Delayed Justice

Almost every week, it seems, cold cases are being cleared. We are no longer quite so amazed when it happens.

But we should be.

Let nothing take anything away from the victories these investigations represent.

In this case Grand Rapids Police Detective Pat Needham and Erik Boillat were able to secure a confession in the shooting murder of 26-year-old Robert Anthony Farmer outside Miss Tracy’s Liquor Store near Neland Avenue SE and Franklin Street. Farmer was murdered in an attempted robbery, Oct. 15, 2004. The Grand Rapids Press carried this account by reporter Barton Dieters. The followup questions and responses are particularly important for shedding even more light on how the detective and Kellee Koncki, the assistant prosecutor, went about this with the murderer, Walter Antraell Wilson.

There is something most heartening about this: Boillat, Needham, and Koncki are those entrusted with the most recent investigation of Joel Battaglia’s 1990 murder. If it can be done, they will do it.

I have faith it can and will be done.

CONQUERERS GATHER THIS EVENING

The Conquerors Support Group will gather this even for their annual picnic at the MacKay-Jaycees Park on Kalamazoo Avenue SE, close to the intersection with 28th Street. If you have a chance, stop by, pick up a hot dog, meet Carolyn Priester and others with the organization. There likely will be some officers on hand, some prosecutors, and lots of families who have dealt with loss. Don’t  stay away because you think it’s going to be too sad; it’s not. These are people who have lost their nearest and dearest to crime and they are doing as they are doing…which usually means there are some tears and many smiles. We want to remember those who have been taken from us, and it helps when there are people who will take the time to come and give witness to that.

The gathering last evening in Otsego was–as all things are–a spiritual event. I’d guess there were at least 60 people there, plenty of snacks…and plenty of time to talk. Very few people were in a hurry to dash off. There were many of Kathy Sue’s family there, high school friends and acquaintances, concerned citizens, and members of law enforcement. Lourin Sprenger and a videographer from WWMT, Channel Three, covered the event and you can watch her report here. Kalamazoo Gazette reporter Stephen Brooks covered the event for mlive and here is his report.

It was very good to sit down and talk with Detective Bruce Beckman, the Otsego officer in charge of the investigation. He has worked for years on this case. When he came to the area, he said, he didn’t know that the city had a missing person case. He found out four years into his lengthy career there (37 years total in law enforcement) and has kept Kathy Sue on his radar since. But there just hasn’t been much to go on. Last night we invited people to talk with him about Kathy Sue with the understanding that it might be a little thing that could advance the investigation. Det. Beckman was busy all evening long listening and jotting down notes.

Kathy Sue’s sister Karen Ortegel acknowledged Det. Beckman’s efforts and thanked him before the group. She also thanked the event organizer and creator of the Facebook page about Kathy Sue, Shannon Anderson Froeber. And she thanked me for helping, something I was glad to do. We joined so many caring people last night, people who desperately miss the person they remember as an independent, smart, determined, and fun 15-year-old.

We just don’t know where Kathy Sue Wilcox is. It’s been 42 years this date since she walked out the door of her family’s home in Otsego as a 15-year-old…and despite a few reports of sitings in the area…and has been missing since. She may have been seen riding in a car with a slightly older boy, maybe she was seen at Yankee Springs Recreation area during a bonfire gathering…but those sightings were in the following few days after she walked out of the home and there is nothing to indicate that she has been seen in the years between late July 1972 and now.

So, this 17th, family members and friends are gathering to remember her, to acknowledge that her life mattered then and matters now. There is the hope that someone will come forward with some bit of information that might aid Otsego Police Department Det. Bruce Beckman in his search for the missing teen (who would now be 57 years old). Oh, yes, he’s still working the case and has been for years. But there hasn’t been much to go on. It’s our hope that the gathering might give him a little traction.

And if he’s there, I hope to speak with him.

The gathering–probably with cookies, cupcakes, and brownies to nibble on–will be in North Side Park, Watson Road. And it really is on the north side of town…over the river. If you’re coming, plan to bring a little something to share in the way of food and drink (non alcoholic). I plan to be there.

Forty-two years is along time to be missing. Fifteen-year-old Kathy Sue Wilcox walked out the door of her family home July 17, 1972, and has been missing since. This story by Dan Pepper in the Allegan County News outlines the plan for a gathering to talk about Kathy Sue. Those who knew her are invited to come and share what they know. All, of course, are welcome. And it might not hurt to bring something edible to share as well…a little nibble or something non-alcoholic to drink.

Yes, per the story, I have been working in the background on this case. It’s fine for others to tell the story.

This we know: Kathy Sue matters and somebody knows something.

Join us, if you would, to celebrate the life of one who has been missing far too long: Kathy Sue Wilcox.

If you’ll visit this section of our website you will be able to either rent or buy for on-line delivery, or buy a DVD of our most recent film: Death of a Phoenix: The Eastown Murder of Joel Battaglia. I hope it’s in your heart to do that; further, I hope you will tell somebody else about the film.