Three young women disappeared after leaving home, without giving any clues to their whereabouts. A 60-year old man suddenly leaves the house he shares with his nephew, without telling anyone where he was going.
All three people saw the same man, Scott Kimball, before they went missing. Though Kimball has denied killing the women, he does admit that he killed his uncle. But now police believe he is responsible for more deaths in other parts of the United States.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has not found any direct evidence if Kimball was the perpetrator of the crimes, but a lot of circumstantial evidence has shown that he was at least connected to the victims’ disappearances. He is now serving 70 years for two counts of second-degree murder. He promised to locate the victims’ bodies, but one woman, Jennifer Marcum, remains missing. Her family is still searching for closure.
They hope that with the help of certified criminal investigators, lawyers and the proper authorities they would find enough evidence to recreate the last days of Marcum, and finally find her body to give it a proper burial.
A Fraud Cons the Authorities
Kimball was a small-time thief who also forged checks when he was arrested. He was able to convince the police that he could act as a snitch against another criminal, who might have been connected to a large crime ring in Denver, Colorado. The FBI thought they could use him and made him an informant. But unfortunately, it led to the death of the first victim, Jennifer Marcum, whose body is still missing in the mountains of Colorado.
Kimball used his status as an FBI informant to pursue and marry Lori McLeod, whose 19-year old daughter Kaysi went missing as well. She was last seen with Kimball who said that he was taking her to her place of work. Kaysi was never seen again, until September 2008, when a hunter in a remote area of northeastern Colorado found a young woman’s skull and bones. Authorities later confirmed it was Kaysi.
Two Fathers, One Goal
But the fathers of these young women were determined to find their daughters, and their investigation led them to Kimball. Their efforts led the police to investigate the case of the third victim, LeAnn Emrys.
LeAnn went missing in 2003, and investigators were able to recreate a 10-day trial from Colorado to Washington, with the help of bank and credit cards. Legal crime investigators went through motel receipts, check records, and phone records that showed that LeAnn was traveling with a man she called “Hannibal.”
Police later discovered that LeAnn was involved with a man who was Kimball’s prison cellmate in 2002. Kimball had promised LeAnn to help her boyfriend escape to Mexico. Later, LeAnn’s boyfriend revealed that Kimball was “Hannibal” and probably killed her. When authorities searched Kimball’s apartment and computer, the police found some photos of LeAnn in terrifying circumstances, but nothing that would connect Kimball to her death.
Legal Loopholes?
As most of the evidence against Kimball was circumstantial, the prosecutors could not charge him with first-degree murder. Kimball himself said he only brought the bodies, but it was his accomplices that murdered the women.
For the victims’ families, finding their missing relatives were paramount, and even though the legal crime investigators traced Kimball’s involvement with the victims before they disappeared, they still lacked any direct proof that Kimball did the deed.
Prosecutors finally agreed to a complicated plea bargain agreement that would make Kimball lead them to where the victims were buried, but limits the knowledge of the families on the details of their relative’s deaths.
An Arrest, But No Happy Ending
Though the Emrys and McLeods have accepted the loss of their daughters, it has been hard to endure. The Emrys return to the canyon where their daughter was found and placed a grave marker to remember her spirit: “Forever Loved. Never Forgotten.”
The authorities know that Jennifer Marcum is still out there, and even as Kimball thinks he will get parole, they hope that investigators will finally find their daughter before that happens.
