Kathlynn Shepard's Body Found in Des Moines River; Town Seeks Justice
Kathlynn Shepard's body has been positively identified after being pulled from a nearby river. The 15-year-old girl disappeared on May 20 when Michael Klunder, a registered sex offender, offered Shepard and a friend a ride home from school.
Klunder was the sole suspect in the investigation, thanks to the other kidnapping victim's testimony. She managed to escape from Klunder and get help, but Shepard could not get away and she was later murdered. A fisherman in the Des Moines River found her body Friday night, after thousands of people volunteered to help search for the girl.
Shepard died of "multiple sharp and blunt force injuries," Iowa Chief State Medical Examiner Dr. Julia Goodin announced.
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"This is something that will devastate the community forever," Dayton Mayor Richard Travis said. "I personally feel that the community is scarred."
Klunder took his life before authorities could question him; they believe that he killed himself four hours after kidnapping the two girls. He spent years in and out of the prison system, including serving time for kidnapping and assaulting a woman as well as kidnapping two 3-year-old children; thankfully, they were found alive.
"There's no mandatory sentence, and that's the problem and we need to change that so it doesn't happen to anybody else," Travis told ABC.
The Shepard family finally spoke to the public on Friday, after learning that a body matching the description of their daughter had been found.
"This is the hardest thing I have ever, ever had to do," Mike Shepard, Kathlynn's father, told KCCI.com. "I don't need to know the details. I know she was taken. I know what he [Klunder] has done in the past, so I don't need to know the details. I just need to have her home."
"The only two ways I can even think of having closure is one, having Kathlynn home; and two, being able to make sure that the laws get changed," her mother, Denise, added.
