May 29, 2023 • 31 mins
As the search for 8-year-old Kim Nguyen continued a week after his disappearance, the Garland Police still coordinated the efforts but had begun concentrating on the investigation. After releasing a lead that likely would have borne better results had it been released the day Kim went missing, the very day the information was made public in fact, the unthinkable happened. The boy’s body was found many miles away in the neighboring city of Mesquite. The cops never got close to making an arrest. Part 2 of 2.
If you have any information about the 1993 kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Kim Nguyen, please call the Garland Police at (972) 485-4840
Please consider donating to the go fund me for Leon Laureles. You can find it at: gofundme.com/f/leon-laureles-private-detective-and-memorial
You can support gone cold and listen ad-free at patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast
Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by using @gonecoldpodcast and on YouTube at: youtube.com/c/gonecoldpodcast
The Dallas Morning News, D Magazine's Article "Did This Creep Really Kill Ashley Estell?" by Jacque Hilburn, choa.org/parent-resources/orthopedics/why-kids-bones-are-different, and WFAA Channel 8 News were used as sources for this episode.
#JusticeForKimNuyen #Garland #GarlandTX #Dallas #DallasTX #Texas #TrueCrime #TexasTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #GoneCold #GoneColdPodcast #ColdCase #Kidnapping #Abduction #Unsolved #Murder #ColdCase #UnsolvedMurder
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gone-cold-texas-true-crime--3203003/support.
If you have any information about the 1993 kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Kim Nguyen, please call the Garland Police at (972) 485-4840
Please consider donating to the go fund me for Leon Laureles. You can find it at: gofundme.com/f/leon-laureles-private-detective-and-memorial
You can support gone cold and listen ad-free at patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast
Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by using @gonecoldpodcast and on YouTube at: youtube.com/c/gonecoldpodcast
The Dallas Morning News, D Magazine's Article "Did This Creep Really Kill Ashley Estell?" by Jacque Hilburn, choa.org/parent-resources/orthopedics/why-kids-bones-are-different, and WFAA Channel 8 News were used as sources for this episode.
#JusticeForKimNuyen #Garland #GarlandTX #Dallas #DallasTX #Texas #TrueCrime #TexasTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #GoneCold #GoneColdPodcast #ColdCase #Kidnapping #Abduction #Unsolved #Murder #ColdCase #UnsolvedMurder
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gone-cold-texas-true-crime--3203003/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
The goncol podcast may contain violent orgraphic subject matter. Listener discretion is advised.
The diligence and determination in which Garland, Texas locals searched for eight year
old Kem Noen after he vanished onthe morning of July eighteenth, nineteen ninety
three, kept the boy's family fromsinking into a hopeless darkness, if only
(00:27):
just barely a week after Kim wentmissing, some folks were still putting in
fourteen hour days to find him.Many wore a T shirt bearing his photograph
and the phone number for the GarlandPolice Department, of which about three hundred
and fifty were handed out by Vietnamesecommunity leaders. On Sunday, July twenty
(00:50):
fifth, seven days since Kim waslast seen, the Garland Police command Post
was no longer in operation, butpoliceman Steve Frey had been assigned as coordinator
of the continued search efforts, thoughit now consisted only of volunteers as the
cops concentrated on investigating tips and carefullypatrolling the area. Officers were instructed to
(01:15):
respond immediately to any call having todo with the Kim Noen case, while
no En family neighbors combed through areaswhere they hoped to find the eight year
old hiding. Each volunteer breathed indeeply and held it as they turned over
large items like discarded sheets of plywood, or as they came upon something in
(01:37):
the tall brush that didn't belong.Each time, they breathed out quickly and
heavily when they discovered they had notcome across the boy's body. Everyone wanted
to find Kim Noen, They justdidn't want to find him dead. Garland
Police Commander Bob Cortes told reporters thatthe case had them baffled. They were
(02:00):
at a standstill, Cortes said untilsearchers found a clue or new information came
to light. There was one cluefound earlier in the searches, Kim ne
Win's blue and brown striped shirt.It was discovered by a person who had
taken it upon themselves to search outsidethe approximate two mile perimeter surrounding the New
(02:22):
Winn home. Three days after theefforts began, volunteers and police found no
other clues in the area the shirthad been found, which was near a
Garland Power and Light generating plant onEast Walnut Street. Though it had no
blood stains or tears. The discoveryof Kim's shirt seemed like evidence of foul
(02:45):
play. He'd been known to disrobeat inappropriate times, but even the director
of pediatric behavior at Children's Medical Centerin Dallas doubted Kim, who was autistic,
would wander off so far and soaimlessly. Even the FBI, who
said they were investigating a lead outof state they'd come across, had no
(03:08):
idea where Kim was or what happenedto him. The shirt anyway, at
least so far as the public knew, was the single clue or piece of
evidence that had been discovered since thebeginning, But the cops had been holding
something back, a specific and distinctwitness report that perhaps could have led somewhere
(03:31):
the very first day of the searcheshad it been released. On Thursday,
July twenty ninth, nineteen ninety three, an article in the Dallas Morning News
(03:51):
shocked North Texans who'd been keeping upwith Kim Non's case. Just hours after
searches for the boy began, anddays earlier, an unidentified neighbor of the
Nons came to police with an importantrecollection. While driving down Castle Drive that
morning, this woman passed Thornhill Lane, where she saw Kim near the stop
(04:15):
sign at the end of the street, about one hundred yards away from the
now en home. He was flappinghis arms as if he was flying like
a bird, the witness told police. As she passed, she noticed another
vehicle driving slowly past Kim. Whenthe witness looked in her rear view mirror
after passing the boy, she sawthe car slow down even more. The
(04:40):
vehicle then turned around, going backtoward him. The witness described this vehicle
as a white Chevy Blazer, althoughshe was apparently unable to give a motto
year range. She told the copsother details that were seemingly distinct. The
blazer had two inch wide silver stripesrunning down its sides, a chromeball trailer
(05:05):
hitch, and dark tinted windows.As she reported what she'd seen, the
witness was distraught, almost inconsolable.Had she done something, she told the
missing boy's father, Rudy None,perhaps Kim could have been saved. When
(05:26):
the Garland Police finally made this informationpublic via news sources like the Dallas Morning
News and w FAATV, they saidthey had no reason to suspect the driver
was involved necessarily, they only wantedto question them. It wasn't hard to
read between those lines. Those whohad volunteered so much of their time trying
(05:49):
to find Kim didn't understand why thepolice held back the information. Surely they
thought the public's help identifying the vcould have hastened its discovery at the get
go. Still, the cops defendedtheir lack of disclosure the only way they
really could, by calling it aninvestigative lead that they wanted to exhaust before
(06:14):
asking the public's help. Not longafter the Chevy Blazer description's release, Garland
Police Chief Terry Hensley said officers anddetectives were put to work checking out the
thirty five to forty responses the departmenthad received. The very same day,
the report of this vehicle hit thepages of the Dallas Morning News, and
(06:38):
unthinkable discovery was made many miles awayin a neighboring city. At six twenty
pm, about eleven miles due southof the home of the Nowen family and
a mile southwest of Town East Malland Mesquite, two teenagers were walking through
a vacant lot near the intersection ofUS Highway eighty and the Lyndon B Johnson
(07:02):
Freeway or Interstate six thirty five.The lot sat at a paved dead end
road accessed by vehicle from the Interstatesix thirty five service road. The lot
was unkempt, the Johnson grass therereaching three and a half to four feet
tall in some areas, and wassurrounded by woods. Not far away from
(07:27):
a drainage ditch. The teenagers caughta glimpse of something out of place in
their peripheral and decided to take alook. They were shocked to find the
unclothed, badly decomposed body of achild. The boys rushed to an unknown
nearby business and called nine one oneabout the terrifying discovery. Within minutes,
(07:49):
the scene was swarming with Dallas CountySheriff's deputies and Mesquite PD. Not long
after that, as rubber necking passersby bottlenecked the six thirty five access road
as well as the interstate itself,detectives from Garland arrived. Word had spread
so quickly, in fact, thatmany in the traffic jams knew exactly what
(08:15):
was happening and had come specifically towatch. Though the body was at a
point of decomposition that made it impossiblefor detectives to immediately determine the sex of
the deceased child. Garland police recognizedenough the body they were positive belonged to
(08:35):
the missing boy they and volunteers hadbeen seeking for eleven days. It was
the body of eight year old KeimNoen. At eight pm on the night
of Thursday, July twenty ninth,nineteen ninety three, Rudy and Sarah Nouen
were asked to come to the GarlandPolice station. They brought their children,
(08:58):
Michael and Janmy. Officers broke thenews as gently as they could, but
of course there was nothing that couldstop the anguish the nightmare had wrought.
Literally from this point forward, RudyNon was haunted and sometimes completely paralyzed by
nightmares about his son. After returninghome, Rudy and Sarah allowed some volunteers
(09:26):
who had shown the family so muchlove and support to join them in their
back yard. Reporters too came,though they were in unimaginable pain. The
no Wens wanted everyone to remember Kim. I just want to live my life
to help people like him, RudyNon said as he held his son Michael
(09:46):
close. Both had swollen red eyesand wet cheeks. Rudy also took the
opportunity to speak directly to Kim's killer. He did nothing wrong. I swear
I won't try to take revenge onanyone. I just want to know why
and what happened. The boy's mother, Sarah, tried to keep busy as
(10:09):
she wept, but spoke to volunteersas she held tightly to her chest a
photo of Kim. He was ahelpless little boy, Sarah said, but
he knew how to love me.Searchers were also stricken by grief, overwhelming
sadness, excruciating hopelessness, intense anger. The feelings continued the following day.
(10:37):
Police officers wanted to get their handson the monster responsible. Garland Mayor Bob
Smith declared that whoever murdered the boywould pay. They messed with the wrong
city, he said. As thenonz awaited the results of the autopsy,
Rudy graciously thanked everyone who helped lookfor Kim. Anything I say is not
(11:01):
good enough what they have done forme. I'll never forget it for the
rest of my life. One cruelchapter was over, but the next has
never ended. Although they'd been steadfastin the media that Kim Newin's case was
(11:30):
being investigated as a missing person's caseprior to the discovery of his body.
The Garland Police likely always believed theywere dealing with a homicide. Finding the
boy's body eleven miles away from homesolidified that belief. We're certain there was
foul play because he couldn't have walkedthis far without someone seeing him, Garland
(11:54):
Police spokesperson Officer Larry Rawlins told theDallas Morning News. Chief Terry Hensley would
later add that it was unrealistic tobelieve Kim would have or could have walked
almost a dozen miles unclothed. Hehad to get there some way, he
said, after confirming the department wouldnow investigate the case as a homicide.
(12:18):
Detectives at the scene remarked that Kim'sbody was so badly decomposed they couldn't even
tell if he had any bruises,and the several medical examiners who had a
hand in the autopsy the following daydidn't fare much better. First thing in
the morning on Friday, July thirtieth, nineteen ninety three, Dallas County Chief
(12:41):
Medical Examiner, doctor Jeffrey Barnard performedan autopsy on the body of eight year
old Kim Nowen alongside others at theSouthwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences. During the
process, which took a couple days, the body was officially identified using dental
(13:01):
records. There were no internal organspresent in Kim's mummified body. The public
version of the findings notes no doubta result of the hot, dry conditions
of the North Texas summer. Whileit was considered unlikely almost to the point
of certainty, pathologists had to ruleout that Kim somehow walked the eleven miles
(13:26):
to Mesquite In Texas, temperatures inJuly reached the point that walking on concrete
or pavement ie roads and sidewalks willcause severe burns to bear feet. Kim
was wearing no shoes. The solesof Kim's feet showed no injuries. There
(13:46):
were no knicks or fractures on Kim'sskeleton, meaning that if he'd been shot
or stabbed, the death instrument missedhis bones, which is not necessarily uncommon,
but this could have led out thescenario that someone had accidentally hit him
with their car and then covered uptheir negligence by placing Kim in the vacant
(14:07):
lot, no neck organs remained,meaning determining a cause of death such as
strangulation, was impossible. This methodof homicide, however, seemed highly probable
in Kim's case. Although his highoidbone wasn't broken, the killer could have
(14:28):
used a ligature, and it's alsoimportant to point out, according to an
article on Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's website, the bones of children are considerably more
flexible than those of an adult.The highoid bone particularly, could have easily
bowed during manual strangulation, as opposedto snapping or fracturing. When the toxicology
(14:54):
report came back sometime later, onlya small volume of naturally occurring ethanol was
found in the boy's system. Intheir final determination, the Dallas County Medical
Examiner's Office ruled Kim's death as homicidalviolence, though the determination appears to have
been made because of the nature ofhis disappearance and where he was found.
(15:18):
In contradiction to this narrative, aman who was handling press duties for the
Medical Examiner's office said that despite thecondition of the boy's body, pathologists would
be able to determine a cause ofdeath if they ever did that information has
never been released. At William's Chapelin Garland, Texas, on Monday,
(15:43):
August second, nineteen ninety three,one hundred or so folks packed into the
small building to memorialize Kim Nowen andgive their continued support to the Nowen family.
Mourners arrived to hear the theme songfrom Pink Panther cartoon, the eight
year old's favorite. Local police chaplainKen Ashlock eulogized the slain child as friends,
(16:10):
relatives, neighbors, and search volunteerswept. After the graveside service,
it was clear residence Anger had notwaned. One volunteer vowed that they would
hunt for Kim's killer as intensely asthey had looked for him. Meanwhile,
the Garland Police reported that they hadneither suspects nor a motive, and refused
(16:36):
to say whether they found any evidenceat the scene. When specifically asked by
a reporter if there were tire tracksor footprints anywhere nearby, Chief Terry Hensley
answered no comment. The cops hadkept some information close to the chest before
the discovery of Kim's body. TheChevy Blazer witnessed driving slowly by the boy
(17:00):
arguably a terrible mistake on their part. If they found anything after searching the
scene around Kim's body as they ledtrained dogs through the waist high grass is
anyone's guess. If there was evera time in the investigation to keep mum,
this was it. And after callingon the public to come forward,
(17:23):
that's exactly what the Garland Police did. There's someone out there that has noticed
a person they know acting strangely sinceKim disappeared. Chief Hensley said at a
press conference, people don't do thiskind of thing without other people knowing it.
The press, too went silent.Coverage of Kim Nown's case abruptly stopped,
(17:48):
besides spots in the Dallas Morning Newson August twelfth announcing a one thousand
dollars crime Stoppers reward for information leadingto the arrest and indictment of a suspect,
and then again on the twenty eighthannouncing that Crime Stoppers and the Garland
Police had raised the reward to tenthousand dollars. In downtown Dallas. In
(18:11):
the first few days of September nineteenninety three, a three day seminar on
crimes against children was held for doctors, social workers, prosecutors and law enforcement.
There, authorities and experts spoke aboutthe realities of child abuse, abduction,
and murder, among other topics.Dallas Policeman Lieutenant Bill Walsh said that
(18:37):
it was much more common for childrento be killed by someone close to them
than a stranger and opportunist. Forthe rarer instances where the latter is the
case, crimes such as the murderof kem Newen, likely, law enforcement
experts had developed a profile of probableperpetrators. Director of Case Management for the
(19:00):
National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, Bill Ermini described these profiles, which
he called necessarily vague but nonetheless helpfulto police. Child molesters who prey on
kids they know either marry to getclose to their victims, Ermini said,
(19:22):
or tend to live alone or withtheir parents. They are generally sexually abused
themselves. These types, who Erminilabeled pedophiles, move around a lot,
usually collect pornography, and spend littletime around folks their own age. Ermini
called the second type of sexual abusersituational child molesters. They are much more
(19:49):
likely to murder their victims who theydo not know. Are social misfits.
Sexually inexperienced, and Ermini said sometimespreferred detective magazines to pornography publications that usually
featured scantily clad women in the processof being murdered by a man on the
(20:11):
cover, the pages on the insidefilled with sensationalized and exploitative material. Presumably
Ermini meant they used these detective magazinesfor arousal purposes. The seminar, which
was the fifth annual gathering of itskind, lasted from September second to the
(20:33):
fourth. Although Lieutenant Walsh told theDallas Morning News that stranger abductions weren't a
primary point of discussion there due totheir rarity, something happened just a few
miles north on the seminar's last daythat, along with kem nownz kidnapping and
murder a month and a half before, seemingly contradicted the policeman's comment. Seven
(20:59):
year old as Lee Nicola Stell wasabducted from a park in Plano as he
repaired watches and clocks for customers.Rudy Nown's eyes were glued to the screen
of a small television that sat directlyin front of his workspace. The abduction
of Ashley Estelle tragically found to bea murderer. The following day consumed rudy,
(21:26):
especially when ten days later, atwenty three year old convicted child molester
named Michael Nauie Blair was arrested andcharged with her murder. Garland police detectives
working his son's case were immediately interestedin the man as well. Ultimately,
they could find no evidence that Blairwas involved in Kim's murder, but there
(21:49):
were still reasons to suspect him.Perhaps, when Blair opened up about his
past crimes, most of which hewould never be held accountable for, it
came to light that although he preferredto rape little girls, he also raped
little boys. After he was convictedof Ashley's murder, according to d magazine's
(22:12):
Jacques Hilburn, Michael Blair was quoteparticularly interested in the specifics of Kim noen
end quote in his article titled didthis creep really kill Ashley Estelle, Hilburn
said Blair admitted to driving near thescene where Kim's body was found, just
(22:33):
as he was observed doing in Ashley'scase. Interestingly, on the day Kim's
body was found, police and Mesquitehad to arrest a man who had refused
to move his car from the Interstatesix thirty five access road. The man,
whose name was never released, hadstopped to watch the investigation. This
(22:56):
situation is eerily similar how Blair firstcame upon the radar of police for the
murder of Ashley Estelle. When Blairwas arrested for her murder, Rudy Nowen
hoped authorities also had the guy whokilled his son, but again there was
nothing linking Michael Nawe Blair to themurder of Kim Nowen. Months after Kim's
(23:34):
murder, the Garland Police had ametal sign erected at the corner of Thornhill
Lane, where the street meets CastleDrive. The sign bright red print on
white and bolted to a seventy fivepound pole set in concrete. Read On
seven, eighteen ninety three, KimNewen was abducted from this location and murdered.
(23:59):
If you have any information on thisoffense, please call two zero five
to zero eight, six eleven milesaway, not far from where Kim's body
was found. A similar sign wasput in place by the Texas Transportation Department
at the request of Garland Police inDecember of nineteen ninety three. Both signs
(24:22):
disappeared. Detective Joe McDonald of Garlandtheorized that the sign on Castle Drive and
to Thornhill Lane was taken down bysomeone in the neighborhood trying to sell their
house. The theory, based seeminglyupon the detective hearing that several houses in
the area were up for sale,did not explain why the sign in Mesquite
(24:45):
was gone. The vacant, unkemptlot there where it once stood was hardly
affected by its presence. McDonald,it should be noted, had been the
sole policeman working Kim's case for months. The detective also thought that perhaps a
resident who couldn't stand to think aboutthe crime every day when they drove by
(25:10):
it took it down. Rudy Nowen, however, believed that Kim's killer took
the signs, perhaps macab trophies takenby the twisted individual capable of killing a
child, or perhaps whoever murdered himfrequently drove by the areas and felt remorse
(25:30):
when he saw them. Whatever thecase, authorities decided not to replace them,
since they said the signs had runthe course of their usefulness. The
following July, as the anniversary ofKim's death neared, the Newen family still
mourned as if the murder had occurredyesterday, and the cops weren't any closer
(25:55):
to finding the boy's killer than theywere while taking the missing person's port.
No suspects, no motive, noleads. Since Kim didn't speak, it
was hard for Rudy Nowen to understandwhy someone had to kill his son.
He wouldn't be able to tell,let alone provide a description, Rudy said,
(26:19):
Kim's mother, Sarah, was stuckin a perpetual cycle of sadness followed
by anger, and then came anotherlong period of silence in the press.
In January of nineteen ninety six,when nine year old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped
and killed in nearby Arlington, theno Winds were forced to relive the tragedy
(26:41):
of the abduction and murder of theirson. Then, more than a year
later, during the four year anniversarymonth of Kim's death, another tragedy occurred.
On Sunday, July sixth, nineteenninety seven, Rudy Newen left work
early and locked himself inside his room. Since Independence Day, when a seven
(27:06):
year old boy disappeared while riding hisbike around his father's apartment complex in far
North Dallas, Rudy's nightmares had returned. In them, he sees his boy
in a field, Kim, hisface half eaten by insects, says to
his father, they left me there. I died. When he learned that
(27:30):
Sunday that searchers had found the missingboy, Jonathan Harrison, deceased, Rudy
newn broke. Even though the copssaid the death appeared an accident, Rudy
couldn't help but think of Kim.Grief bubbled back up to the surface,
and it could no longer be partiallystaved off by keeping busy. It was
(27:52):
debilitating until a ruling was official.The fear that another child murderer had his
worst, or maybe the same childmurderer had done it again, paralyzed Rudy.
After all, his son's killer wasmost likely still out there on the
loose somewhere. On another day,Rudy might have locked himself in Kim's room
(28:18):
instead of his own. He oftendid as he replayed the disappearance, searches,
and ultimately the discovery of Kim's bodyover and over again in his head.
But after seven year old Jonathan Harrison'sdeath being surrounded by Kim's things was
too much to bear. Kim's caseremains unsolved today, and because it hasn't
(28:44):
been reported on by traditional news sourcesfor decades now, it's unclear if the
Garland Police have revisited the case sincethe initial investigation. In the case of
seven year old Jonathan Harrison, itwas determined that he had indeed died as
the result of a terrible accident whenhe disappeared. Jonathan became the first child
(29:10):
to trigger the Amber Plan, whichrequired police to coordinate with local television and
radio broadcasters to alert the public whena child went missing. The plan,
which has changed some and is nowknown as the Amber Alert, was inspired
by several relatively high profile crimes inthe Dallas, Fort Worth Arlington areas,
(29:33):
including kem Nowens and Ashley Estells,but it was set in motion after the
abduction and murder of Amber Haggerman,who it is named after. Next time
on Gone Cold Amber's story. Ifyou have any information about the nineteen ninety
three kidnapping and murder of eight yearold kem Nowen, police call the Garland
(29:59):
Police at nine seventy two four eightfive four eight four zero. If you
have not already, look for GoneCold on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
by searching Gone Cold and looking forthe Texas logo. If you'd like to
support the show and get the episodesadd free, go to patreon dot com
(30:22):
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(30:48):
the greater chance someone with information abouta case here's the show and comes forward
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immensely, however you choose to giveit. Sources for this episode can be
found in the episode's show notes.Thanks for listening, y'all,
The goncol podcast may contain violent orgraphic subject matter. Listener discretion is advised.
The diligence and determination in which Garland, Texas locals searched for eight year
old Kem Noen after he vanished onthe morning of July eighteenth, nineteen ninety
three, kept the boy's family fromsinking into a hopeless darkness, if only
(00:27):
just barely a week after Kim wentmissing, some folks were still putting in
fourteen hour days to find him.Many wore a T shirt bearing his photograph
and the phone number for the GarlandPolice Department, of which about three hundred
and fifty were handed out by Vietnamesecommunity leaders. On Sunday, July twenty
(00:50):
fifth, seven days since Kim waslast seen, the Garland Police command Post
was no longer in operation, butpoliceman Steve Frey had been assigned as coordinator
of the continued search efforts, thoughit now consisted only of volunteers as the
cops concentrated on investigating tips and carefullypatrolling the area. Officers were instructed to
(01:15):
respond immediately to any call having todo with the Kim Noen case, while
no En family neighbors combed through areaswhere they hoped to find the eight year
old hiding. Each volunteer breathed indeeply and held it as they turned over
large items like discarded sheets of plywood, or as they came upon something in
(01:37):
the tall brush that didn't belong.Each time, they breathed out quickly and
heavily when they discovered they had notcome across the boy's body. Everyone wanted
to find Kim Noen, They justdidn't want to find him dead. Garland
Police Commander Bob Cortes told reporters thatthe case had them baffled. They were
(02:00):
at a standstill, Cortes said untilsearchers found a clue or new information came
to light. There was one cluefound earlier in the searches, Kim ne
Win's blue and brown striped shirt.It was discovered by a person who had
taken it upon themselves to search outsidethe approximate two mile perimeter surrounding the New
(02:22):
Winn home. Three days after theefforts began, volunteers and police found no
other clues in the area the shirthad been found, which was near a
Garland Power and Light generating plant onEast Walnut Street. Though it had no
blood stains or tears. The discoveryof Kim's shirt seemed like evidence of foul
(02:45):
play. He'd been known to disrobeat inappropriate times, but even the director
of pediatric behavior at Children's Medical Centerin Dallas doubted Kim, who was autistic,
would wander off so far and soaimlessly. Even the FBI, who
said they were investigating a lead outof state they'd come across, had no
(03:08):
idea where Kim was or what happenedto him. The shirt anyway, at
least so far as the public knew, was the single clue or piece of
evidence that had been discovered since thebeginning, But the cops had been holding
something back, a specific and distinctwitness report that perhaps could have led somewhere
(03:31):
the very first day of the searcheshad it been released. On Thursday,
July twenty ninth, nineteen ninety three, an article in the Dallas Morning News
(03:51):
shocked North Texans who'd been keeping upwith Kim Non's case. Just hours after
searches for the boy began, anddays earlier, an unidentified neighbor of the
Nons came to police with an importantrecollection. While driving down Castle Drive that
morning, this woman passed Thornhill Lane, where she saw Kim near the stop
(04:15):
sign at the end of the street, about one hundred yards away from the
now en home. He was flappinghis arms as if he was flying like
a bird, the witness told police. As she passed, she noticed another
vehicle driving slowly past Kim. Whenthe witness looked in her rear view mirror
after passing the boy, she sawthe car slow down even more. The
(04:40):
vehicle then turned around, going backtoward him. The witness described this vehicle
as a white Chevy Blazer, althoughshe was apparently unable to give a motto
year range. She told the copsother details that were seemingly distinct. The
blazer had two inch wide silver stripesrunning down its sides, a chromeball trailer
(05:05):
hitch, and dark tinted windows.As she reported what she'd seen, the
witness was distraught, almost inconsolable.Had she done something, she told the
missing boy's father, Rudy None,perhaps Kim could have been saved. When
(05:26):
the Garland Police finally made this informationpublic via news sources like the Dallas Morning
News and w FAATV, they saidthey had no reason to suspect the driver
was involved necessarily, they only wantedto question them. It wasn't hard to
read between those lines. Those whohad volunteered so much of their time trying
(05:49):
to find Kim didn't understand why thepolice held back the information. Surely they
thought the public's help identifying the vcould have hastened its discovery at the get
go. Still, the cops defendedtheir lack of disclosure the only way they
really could, by calling it aninvestigative lead that they wanted to exhaust before
(06:14):
asking the public's help. Not longafter the Chevy Blazer description's release, Garland
Police Chief Terry Hensley said officers anddetectives were put to work checking out the
thirty five to forty responses the departmenthad received. The very same day,
the report of this vehicle hit thepages of the Dallas Morning News, and
(06:38):
unthinkable discovery was made many miles awayin a neighboring city. At six twenty
pm, about eleven miles due southof the home of the Nowen family and
a mile southwest of Town East Malland Mesquite, two teenagers were walking through
a vacant lot near the intersection ofUS Highway eighty and the Lyndon B Johnson
(07:02):
Freeway or Interstate six thirty five.The lot sat at a paved dead end
road accessed by vehicle from the Interstatesix thirty five service road. The lot
was unkempt, the Johnson grass therereaching three and a half to four feet
tall in some areas, and wassurrounded by woods. Not far away from
(07:27):
a drainage ditch. The teenagers caughta glimpse of something out of place in
their peripheral and decided to take alook. They were shocked to find the
unclothed, badly decomposed body of achild. The boys rushed to an unknown
nearby business and called nine one oneabout the terrifying discovery. Within minutes,
(07:49):
the scene was swarming with Dallas CountySheriff's deputies and Mesquite PD. Not long
after that, as rubber necking passersby bottlenecked the six thirty five access road
as well as the interstate itself,detectives from Garland arrived. Word had spread
so quickly, in fact, thatmany in the traffic jams knew exactly what
(08:15):
was happening and had come specifically towatch. Though the body was at a
point of decomposition that made it impossiblefor detectives to immediately determine the sex of
the deceased child. Garland police recognizedenough the body they were positive belonged to
(08:35):
the missing boy they and volunteers hadbeen seeking for eleven days. It was
the body of eight year old KeimNoen. At eight pm on the night
of Thursday, July twenty ninth,nineteen ninety three, Rudy and Sarah Nouen
were asked to come to the GarlandPolice station. They brought their children,
(08:58):
Michael and Janmy. Officers broke thenews as gently as they could, but
of course there was nothing that couldstop the anguish the nightmare had wrought.
Literally from this point forward, RudyNon was haunted and sometimes completely paralyzed by
nightmares about his son. After returninghome, Rudy and Sarah allowed some volunteers
(09:26):
who had shown the family so muchlove and support to join them in their
back yard. Reporters too came,though they were in unimaginable pain. The
no Wens wanted everyone to remember Kim. I just want to live my life
to help people like him, RudyNon said as he held his son Michael
(09:46):
close. Both had swollen red eyesand wet cheeks. Rudy also took the
opportunity to speak directly to Kim's killer. He did nothing wrong. I swear
I won't try to take revenge onanyone. I just want to know why
and what happened. The boy's mother, Sarah, tried to keep busy as
(10:09):
she wept, but spoke to volunteersas she held tightly to her chest a
photo of Kim. He was ahelpless little boy, Sarah said, but
he knew how to love me.Searchers were also stricken by grief, overwhelming
sadness, excruciating hopelessness, intense anger. The feelings continued the following day.
(10:37):
Police officers wanted to get their handson the monster responsible. Garland Mayor Bob
Smith declared that whoever murdered the boywould pay. They messed with the wrong
city, he said. As thenonz awaited the results of the autopsy,
Rudy graciously thanked everyone who helped lookfor Kim. Anything I say is not
(11:01):
good enough what they have done forme. I'll never forget it for the
rest of my life. One cruelchapter was over, but the next has
never ended. Although they'd been steadfastin the media that Kim Newin's case was
(11:30):
being investigated as a missing person's caseprior to the discovery of his body.
The Garland Police likely always believed theywere dealing with a homicide. Finding the
boy's body eleven miles away from homesolidified that belief. We're certain there was
foul play because he couldn't have walkedthis far without someone seeing him, Garland
(11:54):
Police spokesperson Officer Larry Rawlins told theDallas Morning News. Chief Terry Hensley would
later add that it was unrealistic tobelieve Kim would have or could have walked
almost a dozen miles unclothed. Hehad to get there some way, he
said, after confirming the department wouldnow investigate the case as a homicide.
(12:18):
Detectives at the scene remarked that Kim'sbody was so badly decomposed they couldn't even
tell if he had any bruises,and the several medical examiners who had a
hand in the autopsy the following daydidn't fare much better. First thing in
the morning on Friday, July thirtieth, nineteen ninety three, Dallas County Chief
(12:41):
Medical Examiner, doctor Jeffrey Barnard performedan autopsy on the body of eight year
old Kim Nowen alongside others at theSouthwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences. During the
process, which took a couple days, the body was officially identified using dental
(13:01):
records. There were no internal organspresent in Kim's mummified body. The public
version of the findings notes no doubta result of the hot, dry conditions
of the North Texas summer. Whileit was considered unlikely almost to the point
of certainty, pathologists had to ruleout that Kim somehow walked the eleven miles
(13:26):
to Mesquite In Texas, temperatures inJuly reached the point that walking on concrete
or pavement ie roads and sidewalks willcause severe burns to bear feet. Kim
was wearing no shoes. The solesof Kim's feet showed no injuries. There
(13:46):
were no knicks or fractures on Kim'sskeleton, meaning that if he'd been shot
or stabbed, the death instrument missedhis bones, which is not necessarily uncommon,
but this could have led out thescenario that someone had accidentally hit him
with their car and then covered uptheir negligence by placing Kim in the vacant
(14:07):
lot, no neck organs remained,meaning determining a cause of death such as
strangulation, was impossible. This methodof homicide, however, seemed highly probable
in Kim's case. Although his highoidbone wasn't broken, the killer could have
(14:28):
used a ligature, and it's alsoimportant to point out, according to an
article on Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's website, the bones of children are considerably more
flexible than those of an adult.The highoid bone particularly, could have easily
bowed during manual strangulation, as opposedto snapping or fracturing. When the toxicology
(14:54):
report came back sometime later, onlya small volume of naturally occurring ethanol was
found in the boy's system. Intheir final determination, the Dallas County Medical
Examiner's Office ruled Kim's death as homicidalviolence, though the determination appears to have
been made because of the nature ofhis disappearance and where he was found.
(15:18):
In contradiction to this narrative, aman who was handling press duties for the
Medical Examiner's office said that despite thecondition of the boy's body, pathologists would
be able to determine a cause ofdeath if they ever did that information has
never been released. At William's Chapelin Garland, Texas, on Monday,
(15:43):
August second, nineteen ninety three,one hundred or so folks packed into the
small building to memorialize Kim Nowen andgive their continued support to the Nowen family.
Mourners arrived to hear the theme songfrom Pink Panther cartoon, the eight
year old's favorite. Local police chaplainKen Ashlock eulogized the slain child as friends,
(16:10):
relatives, neighbors, and search volunteerswept. After the graveside service,
it was clear residence Anger had notwaned. One volunteer vowed that they would
hunt for Kim's killer as intensely asthey had looked for him. Meanwhile,
the Garland Police reported that they hadneither suspects nor a motive, and refused
(16:36):
to say whether they found any evidenceat the scene. When specifically asked by
a reporter if there were tire tracksor footprints anywhere nearby, Chief Terry Hensley
answered no comment. The cops hadkept some information close to the chest before
the discovery of Kim's body. TheChevy Blazer witnessed driving slowly by the boy
(17:00):
arguably a terrible mistake on their part. If they found anything after searching the
scene around Kim's body as they ledtrained dogs through the waist high grass is
anyone's guess. If there was evera time in the investigation to keep mum,
this was it. And after callingon the public to come forward,
(17:23):
that's exactly what the Garland Police did. There's someone out there that has noticed
a person they know acting strangely sinceKim disappeared. Chief Hensley said at a
press conference, people don't do thiskind of thing without other people knowing it.
The press, too went silent.Coverage of Kim Nown's case abruptly stopped,
(17:48):
besides spots in the Dallas Morning Newson August twelfth announcing a one thousand
dollars crime Stoppers reward for information leadingto the arrest and indictment of a suspect,
and then again on the twenty eighthannouncing that Crime Stoppers and the Garland
Police had raised the reward to tenthousand dollars. In downtown Dallas. In
(18:11):
the first few days of September nineteenninety three, a three day seminar on
crimes against children was held for doctors, social workers, prosecutors and law enforcement.
There, authorities and experts spoke aboutthe realities of child abuse, abduction,
and murder, among other topics.Dallas Policeman Lieutenant Bill Walsh said that
(18:37):
it was much more common for childrento be killed by someone close to them
than a stranger and opportunist. Forthe rarer instances where the latter is the
case, crimes such as the murderof kem Newen, likely, law enforcement
experts had developed a profile of probableperpetrators. Director of Case Management for the
(19:00):
National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, Bill Ermini described these profiles, which
he called necessarily vague but nonetheless helpfulto police. Child molesters who prey on
kids they know either marry to getclose to their victims, Ermini said,
(19:22):
or tend to live alone or withtheir parents. They are generally sexually abused
themselves. These types, who Erminilabeled pedophiles, move around a lot,
usually collect pornography, and spend littletime around folks their own age. Ermini
called the second type of sexual abusersituational child molesters. They are much more
(19:49):
likely to murder their victims who theydo not know. Are social misfits.
Sexually inexperienced, and Ermini said sometimespreferred detective magazines to pornography publications that usually
featured scantily clad women in the processof being murdered by a man on the
(20:11):
cover, the pages on the insidefilled with sensationalized and exploitative material. Presumably
Ermini meant they used these detective magazinesfor arousal purposes. The seminar, which
was the fifth annual gathering of itskind, lasted from September second to the
(20:33):
fourth. Although Lieutenant Walsh told theDallas Morning News that stranger abductions weren't a
primary point of discussion there due totheir rarity, something happened just a few
miles north on the seminar's last daythat, along with kem nownz kidnapping and
murder a month and a half before, seemingly contradicted the policeman's comment. Seven
(20:59):
year old as Lee Nicola Stell wasabducted from a park in Plano as he
repaired watches and clocks for customers.Rudy Nown's eyes were glued to the screen
of a small television that sat directlyin front of his workspace. The abduction
of Ashley Estelle tragically found to bea murderer. The following day consumed rudy,
(21:26):
especially when ten days later, atwenty three year old convicted child molester
named Michael Nauie Blair was arrested andcharged with her murder. Garland police detectives
working his son's case were immediately interestedin the man as well. Ultimately,
they could find no evidence that Blairwas involved in Kim's murder, but there
(21:49):
were still reasons to suspect him.Perhaps, when Blair opened up about his
past crimes, most of which hewould never be held accountable for, it
came to light that although he preferredto rape little girls, he also raped
little boys. After he was convictedof Ashley's murder, according to d magazine's
(22:12):
Jacques Hilburn, Michael Blair was quoteparticularly interested in the specifics of Kim noen
end quote in his article titled didthis creep really kill Ashley Estelle, Hilburn
said Blair admitted to driving near thescene where Kim's body was found, just
(22:33):
as he was observed doing in Ashley'scase. Interestingly, on the day Kim's
body was found, police and Mesquitehad to arrest a man who had refused
to move his car from the Interstatesix thirty five access road. The man,
whose name was never released, hadstopped to watch the investigation. This
(22:56):
situation is eerily similar how Blair firstcame upon the radar of police for the
murder of Ashley Estelle. When Blairwas arrested for her murder, Rudy Nowen
hoped authorities also had the guy whokilled his son, but again there was
nothing linking Michael Nawe Blair to themurder of Kim Nowen. Months after Kim's
(23:34):
murder, the Garland Police had ametal sign erected at the corner of Thornhill
Lane, where the street meets CastleDrive. The sign bright red print on
white and bolted to a seventy fivepound pole set in concrete. Read On
seven, eighteen ninety three, KimNewen was abducted from this location and murdered.
(23:59):
If you have any information on thisoffense, please call two zero five
to zero eight, six eleven milesaway, not far from where Kim's body
was found. A similar sign wasput in place by the Texas Transportation Department
at the request of Garland Police inDecember of nineteen ninety three. Both signs
(24:22):
disappeared. Detective Joe McDonald of Garlandtheorized that the sign on Castle Drive and
to Thornhill Lane was taken down bysomeone in the neighborhood trying to sell their
house. The theory, based seeminglyupon the detective hearing that several houses in
the area were up for sale,did not explain why the sign in Mesquite
(24:45):
was gone. The vacant, unkemptlot there where it once stood was hardly
affected by its presence. McDonald,it should be noted, had been the
sole policeman working Kim's case for months. The detective also thought that perhaps a
resident who couldn't stand to think aboutthe crime every day when they drove by
(25:10):
it took it down. Rudy Nowen, however, believed that Kim's killer took
the signs, perhaps macab trophies takenby the twisted individual capable of killing a
child, or perhaps whoever murdered himfrequently drove by the areas and felt remorse
(25:30):
when he saw them. Whatever thecase, authorities decided not to replace them,
since they said the signs had runthe course of their usefulness. The
following July, as the anniversary ofKim's death neared, the Newen family still
mourned as if the murder had occurredyesterday, and the cops weren't any closer
(25:55):
to finding the boy's killer than theywere while taking the missing person's port.
No suspects, no motive, noleads. Since Kim didn't speak, it
was hard for Rudy Nowen to understandwhy someone had to kill his son.
He wouldn't be able to tell,let alone provide a description, Rudy said,
(26:19):
Kim's mother, Sarah, was stuckin a perpetual cycle of sadness followed
by anger, and then came anotherlong period of silence in the press.
In January of nineteen ninety six,when nine year old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped
and killed in nearby Arlington, theno Winds were forced to relive the tragedy
(26:41):
of the abduction and murder of theirson. Then, more than a year
later, during the four year anniversarymonth of Kim's death, another tragedy occurred.
On Sunday, July sixth, nineteenninety seven, Rudy Newen left work
early and locked himself inside his room. Since Independence Day, when a seven
(27:06):
year old boy disappeared while riding hisbike around his father's apartment complex in far
North Dallas, Rudy's nightmares had returned. In them, he sees his boy
in a field, Kim, hisface half eaten by insects, says to
his father, they left me there. I died. When he learned that
(27:30):
Sunday that searchers had found the missingboy, Jonathan Harrison, deceased, Rudy
newn broke. Even though the copssaid the death appeared an accident, Rudy
couldn't help but think of Kim.Grief bubbled back up to the surface,
and it could no longer be partiallystaved off by keeping busy. It was
(27:52):
debilitating until a ruling was official.The fear that another child murderer had his
worst, or maybe the same childmurderer had done it again, paralyzed Rudy.
After all, his son's killer wasmost likely still out there on the
loose somewhere. On another day,Rudy might have locked himself in Kim's room
(28:18):
instead of his own. He oftendid as he replayed the disappearance, searches,
and ultimately the discovery of Kim's bodyover and over again in his head.
But after seven year old Jonathan Harrison'sdeath being surrounded by Kim's things was
too much to bear. Kim's caseremains unsolved today, and because it hasn't
(28:44):
been reported on by traditional news sourcesfor decades now, it's unclear if the
Garland Police have revisited the case sincethe initial investigation. In the case of
seven year old Jonathan Harrison, itwas determined that he had indeed died as
the result of a terrible accident whenhe disappeared. Jonathan became the first child
(29:10):
to trigger the Amber Plan, whichrequired police to coordinate with local television and
radio broadcasters to alert the public whena child went missing. The plan,
which has changed some and is nowknown as the Amber Alert, was inspired
by several relatively high profile crimes inthe Dallas, Fort Worth Arlington areas,
(29:33):
including kem Nowens and Ashley Estells,but it was set in motion after the
abduction and murder of Amber Haggerman,who it is named after. Next time
on Gone Cold Amber's story. Ifyou have any information about the nineteen ninety
three kidnapping and murder of eight yearold kem Nowen, police call the Garland
(29:59):
Police at nine seventy two four eightfive four eight four zero. If you
have not already, look for GoneCold on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
by searching Gone Cold and looking forthe Texas logo. If you'd like to
support the show and get the episodesadd free, go to patreon dot com
(30:22):
forward slash Gone Cold Podcast. Thanksto all of you who support us there.
It's a huge deal to us.If you're not in a position to
help Gone Cold financially but would liketo in some other way, well I've
got just the thing. Leaving usa five star rating and written review on
iTunes particularly helps Goncold's visibility. Themore folks who find us and listen,
(30:48):
the greater chance someone with information abouta case here's the show and comes forward
with what they know. Every littlebit helps, and we appreciate y'all support
immensely, however you choose to giveit. Sources for this episode can be
found in the episode's show notes.Thanks for listening, y'all,
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