Where is Kara Kopetsky msg 5-4-07 Belton, MO REMAINS FOUND

[Nut44x4]

Is Girl Found In NY Kara Kopetsky?
Teen In Manhattan Doesn't Know Her Name
POSTED: 11:19 pm CDT October 23, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A teenage girl found in New York City who doesn't remember her name bears a resemblance to Kara Kopetsky, a Missouri teenager who has been missing since May 2007.


Police said the girl was found two weeks ago in Midtown Manhattan and has no memory of her name, her home or her family.

Video: Girl's Discovery Puzzles Police.

The girl is estimated to be between 14 and 17 years old. She is 5 feet 6 inches tall, medium build, has short, blond hair and blue eyes.

The girl wrote down the name Amber, but she doesn't know whether it's her name, police said.

Kara Kopetsky, 17, was last seen on May 4, 2007, at Belton High School. Relatives have said there are no apparent clues as to her whereabouts.

There were rumors that Kopetsky ran away; however, her parents said in 2007 that Kopetsky hadn't touched her bank account, she hadn't used her cell phone and she didn't take any clothes.

There is a reward for information in the Kopetsky case. Anyone with information can call the Crime Stoppers TIPS hot line at 816-474-TIPS

http://www.kmbc.com/news/21409728/detail.html

[MuffyBee]

Is Girl Found In NY Kara Kopetsky?
Teen In Manhattan Doesn't Know Her Name
POSTED: 11:19 pm CDT October 23, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A teenage girl found in New York City who doesn't remember her name bears a resemblance to Kara Kopetsky, a Missouri teenager who has been missing since May 2007.


Police said the girl was found two weeks ago in Midtown Manhattan and has no memory of her name, her home or her family.

Video: Girl's Discovery Puzzles Police.

The girl is estimated to be between 14 and 17 years old. She is 5 feet 6 inches tall, medium build, has short, blond hair and blue eyes.

The girl wrote down the name Amber, but she doesn't know whether it's her name, police said.

Kara Kopetsky, 17, was last seen on May 4, 2007, at Belton High School. Relatives have said there are no apparent clues as to her whereabouts.

There were rumors that Kopetsky ran away; however, her parents said in 2007 that Kopetsky hadn't touched her bank account, she hadn't used her cell phone and she didn't take any clothes.

There is a reward for information in the Kopetsky case. Anyone with information can call the Crime Stoppers TIPS hot line at 816-474-TIPS

http://www.kmbc.com/news/21409728/detail.html

Not Kara Kopetsky, but an 18 year old from Washington State, who's name hasn't been released yet.  HT Toler

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/wandering_jane_doe_missing_wash_fFVTngMWklkx2TcmkB9exH

[Nut44x4]

Personally....I didn't think she even resembled Kara 

[carolyn]

Personally....I didn't think she even resembled Kara 

I have to say - I think she does look like Kara.  I am sad that this is not Kara.  I had hoped she would be.  That being said - I am very happy for the family in Washington who has their daughter back.  I only wish that there were more of these kind of cases.  You don't hear about amnesia cases very often but they are wonderful when there is a happy ending!  I hope this girl get the help she needs and that being reunited with her family is wonderful for all of them.  Carolyn

[yuknomenot]

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content/breaking/story/Cops-Searching-Wooded-Area-for-Kopetsky/ABvRgKqSQkKXj-Ouxz09Bg.cspx

Cops Searching Wooded Area for Kopetsky

Posted by: Aaron Heintzelman
Email: heintzelman@nbcactionnews.com
Last Update: 11:45 am

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – More than 220 officers with several different police agencies have convened on a wooded area in Kansas City in connection to the 2007 disappearance of Kara Kopetsky.

Bridget Patton, a spokeswoman with the Kansas City field office of the FBI, says the 400-acre area, near 115th and Holmes, has been searched before.

"This area has been looked at before, however not as thoroughly as it is being looked at today," Pattons said. "The weather outside leads to us being able to conduct a more thorough search of the area."

Kara’s mother, Rhonda Beckford, says police told her they are not working a new tip, but instead trying to rule out a connection between the area and Kara’s disappearance.

"Information has developed in the process of an investigation," Patton said. "This is not new information we’re following up on."

But another family member says she has learned in the last few days that the area is where the last ping on Kara’s cell phone was recorded.

Patton said the search began around 9 a.m. and would last all day and go in to Thursday if they were not able to complete the search. Officers from the Kansas City Police Department, Belton Police Department, Cass County Sheriff’s Office and United States Marine Corps, are helping in the search.

An official close to the investigation says though the FBI has been involved in the case behind the scenes for a while, this is the first time the FBI has become publicly involved in the search.

Kara was 17 when she was last seen by surveillance cameras leaving Belton High School on May 4, 2007. She has not been seen or heard from since.

Her parents say her cell phone and bank account have not been used since her disappearance.

There is a $30,000 reward offered for her safe return.

Donations to the 'Find Kara Fund' can be made at:

Bank of Belton, 204 Main Street,
Belton, MO 64012 (816) 331-4888

[Nut44x4]

Authorities Search Wooded Area For Kara Kopetsky
Belton Teen Missing Since 2007

POSTED: 10:53 am CDT April 7, 2010

GRANDVIEW, Mo. -- Federal and local officials are searching a wooded area in Belton for missing teen Kara Kopetsky.

Kopetsky went missing from Belton on Nov. 4, 2007, and was last seen at Belton High School.

FBI officials confirmed that more than 200 officers were searching an area near 155th Street and Holmes Road.

Surveillance video of Kopetsky shows her at Belton High School on Nov. 4 and is the last evidence of her being seen.

The reward in the case is up to $30,000.

http://www.kctv5.com/news/23078314/detail.html

[KCJackie]

http://www.kmbc.com/news/23077708/detail.html


FBI Searches Field For Missing Belton Teen
Kara Kopetsky Disappeared In May 2007
POSTED: 10:05 am CDT April 7, 2010
UPDATED: 12:44 pm CDT April 7, 2010


KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- FBI agents, along with dozens of law enforcement officers searched a field near 155th Street and U.S. Highway 71 Wednesday morning in connection with the case of a missing Belton teen.

Kara Kopetsky disappeared almost three years ago. The 17-year-old was last seen leaving Belton High School. She was seen on a surveillance video leaving the school. The video suggested that Kopetsky was leaving on her own and was not being forced. Her parents and a friend reported her as a missing person shortly after her disappearance.

Video | Images

KMBC's Micheal Mahoney reported that more than 200 searchers are combing the area, looking for clues in the disappearance of Kopetsky.

Police from several agencies, including the Belton police, the Cass County Sheriff's Department, the Kansas City police, Missouri Highway Patrol, and about 25 Marines from a nearby Marine mobilization command walked through about 400 acres of ground.

Mahoney reported that sometimes the searchers were standing almost shoulder to shoulder as they walked.

Searchers have not reported recovering any human remains.

A spokeswoman for the FBI, Bridget Patton, called the canvass "a thorough grid search."

Patton said the area has been searched before. But the early spring conditions -- less brush and foliage and no snow -- gives the searchers a better look at the area.

Mahoney reported that it appeared the search had been planned since sometime last week, when the organizing of volunteers commenced.

[KCJackie]

 

~~~~~~~~~snipped~~~~~~~~~

Kara's Mother Learned To Deal With Highs, Lows Of Case

Rhonda Beckford, Kara's mother, told KMBC's Martin Augustine that just before 2 p.m., Belton police told her that nothing was found during the search.

Beckford said police notified her a week ago that they would be searching the area. They were not specific as to why they looked there, other than to say that they could eliminate it as a possible lead.

With the third anniversary of Kara's disappearance coming up early next month, Beckford said that she and her family have learned to cope with the highs and lows of the case.

Beckford said that she does have moments when her emotions get the best of her, often on her daughter's birthday.

Beckford said she does hold out hope that Kara's out there somewhere, and asks that if anybody knows anything about the case to call police.


http://www.kmbc.com/news/23077708/detail.html

[klaasend]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/07/search-continues-missouri-girl-missing-nearly-years/?test=latestnews

New Search Launched for Missouri Girl Missing for Nearly 3 Years

FOXNews.com

Kara Kopetsky, 17, vanished early in May 2007 from her hometown of Belton, Mo.  Her last confirmed sighting was at her high school, there were also reports that she was spotted two days later at an area gas station in Lewisburg, Mo., on the same day her cell phone and debit card were last used.

Over 200 law enforcement officials in Missouri embarked Wednesday on an intensive new search for a teen girl last seen nearly three years ago -- but by the end of the day, authorities still were left without a break in the case.

The FBI downplayed speculation that there were new leads in the case, as authorities said they wanted to take advantage of ground conditions to go over an area that had been searched before, Fox4KC.com reports.

Missouri Police from Kansas City, Belton and Cass County, as well as the FBI and a number of United States Marines, participated in the search of a 400-acre wooded area near the former Richards-Gebaur airport.

FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said the area had been searched before, but "never a shoulder-to-shoulder grid search," KansasCity.com reports.

"We had this information, but based upon the weather right now, the foliage is dead, there's no snow on the ground, the actually weather, the environment, leads to a more thorough search at this point," Patton told Fox4KC.com.

(snipped)

[Nut44x4]

This case has haunted me since day one ... 

[doubledecker]

glad to see they are doing something in kara's case... interesting they are searching that area again... after 3 years... they say no new lead... hmmm... but your really have to wonder... or maybe they were going through something and that one tiny pieice of overlooked info popped out at them..

so this is where her phone last pinged... why wait 3 years to do a thorough search of this area then... the weather didn't take 3 years to be the kind of weather you need to go looking..what about the last 3 years at this time of year? 

I followed this case since day one... I might go back and dig through all my old files and take a look at it again...

[Edward]

You are an amazing researcher DoubleDecker and I hope you do go back through your notes for this child.

[trimmonthelake]

http://videos.kansascity.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=12531984
Searchers spend 2nd day looking for Kara Kopetsky

(KSHB Video) Searchers are spending a second day looking for Kara Kopetsky, a Belton woman who has been missing since May 2007. Their efforts are concentrated on two ponds near 155th and Holmes in south Kansas City. (April 8, 2010)

Video at link

[Nut44x4]

Posted: 6:43 PM Apr 19, 2010

Cold case: Field recently searched for missing teen

New York (CNN) -- Some cold cases see periodic bursts of activity and then go cold again.

The disappearance of Kara Kopetsky, a high school junior who vanished three years ago in Belton, Missouri, appears to be one of those cases.

This month, police conducted a grid search on a field five miles from Belton High School, where Kopetsky was last seen.

The search area was within the Kansas City limits, said Rhonda Beckford, Kopetsky's mother.

"Its near an old military air base. It's basically a wide open field," Beckford said.

She says police had searched the area before, and she doesn't know what prompted investigators to search again.

"When we searched the area before, it was not in the same way," explained Capt. Don Spears of the Belton Police Department. "This time we did a shoulder-to-shoulder grid search of the 400- acre area."

The April 7 search turned up no clues, and police say they're no closer to finding Kopetsky.

"She is a very beautiful girl, and so we often warned her to be careful, but like any teen, she had an attitude that she was invincible," said her stepfather, Jim Beckford.

Kopetsky was 17 when she walked out of her high school for the last time May 4, 2007. It was something she often did, her mother says. Kopetsky would leave around 10:30 a.m., return between 1 and 2 p.m. and stay until school let out at 3:30 p.m.

"She didn't get along well with two teachers who taught her mid-day classes, and so she would leave after her morning classes, take a break and then come back for her afternoon classes," Rhonda Beckford said.

That day, Kopetsky had forgotten one of her textbooks. She called home and asked her mom to drop it off at the school office. She also asked her mother to wash her uniform so she could work the 4 p.m. shift at Popeye's Chicken.

A school surveillance video shows Kopetsky walking down a corridor and out the door of the high school. But no one can say which way she went or whether she got into a car. It was the last time anyone saw or heard from her.

When Kopetsky didn't come home from school as usual, her mother and stepfather grew worried. They called police and reported her missing.

The worried parents say police told them that they believed Kopetsky was a runaway and that she'd come back on her own in a few days.

But Beckford is certain her daughter didn't run away. "I believe someone picked her up. She got into someone's car, someone she knew," she said.

Police say Kopetsky's cell phone records show that the last phone calls she made before leaving the school grounds include one to her mother and that she exchanged text and voicemail messages with her boyfriend for about 20 minutes.

But, police say, there was no activity on Kopetsky's cell phone after she walked out of school, indicating that the battery went dead or was removed from the phone.

In the days after Kopetsky was reported missing, investigators followed pings from the phone and conducted some searches in Belton but found no clues. Beyond that, they aren't commenting on the investigation.

Kopetsky's stepfather says the cell phone's long silence makes him suspicious.

"This doesn't make any sense," Jim Beckford said. "Kara was on her cell phone sending texts constantly. Her cell phone bill was typically 80 to 100 pages long."

Kopetsky's mother said her daughter's boyfriend was questioned, and his home and truck were searched. But police found nothing out of the ordinary.

Kopetsky left behind most of her belongings: money, clothes, an iPod and a new carton of cigarettes. Her bank debit card was left in her school locker and her bank account, with $150 from a recent paycheck, remains untouched.

According to Belton police, the case is being actively investigated. But with no certain evidence of foul play, police continue to characterize Kara's disappearance as an endangered and missing adult case.

The state of Missouri considers Kopetsky to be an adult because she was 17 when she disappeared.

Belton Police Capt. Don Spears said police are looking at several persons of interest but haven't narrowed their investigation to focus on a single suspect.

Kopetsky's family believes she was abducted by someone she knew, but police have not ruled out the possibility of abduction by a stranger or drifter.

"The school doesn't sit too far from a major highway, so it's not outside the realm of possibility," Spears said.

About a month after she disappeared, Kopetsky's case was eclipsed by the abduction and slaying of Kelsey Smith, who was snatched from a store parking lot in nearby Overland Park, Kansas. Smith's body was found in the Missouri woods, six miles from Kopetsky's home in Belton. A man was charged and pleaded guilty, and is serving a life sentence.

Police in Belton and Overland Park compared notes but found no connection.

Kopetsky is described as 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 125 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes.

A $30,000 reward is offered for information leading to her whereabouts or the arrest of anyone responsible for her disappearance. Anyone with more information is asked to call the Belton Police Department's tip-line at 816-474-TIPS.

http://www.wibw.com/nationalnews/headlines/91557074.html

[doubledecker]

I am going to take some time today and get this case set up for researching it... I'll have to get info from one of my older private boards and get it all posted... I might not get it all done today but will try. 

As always, you are more than welcome to use the info to help with your research and discussion. 

I'll post where the files are when I get them up

[doubledecker]

I searched for my old kara kopetsky files today and finally found some of them on an old board I had... I could not find all of them though ugh...

I do have some things that are no longer available.. and I am going to start researching this case again now that there is more info out there to work from. 

here is a link to where I will post reference files. I should have what I already have now, posted up in a day or so, then I will start digging more.

 Feel free to use the info for your own research. 

Kary Kopetsky Belton MO May 4, 2007

http://truecrimes.50.forumer.com/viewforum.php?f=410

[yuknomenot]

Unsubstantiated rumor only:
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/28/2184427/searchers-look-for-body-at-johnson.html

Searchers look for body at Johnson County site
By BRIAN BURNES
The Kansas City Star
More News

Searchers worked into the night Saturday as they continued to look for a body in south Johnson County.

Tom Erickson, Johnson County sheriff’s deputy and spokesman, declined to identify just whom investigators were looking for. But he described the tip that the sheriff’s department received early last week as legitimate and worth following up.

“Anytime we have a legitimate tip of a possible body, we have to take it seriously and do everything we can,” he said.

“We haven’t found anything as of yet.”

Authorities searching in the 16400 block of Mission Road encountered rugged territory that took time to clear. Investigators, Erickson said, asked for assistance from county public works employees in clearing “chest-high” weeds and establishing makeshift roads and parking areas.

The search of a vacant building once used by a die casting business presented its own issues, Erickson said. Investigators asked area fire department personnel to check the building’s structural integrity before they pumped standing water out of the building’s basement.

Searchers later began to pump water out of two nearby man-made ponds. By Saturday night, one pond had been cleared and investigators were working on the second, Erickson said.

Erickson anticipated that searchers would be back on the scene today.

[yuknomenot]

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-story-search-kopetsky-case-082810,0,387641.story

BELTON, MO - Authorities in Johnson County, Kansas, are searching are an area in the eastern part of the county after receiving a grim tip in the search for missing Belton High School student Kara Kopetsky.

Johnson County Sheriff's deputies on Saturday searched an area very close to where the missing teen vanished nearly three-and-a-half years ago. Sheriff Tom Erikson says it's been more than a decade since Johnson County has performed such an exhaustive search on such a grand scale.

Erikson says sheriff's deputies along with three separate fire companies have been searching through the dense weed and brush for a week.

"Anytime you hear on the news that they're searching for a body, that they got a tip that there's a body, of course it goes through your mind especially since it's so close," said Rhonda Beckford, Kopetsky's mother. "It could possibly be Kara."

Authorities have searched an abandoned building, and have drained two ponds in the area without any results as of yet.

Kara Kopetsky mysteriously vanished just over three years ago. Surveillance video shows Kopetsky walking out of school.

"We need resolution," said Beckford. She says that three-and-a-half years of searching have taken their toll, and this latest search still may not provide any answers.

"You get up in the morning and it's the same question every day," said Beckford. "Where is Kara?"

[Nut44x4]

Glad they are still searching...
This case haunts me. I have always believed she was picked up by someone she knew. That person has gotten away with murder and still walks among her family/friends daily..... imo.

[yuknomenot]

Nut, I am glad as well.  And I am with you, it has to be someone close to her.  Initially I felt she maybe not ran away,  but just took herself away, IYKWIM.  As time has gone on, I have other suspicions.  What's interesting, also, geographically this isn't all that far from where Kelsey Smith was found. 

Update of sorts -  they are still searching and say it's a good source that's why they aren't giving up.  Hopefully there will be news one way or the other later tonight.