Police Searching For Kara Kopetsky?

Sheriff deputies are draining and searching ponds in Johnson County, Kansas "for a body," possibly that of Kara Kopetsky, a high school girl who has been missing since May 2007.

KCUR-FM in Kansas is reporting:

Twenty Johnson county Sheriff's Deputies were able to get within inches of the bottom of a pair of ponds south of Leawood today. They've been searching for human remains.

A tipster last week gave a credible enough account to send deputies to a remote area near 164th and Mission Road.

The site where these ponds are located was the former site of the Kuhlman Die Casting company.

A surveillance video at the high school Kopetsky was attending shows her walking out of school in Belton, Missouri, but she has not been heard from since. Weeks later, high school graduate Kelsey Smith of nearby Overland Park was abducted from a Target store near her home. She was found days later and her killer is now serving a life sentence. Many have speculated that the Kopetsky and Smith cases are related.

So far, no body has been found during this week's search.

No Clues Found In New Kopetsky Search

A search today of a wooded area near Kansas City failed to turn up any clues to the disappearance of Kara Kopetsky.

The Kansas City Star reported:

More than 220 officers with law enforcement agencies started an exhaustive examination of a 400-acre area just east of the former Richards-Gebaur airport, near East 155th Street and U.S. 71., about 9 a.m. today. It was over about 1 p.m.

The area has been searched before, “but never a shoulder-to-shoulder grid search,” said FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton.

Kopetsky was last seen at Belton High School on May 4, 2007 by the school's security cameras as she was heading for an exit. A month later, Kelsey Smith of Overland Park, Kansas was abducted from a Target store and found murdered days later near Grandview, Missouri. Her killer is now serving a life sentence.

It is unclear what sparked authorities' interest in the area that led to the search today.

To read the full Star article, go here.

Kara Kopetsky Still Missing

Tomorrow marks two years since Kara Kopetsky, age 17, became a missing person. She was last seen on May 4, 2007 at her high school in Belton, Missouri. Neither her cell phone or her bank account have been touched since that day.



I first heard of the Kara Kopetsky case when Kelsey Smith of nearby Overland Park, Kansas was abducted from a Target store and found murdered. The massive search effort for Kelsey Smith was hoped to also help locate Kara Kopetsky, but it didn't. Two years later, Kopetsky is still missing without a trace. Police in Belton and Overland Park compared notes but could find no connection between Kopetsky's disappearance and Kelsey Smith's abduction and murder.

As no body has been found, this gives her family a ray of hope that she may still be alive but in hiding somewhere. Recently, it was revealed at CNN that Kopetsky had an argument with a teacher that morning. This may also give some hope that this argument led to Kopetsky's disappearance.

Above, this image from Kara's high school security camera was taken the day she disappeared.



According to CNN:

According to police in Belton, 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 Kara 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.

Kara was was featured on Nancy Grace’s Cold Case on April 28 in hopes that someone who knows something will come forward.

A website has been set up to help locate Kara Kopetsky:

findkarakopetsky.com