AR AR - Kevin Ives, 17, & Don Henry, 16, Bryant, 22 Aug 1987

[Cajunsoccerdad]

Out of control in Lonoke County - Arkansas Times

 

[ACG2x]

Watched the Unsolved Mysteries episode about this case last night on Amazon Prime with my wife. When we first heard the ME ruled the deaths accidental, we both laughed and were like yeah right. Sure enough, that of course was wrong. These boys were murdered, plain and simple. The only question is who?

The "military fatigues guy" that was mentioned in the episode would be a viable suspect. Seemed to be a hothead as he opened fire on a cop and ran off a week or so earlier after the officer just asked to talk to him. Thankfully the officer was not injured. Guy matching his description was seen in the area on the night of the murders, about a mile from the tracks the boys were placed on.

The only other real option is an unknown assailant who was involved in illegal activities such as the drug trade as mentioned. Can't really rule that one out because we don't know and drug running was a big problem at the time in the area. I usually find it cheap and easy to just say "it was a rando drug dealer" that nobody has ever seen or heard about, but this is one of the few cases where it could fit.

A more out there possibility is they were accidentally killed when someone doing the same thing they were (spotlighting - an illegal form of hunting where you go at night and shine a spotlight in an animal's eyes to freeze them then shoot) and they were accidentally shot. However, there were two of them so thinking two boys could be accidentally shot is a stretch. Perhaps they aimed their spotlight at someone also in the woods and that spooked them and one was shot. Shooter thinks I'm screwed and need to cover this up so he shoots the other one? Again, it's out there given how the events to that point unfolded.

This is one where we likely - and sadly - may never know the truth.

 

[PrivateInspector007]

Here is another link where the wrestler, Billy Jack Haynes claims he witnessed the murders:

Former WWE Superstar Claims To Have Witnessed A Murder

Additional information regarding the ME and Clintons:

Encyclopedia of Arkansas

 

[Panhypopit]

Linda Ives just passed away on June 3…

I only know the her via boards where we shared the same unfortunate disease.

 

[mlhenn]

Mom of cold case victim dies; Linda Ives sought answers in the deaths of 2 teens for decades

June 5 2021

Linda Ives, the mother of one of two teenagers whose bodies were found more than three decades ago on railroad tracks just outside of Little Rock, died Thursday morning at a Benton hospital without any closure in the highly publicized case surrounding her son's death. She was 71.

The unsolved 1987 slaying of teenagers Kevin Ives and his friend, Don Henry, is one of the most high-profile homicide cases in Arkansas history, with an investigation tinged with international intrigue, conspiracy theories of local corruption and allegations of cover-ups that went as high as some of the most powerful political institutions in the United States.

 

[mlhenn]

Encyclopedia of Arkansas

The apparent murder in Saline County in 1987 of seventeen-year-old Kevin Ives and sixteen-year-old Don Henry has spurred ongoing controversy, including conspiracy theories tying their deaths to a drug-smuggling scandal. The case was the subject of journalist Mara Leveritt’s award-winning book The Boys on the Tracks.

Best friends Kevin Ives and Don Henry had been out hunting late on Saturday night, August 22, 1987.

On Sunday, August 23, 1987, at around 4:00 a.m., the bodies of the two boys were spotted by the crew of a Union Pacific locomotive near Crooked Creek trestle in Alexander (Pulaski and Saline counties). The bodies were lying between the tracks, wrapped in a pale green tarp; there was a gun nearby. The train was unable to avoid running over the bodies. The train’s crew immediately reported the incident to railroad officials and to local law enforcement at Benton (Saline County), where the train had come to a full stop. By 4:40 a.m., local and state police had arrived at the scene and begun investigating. At first, local officials treated the incident like an apparent suicide despite the objections of the train crew. Reportedly, no tarp was found by the police, but they did take in a shattered .22 caliber rifle as evidence.

State officials—including the state medical examiner, Dr. Fahmy Malak—ruled the boys’ death as an apparent suicide despite the fact that all four parents disputed the ruling.

 

[mlhenn]

Officials to Reopen Investigation In Deaths of 2 Men Run Over by Train

The link above is about a case that is very similar to Kevin Ives’s and Don Henry’s case.

The bodies of Billy Don Hainline, 21, of Hodgens, and Dennis Decker, 26, of Heavener, were run over by a freight train on a stretch of the Kansas City Southern railroad 20 miles south of Poteau.

 

[mlhenn]

Probe of Six Train Deaths Requested

 

[Richard]

Kevin Ives and Don Henry
Murdered 22 August 1987

 

[kadman]

 

[kadman]

Dan Harmon is a piece of work. But then, too many people in authority are sadly.