Kara Kopetsky, 17 MSG From Belton, MO Since May 4, 2007

[Grande]

KARA'S STORY

Kara disappeared from Belton, MO on May 4, 2007. She was last seen leaving Belton High School. Kara does not have a car, so she would have either been on foot or someone was there to pick her up.

Kara is 17 years old and would have just finished her junior year in high school. She is 5' 5", with brown hair and hazel eyes. As you can tell from the pictures, she is known to change her hair color. She no longer has braces as seen in some of the pictures.

Friday, May 4, 2007

The morning started out just like any other morning. Kara decided to walk to school just a few blocks away instead of having her mom drive her. Later that morning, she called her mom to bring her a book for one of her classes that she had forgotten at home. Kara also asked her mom to wash her work clothes since she had to work that afternoon after school. Mom took the book up to school and left it in the office for Kara to pick up later. At some point after that Kara got the book from the office.

What happened next remains a mystery.

Kara did not come home from school that day and did not show up for work that afternoon. Her mom and stepdad called her repeatedly and called around looking for her before reporting her missing that evening.

It has been confirmed that the last phone call on her cell phone was about 10:30 that morning. Since then, the police have determined that either the cell phone has been shut off or the battery has run down. In addition to that, there has been no activity on her bank account and nothing is missing from her house. All of her clothes, belongings, and IPOD are still in her room.

The police and family have talked to her friends and no one has seen or had contact with Kara since she disappeared.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Three persons reported seeing Kara at a gas station/Burger King in Louisburg, KS along with a young male. Unfortunately the video surveillance equipment was not in working order and this sighting could not be confirmed.

May 17th to present

The police department has followed up on leads as they have come in, but none have led them to find Kara.

http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/about.html

[Grande]

http://i26.tinypic.com/28lbcbb.jpg

[Grande]

Missing teen Kara Kopetsky's family wants answers
By LISA GUTIERREZ
The Kansas City Star
July 21, 2007, Page E-1

MISSING Kara (it’s pronounced CAR-uh) Kopetsky Last seen: May 4 at Belton High School Appearance: White female; 5 feet, 5 inches tall; 125 pounds; light brown hair; hazel eyes; scar on forehead What she was wearing: Blue jeans, black studded belt, gray T-shirt with white skulls on it, black and gray Vans sneakers with bleach splotches and black leather hobo bag If you have information: Call the TIPS Hotline, 816-474-TIPS (816-474-8477)

Fundraiser: Kara Kopetsky Poker Run, 10 a.m. to noon July 28, sponsored by Blue Springs Harley-Davidson. The ride begins at Guicho&8217;s, 110 Cunningham Parkway, next to Blockbuster in Belton. All-day activities include a bake sale, car wash and raffles. For info, call the Harley dealership, 816-224-5005.

"You kind of go back and forth. If she is trying to come back home, are we putting so much attention on this that she's scared to?" MIKE KOPETSKY, KARA'S FATHER

The first door on the left leads into Kara's bedroom. She always kept it closed. She wanted Thomas, her 8-year-old half brother, to stay out. She didn't want her parents to hear her climbing in through the window when she forgot her house keys — again.

She didn't want her stepdad to hear her talking with friends on her cell phone late at night. One month she talked so much and sent so many text messages that her cell phone bill was 40 pages long. Behind that door is everything Rhonda Beckford has left of her 17-year-old daughter, Kara Kopetsky. Everything and nothing.

On the first Friday of May, a sunny spring day that tempted grown-ups to leave work early and kids to skip school, Kara didn't come home from classes at Belton High School. She hasn't been seen or heard from since. No one knows what happened to her. Not her parents, not the police, not friends who have posted messages on Kara's MySpace page:

Hey Hunny! I freakin miss u! The family is doin everything imaginable to bring u home safe. They are goin crazy for u girl.

It's been more than two months now since Kara went missing. Rhonda, 41, wears the stress on her face, where shadows sit under dark, glassy eyes.

Kara's father, Mike Kopetsky, remarried and living in Blue Springs, sometimes forgets to eat. He has lost 20 pounds and has thrown himself into his job remanufacturing transmissions. "To keep my mind from wandering and my eyes from watering," he says.

Kara's grandmother has started smoking again. Thomas asks for hugs from strangers. When he hears his mom say she doesn't like to go past the door into Kara's bedroom anymore, Thomas pipes up. He'd like to go in there, he says. "Really?" says Jim Beckford, Thomas' dad and Kara's stepfather. "You never told us you wanted to."

•••

When Kara didn't come home on May 4, Rhonda and Thomas taped a note on the wall just inside her bedroom door. I know how hard it has been for you. Mom and Thomas.

Jim says this isn't exactly a "Leave It to Beaver" home. It sounds like an apology. He met Rhonda at UPS, where they work. At the time, Rhonda was a divorced single mom raising Kara; they were just two girls living alone. When Kara was 9, Jim and Rhonda got married.

When Kara's dad, Mike, found out she was missing, he first thought Kara was out having fun on a prom weekend. "I kinda thought, 'OK, she's out being a rebel, partying, playing,' " says Kopetsky, 38.

Friends described Kara as a "firecracker," but she hadn't always avoided the straight and narrow. She wasn't always the girl who cut classes, smoked cigarettes and frowned in photos. Pinned to her cluttered bulletin board are ribbons she won for track back when she still liked school, back when she played the flute. "By the time she got into ninth grade," Rhonda says, "she was done with band."

A family photo shows Kara and Thomas sitting on a tractor, both grinning like Cheshire cats. Kara smiled like that before she became self-conscious about her looks and her full, Angelina Jolie lips. In adolescence, she became something of a boy magnet, and her parents warned her about the company she kept. In a house too small for secrets, Thomas heard the drama. In Kara's bedroom he picks up a trinket from her vanity table.

"She got that from her other boyfriend, remember?" he tells his mom. "The one that was good?"

•••

Officially, Kara is a "missing person endangered."

"It means that there's some concern about her being missing, that we're concerned about her well-being," says Capt. Don Spears of the Belton Police Department. "Specifically, because we've not heard from her, nor have any of her friends or family heard from her."

The concern grew from what police saw in Kara's room, things a runaway might have taken with her. Makeup. Clothes. A carton of Marlboro Lights full except for one pack. She left behind the iPod she got for Christmas and the hair straightener she used every morning.

She planned to interview at QuikTrip the day after she disappeared and had made plans with friends for the next two weekends. Money in her bank account is untouched. She left her debit card in her school locker. But Kara's cell phone, a Motorola Razr she got for her birthday, is missing. It hasn't been used since the morning of May 4. "With a kid that age," Spears said, "that's a concern that the phone's not been on."

Kara disappeared the same day a tornado destroyed the town of Greensburg, Kan. Family members said when they contacted local media they were told reporters were busy in Greensburg. Some media were reluctant to publicize a possible runaway.

But then, on June 2, Kelsey Smith was kidnapped in Overland Park, and Kara suddenly became the other teenage brunette missing in Kansas City. Before law-enforcement officials determined the cases were unrelated, the national media came calling. Jim and Rhonda gave interviews to Geraldo Rivera, Nancy Grace and Greta Van Susteren. They keep their names and numbers in a little notebook in the kitchen.

People have reported seeing Kara from California to Florida. Someone thought they saw her on a plane. Someone else thought they saw her on a tram at Disney World. Another person thought they saw Kara with a young man at a gas station in Louisburg, Kan. Outside Chicago, the FBI searched a house and found nothing. A psychic envisioned Kara in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Leads like these come in daily. Her family doesn't know what to believe, afraid to ignore the one tip that might lead to Kara. "The family has gotten to where we don't take a lot of hope," says Mike Kopetsky. "There in the beginning we'd get a lot of false hope, and it'd end up being heart-crushing when they were false leads."

One day before the end of the school year, a rumor swept through town that a body had been found under a bridge in Louisburg. Even the kids at Thomas' school heard it. They found your sister's body, kids told Thomas. Your sister's dead.

•••

Though people second-guess them — you should have done this, you should have tried that — Jim and Rhonda feel they've done everything they can. After calling the police, they organized an army of Kara's cousins, aunts, uncles and friends of the family to knock on doors around Belton, make fliers and T-shirts and call her friends.

One of those friends, Kylr Yust, 18, was Kara's on-again-off-again boyfriend for much of the school year. Anyone who's read Kara's MySpace page knows about the tempestuous Kara-Kylr hookup. Police say that a few days before she disappeared, Kylr and Kara had a dustup that resulted in an order of protection requiring Kylr to stay away from her. On April 24, Kara wrote: "So life hasn't been the greatest for me lately, over the last 9 months of my life iv dedicated my life to kylr … I made no other time for any of my friends nor my family. over those 9 months i forgot the person that I was. im trying to find that person again."

Kylr said Kara was a "flying by the seat of your pants" girl. "She just wanted to have fun and do everything and experience everything in life," he said. "She didn't think too forward. She was always in the moment. She didn't think about 'what am I gong to do when I grow up.'" He keeps pictures of her on his cell phone. He said she talked of running away to Mexico the next time she was punished at home. "Lately I've been kind of depressed about the whole thing," he says. "I have no idea where she is."

•••

Friends doubt that Kara ran away, but police have not ruled out the possibility. Spears says there are no suspects in Kara's disappearance; there's no evidence a crime has been committed. Because she's 17, legal age in Missouri, the police couldn't make her come home even if they found her, Spears says. If Kara wanted to vanish without a trace, he says, she could have found a Web site to tell her how. She could have bought a pay-as-you-go cell phone that can't be tracked. She could have left behind her clothes and that fresh carton of cigarettes on purpose. "It complicates the matter and adds to the frustration," Spears says. "Hopefully we can keep her face out in front of the public."

And yet, her dad worries about the attention. "You kind of go back and forth," Mike Kopetsky says. "If she is trying to come back home, are we putting so much attention on this that she's scared to? All these different possibilities go through your head, and you don't know the right answer. We're all just frustrated … that nobody has said anything yet. Somebody at some point has to say something. What could she be so angry about in her life to where she would have no contact with any family or friends?"

After touring Kara's bedroom, Thomas sits on the sofa in the living room and remembers his big sister. When he would beat Kara at racing games on the Xbox. When she would make him do her chores. When she would walk him home from school and call him "butthead." "I remember that time when she got a water bottle and just splashed it on my shirt. And then I put ice on her," Thomas says. "I don't have anyone to put water on."

http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/index.html

[Grande]

Missing teen had restraining order against ex-boyfriend
May 12,2007

BELTON, Mo. - Court documents reveal accusations of kidnapping and a restraining order against the ex-boyfriend of a missing Belton teen. "The cops have already done a lie-detector test and, if you want, ask them about that record," says 18-year-old Kylr Yust, the missing girl's ex-boyfriend.

Police confirm he did pass a lie-detector test in connection with Kara Kopetsky's disappearance and say he has an alibi. He was not in Belton when the 17-year-old disappeared.

Police say he has cooperated throughout the investigation.

"I have been because I don't know anything about where she is or about what happened," Yust says. "I wish I did."

The young man goes on to explain.

"They said I was a suspect because of prior happenings not because of anything that would point to me having anything to do with her disappearing now," he says.

Kara posted multiple pictures of herself on her MySpace page, which police say has not been accessed since she disappeared last Friday.

She has not used her cell phone or her ATM card since she disappeared in the middle of the school day at Belton High school either.

On MySpace, she wrote that most of the past year she had dedicated her life to Kylr.

Belton Police say just six days before Kara's disappearance they arrested Yust for assaulting the missing teen.

A restraining order against him levels accusations that he kidnapped her and restrained her on April 28, seven days prior to her disappearance. It also alleges on a separate occasion he choked her and threatened to slit her throat.

Yust says the kidnapping allegation was from a night where for a few minutes he would not let her out of his pickup truck, but that he never, ever, had any intention to harm Kara Kopetsky.

Police say, even after the incident, Kara continued to call Yust and spend time with him, even after the restraining order was put in place.

"You want something for your story, check this out," Yust said Friday as he rolled up his sleeve and showed a large, healing scar across his forearm.

"I tried to kill myself twice. There you go. That's the night I did it 'cause I wanted her to leave the room so I could do that," Yust said as he ended the interview and walked into a no-alcohol bar where his band was performing Friday night.

Police say there was no evidence to support kidnapping charges in connection to the night Yust would not let Kara out of his truck. He does, however, face misdemeanor disorderly conduct and assault charges.

The disappearance of Kara Kopetsky has not been classified as a kidnapping. It remains a missing person case.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18631816/

[Grande]

http://i25.tinypic.com/281hrhg.jpg

It is important to note that cops are not convinced that the girl spotted in Louisburg is actually Kara, but would like to know for sure.

http://www.amw.com/missing_children/case.cfm?id=45643

[Grande]

Search continues for missing Belton,Mo., teen
Kara Kopetsky was reportedly seen in Louisburg two weeks after her disappearance
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 4:12 AM CST

The Belton, Mo., Police Department is seeking area residents’ help in finding a missing teenager who was reportedly seen in Louisburg two weeks after she disappeared.

Kara Kopetsky disappeared May 4, 2007, after not coming home from school and not showing up at work. Her cell phone was last used at 10:30 a.m. that day, and her bank accounts and credit cards have not been used since her disappearance.

Sgt. Lance Crull of the Belton Police Department said most of the tips that came in were from the Louisburg area. She was reportedly seen at the Conoco gas station/Burger King on May 17. Other possible sightings of Kopetsky were in Linn County.

Kara is 17 years old, 5 feet 5 inches and weighs approximately 125 pounds.

Up to $20,000 is being offered for information that leads authorities to finding Kara.

Sgt. Crull said the police department is distributing Kara’s photo to see if any other leads are sparked, because none of the previous leads have led to finding Kara.

Anyone with information should contact the Belton Police Department, (816) 331-1500, or the TIPS Hotline, (816) 474-TIPS. More information can be found by visiting www.findkarakopetsky.com.

http://www.kccommunitynews.com/articles/2008/01/16/miami_county_republic/news/doc478d2c2cf1805133422643.txt

[gibbrishclown]

:( and she's still gone? I wonder what happened to her. This is terrible.

[Grande]

Posted on Sat, Feb. 16, 2008 10:15 PM
Dear Kara: 'Granny' needs you

Moore Before, when I would see or hear about a missing person, I would pray they would be found safe and returned to their family.

As time passed and something would be on the news or in the paper, I only gave it a passing thought. I think most people do this, until it happens to your loved one.

It doesn’t matter the length of time that passes; each day is as empty as the first. It doesn’t get any easier; in fact at first your hope is that they are away on their own free will, but as time passes you know it isn’t so.

You are so thankful for the support from the media and the public. With each bit of media coverage you hope someone will call with a tip. When strangers ask if they can give you a hug and say they will keep you in their prayers, sometimes these are the things that keep us sane, because there are times we are not so sure we are.

Kara Kopetsky has been missing for 9½ months, and today is her 18th birthday. She called me “Granny.” And today I should be taking her shopping. It was something we always did on her birthday.

I thank God for giving her to me for 17-plus years. But I wasn’t through loving her.

We are trying so hard to find her. Our hearts still beat, but there is an echo because of the piece that is missing. We start each day with a prayer, that this will be the day someone comes forward or Kara is found. We pray each night for the strength to get through another tomorrow. We plead to whoever knows anything, no matter how small, to come forward. They can call 911, the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS or the Belton Police Department at 816-331-1500. There is a $25,000 cash reward for information that brings Kara home.

Please help us bring Kara Kopetsky home. I ask you to remember the many who are missing, some for years.

Please don’t assume that any missing person is a runaway. Take a few seconds to say a prayer for their return.

Sandy Moore is the grandmother of Kara Kopetsky. She lives in Grandview.

http://www.kansascity.com/273/story/493015.html

[Grande]

Posted on Wed, Mar. 05, 2008 10:15 PM
Olathe police investigate discovery of woman’s burned body
By BENITA Y. WILLIAMS
The Kansas City Star

http://i32.tinypic.com/15f4o4l.jpg

She was small, young, white-skinned with light-brown hair — possibly dyed — and wore a silver-colored ring.

Her burned body was found Wednesday near the Kansas River in rural Olathe. Police were seeking information about the woman’s identity and her death, which is being investigated as a homicide.

Olathe Police Officer Bob Ahsens said city water treatment employees found the woman about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday while checking a water line near 83rd Street and Gardner Road. The body was found near an access road close to a boat ramp.

Police said the body appeared to have been burned recently. Ahsens said the woman appeared to have been 16 to 30 years old. She was about 5 feet tall and weighed 100 pounds.

The ring was on the middle finger of her right hand.

The body apparently is not that of missing 17-year-old Kara Kopetsky, who left Belton High School during the school day on May 4 and has not been heard from since.

Kara is white, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. She has brown hair and hazel eyes.

Ahsens would not say whether investigators had been in contact with other local police agencies with missing-person cases fitting the description of the body. Police have released no other information about the condition of the body, the cause of death or anything else found at the scene.

The Johnson County sheriff’s office is assisting with the investigation. A Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter and Johnson County Community College police academy cadets helped search the area.

The property is owned by Olathe and is part of that city but is surrounded by De Soto. The city operates water wells on the property, and water is pumped through De Soto and Lenexa into Olathe.

Anyone with information — especially those who frequent the Cedar Creek boat dock or who may recognize the ring — is urged to call Olathe police at 913-971-7455 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/518895.html

[Roamer]

:1222423: For someone's unknown loved one.

[Grande]

I second that... :1222423:

My thoughts are with the friends and family today.

[Nut44x4]

http://www.stltoday.com/

Racing team publicizes search for the missing
By Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/06/2008

WARRENTON — Next month it will be a year since Kara Kopetsky, then 17, was reported missing from her high school in Belton, Mo., near Kansas City.

Her mother, Rhonda Beckford, has not given up hope of finding Kara.

So when the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation contacted her earlier this week about putting Kara's picture on one of the Team Hornbeck Racing cars, Beckford jumped at the chance.

"It's all about creating awareness and getting the word out," Beckford said Saturday at the annual Warrenton Home and Garden Show, where Team Hornbeck debuted six cars for this year's dirt track season.

The team is a partnership of race car drivers that helps support the foundation's mission through financial support and by featuring photographs of missing children on its cars.

The foundation was formed by Shawn's family after he was reported missing in October 2002. Shawn was found in January 2007— along with William "Ben" Ownby of Beaufort, Mo. — in the Kirkwood apartment of their abductor, Michael Devlin.

Photographs of 30 missing Missouri children will be rotated throughout the season.

The team was founded last year and had three cars featuring photos of missing children. This year, said Craig Akers, Shawn's stepfather, they wanted to have a driver in every category: This season's first race was to be held Saturday night at the Montgomery County Speedway in New Florence, Mo., but was canceled because of weather.

Races are held every Saturday through September.

Ideally they would like to find all of the missing children, Akers said, but he hopes that through the team's efforts, families might at least be able to find some information about whether the children are still alive.

"You hope for a positive outcome, of course, but even a negative outcome is better than not knowing," Akers said.

That's what Becky Klino, of Skidmore, Mo., is hoping. Her son, Branson Perry, who was 20 at the time, was last seen in 2001. Since then, the family hasn't stopped looking for him, but they have heard nothing, Klino said.

"You never know where the leads may come from," she said. "This may help us find him, or at least we will know what happened."

[Faith]

http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/FindKara_copy.jpg

If you would like to send a message to the family, send it to: mekopetsky@yahoo.com

[Faith]

http://a626.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/26/m_da214c8ca3bd8803e54f19542be4bba9.jpg

http://www.myspace.com/findkarakopetsky

[Nut44x4]

Human remains found 20 miles from Belton
http://www.kctv5.com/news/16085729/detail.html?rss=kan&psp=news

[packy]

Hopefully, they will have enough of the person's remains to help in identification.

[Faith]

Thanks Nut, wasn't there a skull found MO yesterday? Is this the same remains/case?

[Grande]

My thoughts are with the Kopetsky family. :1222423:

[Grande]

I can't imagine how difficult it is up until the identity is known. I pray that they will have closure soon!

[Faith]

SNIP FROM ARTICLE

"The body had black boots on, blue jeans," Moran said. "There was something laying across it's body, so I couldn't see if there was a body there, but the head was gone and the neck bone was laying off to the side, and ... there was a gun laying there."

Snip
MISSING Kara (it’s pronounced CAR-uh) Kopetsky Last seen: May 4 at Belton High School Appearance: White female; 5 feet, 5 inches tall; 125 pounds; light brown hair; hazel eyes; scar on forehead What she was wearing: Blue jeans, black studded belt, gray T-shirt with white skulls on it, black and gray Vans sneakers with bleach splotches and black leather hobo bag

http://www.kctv5.com/news/16085729/detail.html?rss=kan&psp=news
http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/

[Faith]

I can't imagine how difficult it is up until the identity is known. I pray that they will have closure soon!

Me either, Grande. The waiting has to be unbearable.

[Faith]

Body could be missing man, WA police say

May 1, 2008 - 12:22PM

The body of a man has been found in bushland just east of Perth's city centre.

A member of the public came across the body at Signal Hill in the suburb of Belmont about 8am (WDT) on Thursday, police said.

They believe it could be a man reported missing from the area last week.

A police spokeswoman said the cause of death was not known but there were no suspicious circumstances.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner.
http://news.theage.com.au/body-could-be-missing-man-wa-police-say/20080501-29yc.html

[Nut44x4]

Thanks Nut, wasn't there a skull found MO yesterday? Is this the same remains/case?


Yes.....the 'skull' one is a different one.

Human skull found in St. Louis County

Bill Reker Reporting
bereker@cbs.com


St. Louis (KMOX) -- St. Louis County Police are investigating some human remains, including a skull, found in a wooded area near Overland tonight. Detectives are on the scene at Midland and Link behind some apartments and a car wash.

http://www.kmox.com/Human-skull-found-in-St--Louis-County/2086421

[Nut44x4]

snipped...
Body could be missing man, WA police say

May 1, 2008 - 12:22PM

I am confused......the above article is from Austrailia.....???

[Faith]

snipped...
Body could be missing man, WA police say

May 1, 2008 - 12:22PM

I am confused......the above article is from Austrailia.....???

Ya know what? I saw Belmont in the article and in my mind that was Belton. Plus it said, WA police. I'm sorry for the confusion, I should have read the article more closely.

[Nut44x4]

No problem Faith. I do booboo's all the time, lol.

[Faith]

Family and friends of missing teen share an unwanted bond

Sat, May. 03, 2008

http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2008/05/03/20/220-KOPETSKY_ME_O43008_KAM_109F_05-04-2008_8K12P2S9.embedded.prod_affiliate.81.jpg
Kara Kopetsky’s mother, Rhonda Beckford, and her stepfather, Jim Beckford, hope and work for the return of the teenager, whose bedroom still contains her belongings.


Rhonda Beckford still pays the bill for her daughter’s cell phone, but Kara Kopetsky has not answered that phone for a year now.

Undeterred, Beckford puts the $49.57 on her debit card each month. She even dialed the number about a month ago. Just in case. As with countless other calls over the past year, it rolled into Kara’s voice mail.

In that sense, nothing has changed since Kara vanished that Friday — May 4, 2007.

Security cameras captured her in Belton High School, heading for an exit. That was the last she was seen, as far as anybody knows. Police have no better idea of her whereabouts today than the day they got the call. Tips and sightings come in and are investigated, they say, but don’t lead anywhere. In that sense, too, nothing has changed.

But in many other ways, things have changed in the past year for Kara’s family and friends.

“Just watching the news is different … you empathize more,” Beckford said. “Before, you would see something and change the channel because it doesn’t affect you.”

Indeed, Beckford now finds herself connected to strangers in the news, whether it’s a relative of a missing person or anybody who has suffered the loss of a loved one. In the past 12 months, Beckford and her husband — Kara’s stepfather, Jim Beckford — met relatives of more than a half-dozen other well-known missing people or crime victims such as Shawn Hornbeck, Kelsey Smith, Summer Shipp, Sam and Lindsey Porter and others.

“It helps to talk to people who understand how you feel,” Rhonda Beckford said.

At first, she didn’t realize that. In the weeks after Kara disappeared, Rhonda Beckford received a call from Pam Akers, the mother of Hornbeck, a St. Louis area teenager. He was missing for more than four years until found alive in 2007.

“She wanted to know if there was anything the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation could do for us,” Beckford said. “At that time, I had a lot of people calling asking if they could help. All I could say is, ‘Tell me where Kara is.’ I didn’t know what else to say.”

As the months passed, Beckford learned to accept support from Akers, such as learning new ways to keep Kara’s face in front of the public. Recently, the Beckfords traveled across the state to meet with Akers after learning that Kara’s photo would grace the hood of a race car motoring around dirt tracks of Missouri.

“People in these situations need to pull together and rely on each other,” said Jim Beckford.

While the Beckfords now find themselves part of a community that shares an unwanted bond, they also find themselves the objects of interest for strangers.

“We go anywhere at all, and you can tell people recognize us,” Rhonda Beckford said.

Some people approach, offering sympathy and prayers. Some, perhaps in an awkward attempt to provide hope, speculate that Kara simply ran away. Rhonda Beckford usually smiles and says, “Thanks.” Instead, she would like to tell those strangers that her daughter didn’t run away.

The Beckfords have grown accustomed to such moments, even at United Parcel Service in Lenexa, where they have worked a combined 32 years.

“A lot of people at work say, ‘We don’t know how to talk to you; we don’t know what to say,’ ” Jim Beckford said. “I tell them, ‘Talk to us like you always do. It’s OK to talk about it.’ ”

Some interactions, though, are more poignant. Like the time Kara’s brother, Thomas, 9, noticed his mom crying as she sat at the computer. She was reading messages on Kara’s page on the social network Web site MySpace.com.

“He came over and said, ‘That’s enough, Mom,’ ” Rhonda Beckford recalled. “He’s been exposed to all of this. He knows we are hurting, and we know he’s hurting.”

A boy who enjoyed playing Xbox video games with his sister as much as fussing with her was forced to stand tall for Mom and Dad.

Some changes have been welcome: “My faith has grown in leaps and bounds,” Rhonda Beckford said.

Some have not: Last year, the family skipped their annual summer canoe trip, and trips to the lake these days are rare.

“It’s just a matter of your priorities changing,” Rhonda Beckford said.

Priorities. Before Kara disappeared, Crystal Evans’ biggest priority when logging on to MySpace each day was to catch up on the latest gossip. Evans — who met Kara in eighth-grade band class and became her best friend before moving to Nebraska — eagerly anticipated messages from back in Belton. They swapped tales of schools, parents, jobs and boyfriends.

When Kara disappeared, Evans continued to log on to MySpace every day, but with a greater sense of purpose. She started a separate page on the site to get the word out about Kara, hoping someone online would provide a clue.

“It used to be I’d get on there every single night, and there would be a ton of messages,” she said. “I don’t get on there as much now.”

Evans, 18, finds her emotions tugged between fear that Kara was abducted and murdered, and confusion over the possibility that she ran away but chose not to contact her family or friends.

Evans has not come up with anything that makes sense.

Belton police Sgt. Brad Swanson, too, has seen nothing to suggest that Kara ran away.

“She didn’t take any extra clothes, didn’t take cigarettes, didn’t get money out of her bank account,” Swanson said. “She didn’t do the things runaways do.”

He said he has heard of cases in which someone deliberately vanishes without a trace.

“But they are typically older,” he said. “Not a girl that’s barely 17 with no car, no money, no way to do the things that she needs to do to live.”

Nothing, though, points to Kara as the victim of a crime, he said. Nobody reported seeing her forced into a car. None of her belongings was found strewn along the sidestreets that run the half-mile between Belton High School and her home.

Police continue to get leads in the case, Swanson said, including one in the past few weeks. In the past year, detectives have received reports of sightings from Idaho to Pleasant Hill.

Officers immediately tried to verify the sightings, using the help of officers in other jurisdictions or the FBI. The most police were able to accomplish was track the sightings to females who resembled Kara.

For now, police are stuck waiting for that tip that would break the case open — just as they were in the first days after Kara disappeared. For them, too, nothing has changed.

This afternoon, at a walk to mark the anniversary of Kara’s disappearance, Rhonda Beckford will talk about her daughter. She will accept hugs from total strangers.

Then she will return home and wait for the day a call comes from Kara’s cell phone.

Walk set today
Family and supporters of Kara Kopetsky today will participate in a walk to mark the one-year anniversary of her disappearance.

The group will meet at 2:30 p.m. at the Cedar Tree Square shopping center on Missouri 58 and walk to the intersection with Y Highway and back.

Anyone with information on Kara’s whereabouts is asked to call the Belton Police Department at 816-331-1500 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (474-8477). A $25,000 reward is available.

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/604165.html

[StillHoping]

Thinking of Kara today. Praying for her safety and happiness.

[Grande]

My heart dropped there for a minute. I was hoping the new comment was a revelation of sorts regarding the search for Kara. Very few days pass that I don't think about Kara. I pray that she is still with us.

:1222423:

[Grande]

Reward increased for girl missing since May 2007
(Published November 14, 2008)

BELTON, Mo. — The reward for finding a Belton girl missing for 18 months has been raised to $80,000 - if she's safely returned by her birthday.

Kara (KAR'-uh) Kopetsky's 19th birthday is Feb. 17. She was last seen May 7, 2007, at Belton High School, near her home.

The girl's family and friends have collected $30,000 in reward money, and an anonymous donor has temporarily added $50,000 in hopes of someone coming forward with information.

Kopetsky is about 5 feet 5 inches tall and 125 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Her parents - Jim and Rhonda Beckford - said Kara called home the morning she disappeared asking her mother to wash her work clothes because she had to report for work later that day.

http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/359454.html

[Grande]

This case breaks my heart! I pray for closure everyday.

For Kara and her family :1222423:

[Nut44x4]

I agree Grande. This one 'stays with me' ... you know what I mean.

[Faith]

A very generous temporary additional $50,000 reward is offered for Kara's safe return by her birthday on 2/17/09
Please don't let it go to waste!

http://findkarakopetsky.com/

[nanabillie]

Kara is listed to be one of the featured missing children on the television show
"Missing" this week. Check for times in your area.

http://www.usamissing.com/index_files/Page733.htm

[sarahhod]

Missing Belton girl's 19th birthday was yesterday

By Justin Kendall in News (http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/news/)
Wednesday, Feb. 18 2009 @ 12:16PM
http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/assets_c/2009/02/Kara-thumb-150x174.jpg (http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/Kara.JPG)

Kara KopetskyCrime Scene KC (http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2009/02/happy-birthday.html) reminds us that yesterday was missing teenager Kara Kopetsky's 19th birthday. Kopetsky disappeared on May 4, 2007. Crime Scene KC reported that an anonymous donor had offered $50,000 for Kopetsky's safe return, but yesterday's deadline came and went without any news.

http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2009/02/missing_belton_girls_19th_birt.php

[sarahhod]

http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/

[AmyE]

www.myspace.com/378286545

http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/39/m_055395055f80f1f913e71cab0dc3060a.jpg?SSImageQual ity=Full


Last Login: 5/9/2008

[CSAFD]

ironically my best friends daughter Brittany McGlone (who i have allready posted about) was murdered the SAME DAY that Kara dissappeared from Belton, Mo. Britt was murdered in Winnsboro, Tx. between the hours of 8am--3pm on May 4, 2007. her case is still unsolved, anyone with information is asked to contact the Wood Co. Sherriff's Office.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Maverick1862/Brittany%20McGlone/britt8-1.jpg
19 year old Brittany "Britt" Danielle McGlone

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Maverick1862/Kara%20Kopetsky/KaraKopetsky3.jpg
17 year old Kara Elise Kopetksky

[LaciBlue]

:frown: Wow this was a very tiring search for new info most of the sites that were set up to help find this child haven't updated anything since 07....Which is truely sad to me...
I can't believe no one has updated the family website or the helpfindkara websites there were only two private sites looking for her and looks like they have given up soooo soooo sad and disturbing...
God Bless My Prayers are with Kara's Family at this time...

[packy]

A Feb. 17, 2009 article around the time of her birthday.

http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-story-kara-kopetsky-021709,0,3186959.story

BELTON, MO - The family of Kara Kopetsky is celebrating her 19th birthday, but without the birthday girl herself as her family works to remind the community of her disappearance two years ago in May.

Experts with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children say it's not important anymore whether Kara Kopetsky left on her own ,or whether someone took her and she went missing. They say its important for authorities to assume that she's still in danger.

"Another birthday's come around and its another birthday we dont have kara with us," said Kara's father, Jim Beckford. "There's an emptiness, a loneliness there."

According to Belton Police, there is nothing new in their investigation. They say that occasionally a tip will come in to the police, but so far nothing that's lead them to Kara.

Sgt. Brad Swanson with the Belton Police said that he's surprised that with $80,000 in reward money on the line the people who know what happened to Kara have not come forward.

The reward will drop back to $30,000 after Kara's birthday. (more at link)

[AmyE]

From Kara's myspace blog she notes a kylr, so I just looked up kylr on myspace and found this one http://www.myspace.com/accoustic_chinchilla and noticed one of his groups is findkarakopetsky.com so this must be him???

ETA: I just looked at his photo's. He has Kara's Missing poster.

[Grande]

<Snipped>

One of those friends, Kylr Yust, 18, was Kara's on-again-off-again boyfriend for much of the school year. Anyone who's read Kara's MySpace page knows about the tempestuous Kara-Kylr hookup. Police say that a few days before she disappeared, Kylr and Kara had a dustup that resulted in an order of protection requiring Kylr to stay away from her. On April 24, Kara wrote: "So life hasn't been the greatest for me lately, over the last 9 months of my life iv dedicated my life to kylr … I made no other time for any of my friends nor my family. over those 9 months i forgot the person that I was. im trying to find that person again."

Kylr said Kara was a "flying by the seat of your pants" girl. "She just wanted to have fun and do everything and experience everything in life," he said. "She didn't think too forward. She was always in the moment. She didn't think about 'what am I gong to do when I grow up.'" He keeps pictures of her on his cell phone. He said she talked of running away to Mexico the next time she was punished at home. "Lately I've been kind of depressed about the whole thing," he says. "I have no idea where she is."

http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/

[CSAFD]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Maverick1862/missing%20persons/karabulletin.jpg

still searching for Kara almost 24 months later.

[Faith]

Teen argued with teacher, left school and vanished

NEW YORK (CNN) -- On May 4, 2007, Kara Kopetsky, a 17-year-old high school junior in Belton, Missouri, was not having a good day.

4/28/09

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/CRIME/04/28/grace.coldcase.kopetsky/art.kara.jpg

She forgot one of her textbooks and called home and asked her mom to drop it off at the school office. She also asked her mother to wash her uniform so she could work the 4 p.m. shift at Popeye's Chicken.

Later that morning, Kara had an argument with one of her teachers in class, according to police and her family. Frustrated, she left campus about 10:30 a.m., ditching school for the rest of the day.

A school surveillance video shows her walking out. But no one can say which way she went, or whether she got into a car.

It was the last time anyone saw or heard from her.

Police say there has been no activity on Kara's cell phone since shortly after she walked out of school. They followed some pings from the phone, conducted some searches, but found nothing significant. Beyond that, they aren't commenting.

Kara's stepfather says the cell phone's long silence makes him suspicious.

"This doesn't make any sense," said Jim Beckford. "Kara was on her cell phone sending texts constantly. Her cell phone bill was typically 80-100 pages long."

When Kara didn't come home from school as usual, her family -- mother Rhonda, stepfather Jim and stepbrother Thomas -- grew worried. They filed a missing persons (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/missing_persons) report later that afternoon.

Police told them they believed Kara was a runaway, and that she'd come back on her own in a few days.

Two years later, her family hasn't heard a word from Kara. She left behind most of her belongings -- money, clothes, iPod and a new carton of cigarettes. Her bank debit card was left in her school locker and her bank account, with $150 from her recent paycheck, remains untouched.

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.

Her family says she has no history of running away. They say they fear that she was abducted when she left school that day.

"She is a very beautiful girl and so we often warned her to be careful, but like any teen, she had an attitude that she was invincible," her stepfather said.

About a month after she disappeared, Kara's case was eclipsed by another sensational case -- the abduction and slaying of Kelsey Smith.

Smith was taken from a store parking lot in Overland Park, Kansas, and her body was found in the Missouri woods, six miles from Kara's home in Belton. A suspect was charged, pleaded guilty, and is serving a life sentence.

Police in Belton and Overland Park compared notes but could find no connection.

According to family and police and Kara's MySpace profile, she had an on-again, off-again boyfriend. He lived in her neighborhood, was 18, and attended the same high school but dropped out earlier the spring Kara disappeared.

Kara was trying to end the relationship, friends told police. It is unclear whether the two saw each other the day Kara vanished.

A $30,000 reward is offered for tips leading to the whereabouts of Kara Kopetsky or the arrest of anyone responsible for her disappearance.

Police and family urge people to call the Belton Police Department's tip-line at 816-474-TIPS. Kara is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall and 125 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/28/grace.coldcase.kopetsky/

[Faith]

http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/FindKara_copy.jpg

$30,000 Reward being offered for information that leads to finding Kara

Video released by Belton Police Department of Kara on the day of her disappearance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1W-Y0YJJnk&feature=player_embedded


If you would like to send a message to the family, send it to: mekopetsky@yahoo.com

http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/

[CSAFD]

Nancy Grace Takes On Kara Kopetsky Cold Case

April 28, 2009

BELTON, MO. - The story of missing Belton teen Kara Kopetsky is in the national spotlight after CNN's Nancy Grace featured her disappearance as a cold case.

Kopetsky was last seen on May 4, 2007 leaving Belton High School. She didn't take anything with her and hasn't used her cell phone or bank account since then.

Belton Police told Grace that Kopetsky's disappearance is still considered an endangered and missing adult case because the state of Missouri considers Kopetsky an adult when she disappeared.

Grace hosts CNN's Headline News program, Nancy Grace, as a legal analyst and victims' rights advocate.

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-nancy-grace-kopetsky-042809,0,134542.story?track=rss

[nanabillie]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/28/grace.coldcase.kopetsky/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

A different video at link.

[sarahhod]

Search for Kara Kopetsky Marks 2 Years

Meagan Kelleher, Web Producer
May 3, 2009

http://www.fox4kc.com/media/photo/2009-04/12690276-28090314.jpg Kara Kopetsky is seen leaving Belton High School in this school surveillance video. (FOX 4 / April 28, 2009)

Related links



FOX 4's Kara Kopetsky Coverage (http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-kara-kopetsky-story-gallery,0,4131279.storygallery)
Kara Kopetsky (http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-kara-kopetsky-pg,0,2862601.photogallery)
Photos (http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-kara-kopetsky-pg,0,2862601.photogallery)
Family of Missing Belton Teen Kara Kopetsky Not Giving Up (http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-video-kara-kopetsky-021709,0,949596.worldnowvideo) Video (http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-video-kara-kopetsky-021709,0,949596.worldnowvideo)



BELTON, MO. - It's been two years since missing Belton teen Kara Kopetsky was last seen.

Kopetsky was last seen on May 4, 2007 leaving Belton High School. She didn't take anything with her and hasn't used her cell phone or bank account since then.

Help FInd Kara: www.findkarakopetsky.com (http://www.findkarakopetsky.com/) and www.searchingforkara.com (http://www.searchingforkara.com/)

Recently, Kara's case got national attention from the Nancy Grace Show.

Belton Police told Grace that Kopetsky's disappearance is still considered an endangered and missing adult case because the state of Missouri considers Kopetsky an adult when she disappeared.

http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-kara-kopetsky-missing-2-years-5309,0,5745430.story

[CSAFD]

May 4, 2009 also marks the Two years that my friends Daughter Brittany Danille McGlone was murdered in Winnsboro, Tx. Britt was only 19 years old. her case is also UNSOLVED. it is also Laci Peterson's 34th Birthday.

[Amusedtdth]

Thinking of Kara..

[Grande]

Thinking of Kara..

I'll Join you...

:sad0119:

[Jess]

ironically my best friends daughter Brittany McGlone (who i have allready posted about) was murdered the SAME DAY that Kara dissappeared from Belton, Mo. Britt was murdered in Winnsboro, Tx. between the hours of 8am--3pm on May 4, 2007. her case is still unsolved, anyone with information is asked to contact the Wood Co. Sherriff's Office.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Maverick1862/Brittany%20McGlone/britt8-1.jpg
19 year old Brittany "Britt" Danielle McGlone

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Maverick1862/Kara%20Kopetsky/KaraKopetsky3.jpg
17 year old Kara Elise Kopetksky

Aww. Man, this doesn't look good. Poor Kara. I hope she's found soon!

[Amusedtdth]

Aww. Man, this doesn't look good. Poor Kara. I hope she's found soon!

Jess, these cases are not related if thats what your thinking...

[Jess]

Thanks. It's quite a coincidence then.

[Grande]

Kara Kopetsky is still missing
By Justin Kendall in NewsFriday, Aug. 21 2009 @ 9:52AM

​The rumors that the body of Kara Kopetsky had been found aren't true, her mother told KSHB Channel 41's Russ Ptacek.

Kopetsky hasn't been seen since May 2007.

Kopetsky's family have posted her story on the Internet and a $30,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Kopetsky's return.

Kopetsky's mom, Rhonda Beckford, said the rumors started last week, claiming Kopetsky's cell phone and clothes were found and later saying Kopetsky's body had been found. They're not true, and they're hurting the family, which hasn't had anything close to closure.

http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2009/08/kara_kopetsky_is_still_missing.php

[Grande]

Rumors Swirl in Kara Kopetsky Case
Reported by: Russ Ptacek
Email: ptacek@nbcactionnews.com
Last Update: 8/20 8:15 pm

BELTON, Mo. – Escalating and troubling rumors about developments in the Kara Kopetsky investigation are unfounded according to Belton Police.

Kopetsky’s mom, Rhonda Beckford, said the rumors began sweeping through Belton last week.

“My family is just, they want the rumors to stop,” Beckford said, “They want to know where they're coming from. They want to know whether there is any truth to it. It's really tearing the family apart."

Kara Kopetsky has been missing since May, 2007. A surveillance camera at Belton High School recorded the last moments of her known whereabouts.

Police say the rash of rumors could've been sparked by actual follow-up investigations, but that the details into the missing teen’s disappearance that have hit the streets are unfounded.

“We are aware of several rumors in regards to the above investigation, to include that a body, clothing items, and other objects have been found,” said Capt. Don Spears with the Belton Police Dept. in a written statement. “None of these are true whatsoever.

Kopetsky’s mom said the gravity of what police supposedly found, according to the rumors, increased as the stories circulated through Belton.

“Somebody was digging and they found her cell phone. Then, the next thing we heard was they were digging and they found her clothes,” Beckford said. “After that we heard they actually found her body.”

In the living room the family keeps photos and mementos of Kara, many spread out on an open family bible.

“It's open like that every day with Kara's pictures on it, because I can't watch over Kara, but God can,” Beckford said. “God's with her every single day.”

The family has a website dedicated to finding Kopetsky and has established a $30,000 reward for information that leads to finding the missing teen.

Police say they are actively investigating the case. They're asking anyone with information to call the tips hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/mostpopular/story/Rumors-Swirl-in-Kara-Kopetsky-Case/uG1fE62QLE6l8_sKuuBTtA.cspx

[Naia]

Poor Rhonda. When Kara first went missing, I read at a board where Rhonda posted. I've kept Kara in my prayers since she first disappeared.
Rhonda,
Keep the faith, don't let these awful rumors break your spirit. Shame on the people spreading rumors.
Continued prayers for you and the rest of your family.

[CSAFD]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Maverick1862/Kara%20Kopetsky/kara.jpg

Is Girl Found In NYC Kara Kopetsky?
Teen In Manhattan Doesn't Know Her Name

Oct. 23, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A teenage girl found in New York City who doesn't remember her name bears a resemblance to Kara Kopetsky, a Missouri teenager who has been missing since May 2007.

Police said the girl was found two weeks ago in Midtown Manhattan and has no memory of her name, her home or her family.

The girl is estimated to be between 14 and 17 years old. She is 5 feet 6 inches tall, medium build, has short, blond hair and blue eyes.

The girl wrote down the name Amber, but she doesn't know whether it's her name, police said.

Kara Kopetsky's father spoke to reporters on Friday night and said he doesn't think the Manhattan girl is his daughter.

Kara Kopetsky, 17, was last seen on May 4, 2007, at Belton High School. Relatives have said there are no apparent clues as to her whereabouts.

There were rumors that Kopetsky ran away; however, her parents said in 2007 that Kopetsky hadn't touched her bank account, she hadn't used her cell phone and she didn't take any clothes.

There is a reward for information in the Kopetsky case. Anyone with information can call the Crime Stoppers TIPS hot line at 816-474-TIPS

http://www.kmbc.com/news/21409728/detail.html

[SavannahStar]

Oh yeh, I see a resemblance there for sure.

[packy]

They look very similar to me too. Woudn't it be wonderful to find Kara and that this girl could know who she is.

[CSAFD]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Maverick1862/Kara%20Kopetsky/kara-1.jpg

Mother Casts Doubt NY Girl is Kara

Oct. 24, 2009

NEW YORK – A spokesman for the New York City Police Department says they are confident a teen found with amnesia is not missing Belton teenager Kara Kopetsky.

Police say the teen showed up in Manhattan two weeks ago with no memory of her family, home or even her name.

The police spokesman would not say how they concluded that the girl is not Kara.

After looking at the girl's picture, Kara’a mother, Rhonda Beckford, said she doesn’t think the girl is her daughter either because the eyes of the girl in New York are blue, while Kara’s eyes are hazel."It always just kind of stops your heart for a second," Beckford said. "And then after two-and-a-half years, I've kind of guarded myself. I don't jump to conclusions. I don't get all excited."


The girl, who is being referred to as Jane Doe, was found in midtown Manhattan on Oct. 9.

"I just want to know who I am," the teen said in a statement released by the New York City Administration for Children's Services. “I want to know who I am, and what happened to me.”

At one point, she wrote down the name “Amber,” and responded to the name on one occasion, but she says she has no idea whether or not it is her name.

The teen is described by Children's Services as "very soft-spoken," 5 feet 6 inches tall, light-skinned, with short, straight, cropped blond hair and blue eyes. She has no discernable accent.

Children's Services also added that she recently found herself recalling the words to what turns out to be an excerpt from a fantasy novel called “Fool’s Fate” by the author Robin Hobb.

According to the Children's Services statement, the girl is reviewing materials for a high school GED exam, saying she is able to do the math, but has no memory of studying the science or history materials. She, however, can easily retain the information.

The teen is estimated to be between 14 and 17 years old.

Kara would be 19 today. Kara is 5 feet 5 inches tall and 125 pounds. She has light brown hair, hazel eyes, and a scar on her forehead.

Kara was last seen May 4, 2007. A surveillance camera at Belton High School recorded the last moments of her known whereabouts. See Video Below

Kara did not come home from school that day. She did not show up for work, and did not answer her mother’s repeated phone calls. That evening, Kara’s mother and stepfather, Jim and Rhonda Beckford, reported her missing.

On Thursday, May 17, three people reported seeing Kara at a gas station in Louisburg, Kan., with a young man.

Despite extensive media coverage, several searched, and multiple leads, no one has been able to find Kara.

Kara’s stepfather and brother have seen the photos of the two girls, and say they do not believe the teen from New York is Kara. However, they are hoping the comparisons will keep Kara’s story out there, so someone will recognize her.

Cpl. Peek with Belton police says that his department has been in touch with New York police and they are assisting in any way they can. However, he said they do not believe the girl in New York is Kara.

If you have any information about the teen or her family, you are asked to contact the NYPD Missing Persons Squad at 212-694-7781 212-694-7781 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Mother-Casts-Doubt-NY-Girl-is-Kara/M7EgP_NZFUm7o-01H8QU9A.cspx?rss=764

[CSAFD]

NY Authorities Say Girl is From West Coast

Oct. 24, 2009

NEW YORK – A spokesman for the New York City Police Department says they are confident a teen found with amnesia is not missing Belton teenager Kara Kopetsky.

Police say the teen showed up in Manhattan two weeks ago with no memory of her family, home or even her name.

The police spokesman would not say how they concluded that the girl is not Kara, but said the girl is instead from somewhere along the West Coast.

Police say a Maryland woman has come forward and said the girl is from Washington State. They are currently on their way to New York to be reunited with the 18-year-old.

After looking at the girl's picture, Kara’a mother, Rhonda Beckford, said she doesn’t think the girl is her daughter either because the eyes of the girl in New York are blue, while Kara’s eyes are hazel."It always just kind of stops your heart for a second," Beckford said. "And then after two-and-a-half years, I've kind of guarded myself. I don't jump to conclusions. I don't get all excited."


The girl, who is being referred to as Jane Doe, was found in midtown Manhattan on Oct. 9.

"I just want to know who I am," the teen said in a statement released by the New York City Administration for Children's Services. “I want to know who I am, and what happened to me.”

At one point, she wrote down the name “Amber,” and responded to the name on one occasion, but she says she has no idea whether or not it is her name.

The teen is described by Children's Services as "very soft-spoken," 5 feet 6 inches tall, light-skinned, with short, straight, cropped blond hair and blue eyes. She has no discernable accent.

Children's Services also added that she recently found herself recalling the words to what turns out to be an excerpt from a fantasy novel called “Fool’s Fate” by the author Robin Hobb.

According to the Children's Services statement, the girl is reviewing materials for a high school GED exam, saying she is able to do the math, but has no memory of studying the science or history materials. She, however, can easily retain the information.

The teen is estimated to be between 14 and 17 years old.

Kara would be 19 today. Kara is 5 feet 5 inches tall and 125 pounds. She has light brown hair, hazel eyes, and a scar on her forehead.

Kara was last seen May 4, 2007. A surveillance camera at Belton High School recorded the last moments of her known whereabouts. See Video Below

Kara did not come home from school that day. She did not show up for work, and did not answer her mother’s repeated phone calls. That evening, Kara’s mother and stepfather, Jim and Rhonda Beckford, reported her missing.

On Thursday, May 17, three people reported seeing Kara at a gas station in Louisburg, Kan., with a young man.

Despite extensive media coverage, several searched, and multiple leads, no one has been able to find Kara.

Kara’s stepfather and brother have seen the photos of the two girls, and say they do not believe the teen from New York is Kara. However, they are hoping the comparisons will keep Kara’s story out there, so someone will recognize her.

Cpl. Peek with Belton police says that his department has been in touch with New York police and they are assisting in any way they can. However, he said they do not believe the girl in New York is Kara.

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story/NY-Authorities-Say-Girl-is-From-West-Coast/M7EgP_NZFUm7o-01H8QU9A.cspx?rss=764

[SavannahStar]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Maverick1862/Kara%20Kopetsky/kara-1.jpg

I just noticed the biggest difference in the two!.....IMO, anyway.....Kara has dimples in her cheeks, the NY girl doesn't.

[SavannahStar]

The police spokesman would not say how they concluded that the girl is not Kara, but said the girl is instead from somewhere along the West Coast.

Police say a Maryland woman has come forward and said the girl is from Washington State. They are currently on their way to New York to be reunited with the 18-year-old.

Interesting. Well I wonder who the Maryland woman is?

[Jute]

NY Authorities Say Girl is From West Coast

Oct. 24, 2009

NEW YORK – A spokesman for the New York City Police Department says they are confident a teen found with amnesia is not missing Belton teenager Kara Kopetsky.

Police say the teen showed up in Manhattan two weeks ago with no memory of her family, home or even her name.

The police spokesman would not say how they concluded that the girl is not Kara, but said the girl is instead from somewhere along the West Coast.

Police say a Maryland woman has come forward and said the girl is from Washington State. They are currently on their way to New York to be reunited with the 18-year-old.

<snipped>

The teen is estimated to be between 14 and 17 years old.

<snipped>

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story/NY-Authorities-Say-Girl-is-From-West-Coast/M7EgP_NZFUm7o-01H8QU9A.cspx?rss=764

This article is very confusing. Who is on their way to be reunited with which 18 yr. old? The article later states that the teen who doesn't know who she is is estimated to be between 14-17, so it sounds like she still hasn't been identified. :0009:

[CSAFD]

IDK! they're still not releasing who's coming from Wa. State.

[SavannahStar]

This article is very confusing. Who is on their way to be reunited with which 18 yr. old? The article later states that the teen who doesn't know who she is is estimated to be between 14-17, so it sounds like she still hasn't been identified. :0009:


Good catch!

[annalyzer]

This article is very confusing. Who is on their way to be reunited with which 18 yr. old? The article later states that the teen who doesn't know who she is is estimated to be between 14-17, so it sounds like she still hasn't been identified. :0009:


http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/24/teen.jane.doe/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

[TigressPen]

Check out the link on her- Clay found a missing person who is likely the girl found and reunited with her family. Kacie Aleece Peterson missing in early Oct and she was found Oct 9 wandering the streets of NY- the family is from Washington state where Kacie lived.


http://helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?p=681788#post681788

[Dellia]

Peas and pumpkins I thought that was her.
I pray thanksgiving since the family of the Amnesiac came forward. Wish Kara the blessings of comin home.

[nanabillie]

Kara is still missing and I can't find anything new about her case.

[CSAFD]

Kara is still missing and I can't find anything new about her case.

you'll be lucky if you do. no one is saying anything on Kara. one of my friends told me this rumor but so far thats what it is:

on May 4, 2007, (the day Kara went missing) is that Kara left school, and supposedly met up with this guy in an entent of running away cuz of abuse. and that later in the day he and Kara got into a drug deal gone bad, and Kara is in a burned out car in a field somewhere. now, wether the Belton PD followed up on that i have no idea. thats what my friend told me. she lives there in Belton, Mo.