family...

[Sullens' mother, Sandra] Casada describes the last 25 years as "mostly a nightmare". Due to Sullens' body never being recovered, her family has no formal grave site for her. They've made a makeshift one on the back of a wooden sign near the area Sullens was last seen alive.

"Give us some rest on this, give us some peace. You know, everybody deserves to have a resting place," Casada said....

Search efforts took place across the county to find Sullens but to no avail. Sheriff David Groves said Sullens' DNA and dental records were entered into several national databases.

"Anytime anyone is located who matches that 18-yr-old female, Caucasian female criteria, they're able to go from that system and compare what they've located to what we're looking for and see if it's a match. There's been a couple instances where initially we thought there might be a match and then upon further examination and testing we've realized that it's not," Groves said.

http://www.koamtv.com/story/32942981/family-marks-25-years-since-sullens-disappearance
 
Curiously, this case made it into a poem not long after it first appeared in the headlines.

Swimming Pool I

In the blue vacancy of the pool
A yellow leaf floats silently.
I watch it. It gives of Autumn.
I think of Galena's missing stripper
Now sunk in some area mine shaft,
And the thought passes quickly, easily.
The pool filter hums a numbing nothing.
Far off to the north I hear thunder.
It's moving away from us, no rain.
What did God think when He created us?
Was the Earth a blue vacant swimming pool,
A numbing, songless, filtered hum?
See it in yourself, face it:
We're all missing strippers, lost and alone.

Nothing gives a damn.
 
The Charley Project: Karol Marlene Sullens – The Charley Project

August 1996 NEWSOK article: MIAMI, OK (AP) - Investigators searching for a missing Kansas woman are awaiting divers who will explore an abandoned mine shaft for her remains, a sheriff's official said Friday.

Donaldson decided to explore the mine shaft because of new tips in the case. Although no remains have been found, publicity on the search has generated telephone calls affirming investigators are looking in the right spot, he said.
Mine Shaft Due Search By Divers

May 2003 article from The Joplin Globe: A Picher, Oklahoma man who has failed to live up to his part of the bargain in helping law officials find the body of a Baxter Springs woman has been denied early release from jail. Joplin Globe Newspaper Archives, May 20, 2003, p. 3
From the continuation of the article on page 5A: At Kidwell's preliminary hearing in 2001, Davis testified that he drove Sullens and Kidwell to a remote, wooded area northwest of Galena. He said Kidwell slung Sullens over his shoulder and carried her into the woods. He testified that Sullens slipped into unconsciousness from drugs during the trip. https://newspaperarchive.com/joplin-globe-may-20-2003-p-5/
 
Curiously, this case made it into a poem not long after it first appeared in the headlines.

Swimming Pool I

In the blue vacancy of the pool
A yellow leaf floats silently.
I watch it. It gives of Autumn.
I think of Galena's missing stripper
Now sunk in some area mine shaft,
And the thought passes quickly, easily.
The pool filter hums a numbing nothing.
Far off to the north I hear thunder.
It's moving away from us, no rain.
What did God think when He created us?
Was the Earth a blue vacant swimming pool,
A numbing, songless, filtered hum?
See it in yourself, face it:
We're all missing strippers, lost and alone.

Nothing gives a damn.
This was in The New Yorker!
 
This article appeared when I searched (google) for Carol instead of Karol.

April 20, 2001: MIAMI, OK - A Picher man was arrested Thursday on a second-degree murder complaint in connection with the 1991 disappearance of a Kansas woman. Ottawa County sheriff's deputies found Don Kidwell, 44, hiding in a closet under blankets and pillows after his wife tried to block them from entering and searching the house. Kansas authorities began extradition proceedings Thursday against Kidwell, who remains in the Ottawa County jail with bail set at $1 million. Arrest made in woman's disappearance
 
Today marks the 27 year anniversary of Karol Marlene Sullens disappearance. :(

If you have any information about what happened to Karol, please contact the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at 1-620-429-3992 or 1-620-848-3000.
Case # 91-0806

You may also contact the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-KS-CRIME.

0000.jpg
Link to graphic: 250+ Amazing Candle Photos · Pexels · Free Stock Photos
 
Reward doubles in Cherokee County cold case

COLUMBUS, Kan. — A privately funded reward being offered to help locate the remains of Karol Marlene Sullens has been doubled, according to the Cherokee County sheriff.

Sullens, 19, disappeared from a Galena, Kansas, nightclub on Aug. 31, 1991. Her body has never been recovered.

The reward, initially announced in September in the amount of $10,000, is now at $20,000, Sheriff David Groves said earlier this week.

"Karol's family has experienced yet another year, another birthday, another Christmas without the peace of mind of knowing where her remains are located," Groves said in a statement. "That's 29 years of anguish with not being able to properly lay her to rest. Through the offer of this privately funded $20,000 reward, we are hopeful — and Karol's family is hopeful — someone with direct knowledge as to the location of her body will find the courage to come forward at this time."

Donald Kidwell and Don Davis, both of Picher, Oklahoma, were charged in 2002 with obstruction of justice and misdemeanor battery in connection with Sullens' disappearance, according to Globe archives.

Davis told authorities that Sullens left the club with him and Kidwell in Davis' pickup and that she passed out from a drug overdose as they were driving. He said he drove to a remote area northwest of Galena, where Kidwell got out of the truck carrying Sullens, then returned without her.

Kidwell, originally charged with second-degree murder, accepted a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of battery and obstruction of official duty. Davis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of official duty and misdemeanor battery as part of a plea agreement.

Anyone with information may contact the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at 620-429-3992 or 620-848-3000. Individuals also can go to cherokeecountykssheriff.com or text "tip cherokee" to 888777.
 

Updated:
Wednesday, August 31st 2022, 7:45 AM EDT

Image


A $30,000 reward is being offered for information on a young Kansas woman who vanished more than 30 years ago. Investigators hope to find information on Karol Marlene Sullens, who was last seen in Galena, Kan.

"Over the past three decades, numerous tips and information have been received and followed up on, leading investigators and other organizations to search multiple areas, fields and mine shafts in Southeast Kansas and Northeast Oklahoma. Unfortunately, none of those searches have allowed us to recover Karol's body," Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves said in media release on the county’s website.

A YOUNG WOMAN VANISHED
Karol is described as a vibrant young woman who was working as an exotic dancer in Galena. She was last seen on Aug. 31, 1991, when she was taking a break during work. She was out in the parking lot of the Valley of the Dolls Exotic Nightclub, located 7th Street on the west edge of town. According to the Department of Justice, she was speaking with a man beside his pickup truck, which possibly had a camper shell on it.

In exchange for testimony in the case, Don Davis revealed more in court in fall 2001. Davis said he drove Karol and Donald Kidwell from the nightclub to a remote area. He said Kidwell later returned to the truck without Sullens. Her purse and other personal items were left behind in the venue, the DOJ documents.

SEARCH FOR A BODY
According to court reports, investigators believed Karol died of a drug overdose and her body was hidden. Kidwell, of Picher, Okla., pled guilty in spring 2002 to battery and interference with law enforcement in connection to his role in Sullens' disappearance.
In an April 2006 report with The Joplin Globe, Kidwell was charged with second-degree murder in connection with Karol’s death, but a plea agreement led to lesser charges, with the hope of finding Karol’s body. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

The sheriff’s office said Davis has since passed away.


REVIVING THE CASE
"The family of Karol Sullens has suffered far too long with grief and agony over not being able to properly lay their loved one to rest.” Sheriff Groves said. “Because we believe there may still be someone with information as to where Karol's body is located, a $30,000 reward is being offered for direct information leading to the discovery of her remains.”
A private source is offering the reward. A Facebook page also honors Karol's life and story.

TIPS IN THE CASE

If someone has specific information related to Karol's whereabouts, they can contact the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at (620) 429-3992 or (620) 848-3000, by visiting the agency website at www.cherokeecountykssheriff.com or by texting 888777. Just type 'tip cherokee' followed by the specific information they wish to provide.


KAROL MARLENE SULLENS
Missing from: Galena, Kan.
Missing since: Aug. 31, 1991
Age then: 18
Height: 5’3’’
Weight: 90 pounds
Hair: Blonde/Strawberry-blonde
Eyes: Green
Distinguishing marks: pierced ears, scar on abdomen (from appendectomy).
Nickname: Carol, Karol, Barbie and Squirt.
 
Dec 2022

Sullens' loved ones gathered on December 17, 2022 to remember Karol on her 50th birthday (December 23). They meet at the same spot Sullens went missing, 31 years ago. Sullens' family wrote messages on a small billboard saying happy birthday and she’ll never be forgotten. “I think more than anything, I regret that she didn't get to grow up with us,” said Sullens' Sister, “And get to meet the additions to the families that we've all had, somehow we've had to move on. And then, fortunately for her, she hasn't.”

After 31 years of no answers, Sullens' family still holds hope for closure. “Hope is a lot of things.” said Sullens' brother, “You know, what do we hope for? You know, do we hope she comes home alive? Yeah. Do we hope that she's out there somewhere or not? Yes. In reality, we don't believe so. We just hope we could have closure.”

Cherokee County Sheriff's Office still has Karol Sullens on their minds. “It's on the forefront of our minds.” said Sheriff David Groves, “And it's one that we desperately want to provide closure to the family.”

Sheriff Groves is hopeful as technology advances, it can lead to Sullen’s remains. “As time goes by, technology advances.” said Groves, “And so we're currently working with an organization that we're hoping to get our hands on a piece of equipment that might aid in our ability to search some areas.”

Groves is on a waiting list to use a new piece of technology on Sullens’ case. However, the waiting list for the technology is extremely long. Sheriff Groves is expecting by spring, the agency will be able to use the technology on Sullens’ case and other missing persons’ cases in the area.
 
poor young and pretty woman... unfortunately when they have this guy
or work is possible or rather they are exposed to these dangers... drugs, alcohol, pimps, etc.. they believe they are the owners of women and they only seek to support their homes... any work that is carried out with dignity is to say that Don't steal from anyone or cause any harm to third parties, it's worth doing it for the family...
rest in peace
 

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