An Idaho man who twice unsuccessfully ran for governor has been charged with murdering a 12-year-old Colorado girl who disappeared more than 35 years ago, authorities said.
Steven Dana Pankey, 69, of Meridian, was arrested Monday on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and related counts in the death of Jonelle Matthews, his former neighbor in Greeley, who vanished from her home on December 20, 1984, Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke announced Tuesday.
Court documents obtained by CNN show Pankey had lived roughly two miles away from Jonelle’s home when she disappeared and about 10 miles away from where her body was found in July 2019 in a desolate field southeast of Greeley.
The girl’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, police said, and she was the victim of a homicide.
Rourke told CNN there’s “no definitive” DNA link between the girl’s remains and Pankey, who “watched school children walk home” from where Jonelle went to middle school and admitted owning a gun in 1984, according to the indictment.
Pankey also “intentionally inserted himself” in the decades-long search for the girl, claiming to have knowledge of the crime that became “inconsistent and incriminating” over time, court documents show.
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Self incriminating and 69?
ReplyDeleteWaste of air - termination is necessary!
So what, a murderer running for public office, and a pedophile running for President. The best of the Democrat party!!
ReplyDeleteLong search over due thank God Pankey never won any office. Prayers for the family.
ReplyDeleteMust have been a Democrat !!!
ReplyDeleteOne tiny piece of dna from 35 years back .. preserved ? ..is that all/ how its done ?? ..to match suspect ???
ReplyDelete