OCSO collecting evidence at the house in Park City. Credit: OCSO
The Osage County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) recently conducted a search at the former residence of Dennis Rader, also known as the BTK Killer, in Park City, Kansas, under the guidance of Sheriff Eddie Virden. The operation aimed to collect items of evidentiary value based on specific leads that the OCSO had received.
On Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2023, Virden led a team of investigators to Park City, a suburb of Wichita, in collaboration with the Park City Police Department. The primary focus of the search is closely tied to the missing persons case of 16-year-old Cynthia Dawn Kinney from Pawhuska, Oklahoma dating back to 1976. Kinney’s body has never been found.
This ongoing investigation has uncovered potential connections to other missing persons cases and unsolved murders in the Kansas and Missouri areas, which are possibly linked to Dennis Rader. The Osage County Sheriff’s Office has been working alongside the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), sharing crucial information and collaborating on this case.
During the search, items of interest were recovered at the former residence of Rader. These items will undergo thorough examination to determine their potential relevance to the ongoing investigations. At this stage, Rader is considered a prime suspect in the Cynthia Dawn Kinney case.
He is also considered a suspect in the 1990 murder of Shawna Beth Garber. In December 1990, a couple walking on a rural road in Southwest Missouri discovered the decomposed remains of Garber. She had been hog-tied and dumped next to an abandoned farmhouse.
For 30 years, the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office (Missouri) referred to then-unidentified Garber as “Grace Doe.” In January 2021, Othram used genetic genealogy to give Shawna Beth Garber back her name. Now, investigative could be closing in on her killer.
Republished courtesy of OCSO.