8 year old Kristen Gray murdered 20 years ago

[Valasca]

http://media.nbcmiami.com/images/410*307/kristengray.jpg


Twenty years ago, an 8-year-old girl’s lifeless body was discovered just miles from where she was last seen. Today, the crime is still unsolved.


On February 3, 1990, the victim, Kristen Gray, disappeared from the Dadeland Capri Apartments, located in Southwest Miami Dade, where her stepfather lived. The last time her stepfather, Ron Shirk, saw her; she was roller-skating on the second floor of the building.

Ron Shirk recalls seeing her last around 1p.m. Shirk, considered a suspect at one point, began looking for Kristen around 4 p.m. searching the building and asking neighbors if they had seen her. According to a neighbor, it was not until 5:30 p.m. that he called police and reported her missing.

The following day, a fisherman found Kristen’s body strangled face down in a canal about 11 miles away from the apartment complex. Her roller skates were missing.

An intensive search for Kristen’s killer began, but twenty years later, police are still looking for her killer hoping someone will come forward.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Police-Still-Searching-for-Murdered-Girls-Killer-83567652.html

[Abroad]

I wonder when they decided the step-father wasn't a suspect any longer and why?

And if he does have a clear conscience, what a terrible shadow to be living under for all those years. Did the step-father and the mother stay together after the murder, or did they break up under the weight of suspicion?

[Valasca]

Good question, Abroad. I looked it up.


Kristen was last seen alive by her stepfather, Ron Shirk, who reported her missing approximately sixteen hours earlier. Kristen disappeared from her stepfather's apartment complex while roller skating in a hallway on the second floor. There were no witnesses to her abduction and her roller skates have never been found.

Kristen's mother, Suzanne Shirk, and her stepfather had been divorced for several months prior to the murder, however, Kristen continued to visit him on a regular basis.

The stepfather's apartment was located near Dadeland Mall and approximately twelve miles from where Kristen's body was discovered. She was wearing a red print sundress with white rollerskates and blue wheels, on the day of her abduction.
http://www.unsolved-crimes.com/gray.html

[Abroad]

So they broke up before the murder? Was it amicable? He wouldn't have tried to punish the mother by "disappearing" her daughter?




And I should stress I have no particular reason to disbelieve the police when they say they have cleared the step-father. Spending so much time on here has made me cynical, and the brief outline of the story posted makes me suspicious. :dong:

P.S. The link doesn't lead anywhere.......

[Valasca]

Yeah, now the link is not working for me. Odd. I'm going to leave it up in case it's a bandwidth thing.

[Annabelle Lee]

I don't see where it states the step-father was cleared. I live close to the area and asked about this case last year because it really affected me.

The police have always suspected the step-father and the one I spoke to, still does.

[Silvahalo]

Police interviewed (http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Hearts-heavy-20-years-later-case--not-closed-83588112.html)a slew of people, rounded up area sex offenders, and had plenty of leads but none that panned out.
Kristen had a new pair of roller skates. Mom bought them at a yard sale. Kristen had permission from her step dad to skate in the hallway of their apartment complex located near the Dadeland Shopping center. He was doing the family wash in the third floor laundry room. Each time he crossed the hallway he checked on Kristen. At 4 p.m. Kristen was gone.
Sixteen hours later a fisherman found the ballet student floating in the canal. Her mother remembers, "A freckle-faced 8-year-old..floating face down, like a broken doll, the red print of her sun dress bright in the dark green water. She was barefoot. Her new white roller skates with blue wheels were missing. So was her underwear."
Detective Alvaro Zabaleta says the police recently received "a tip." What that tip was police are not saying, but in an effort to flush out more clues, tips, and information the Miami-Dade Police Department distributed video images of the original crime scene, a current interview with Sue Beard and a reenactment at the crime scene. It is a major effort to move the case.

I hope little Kristen gets justice, and that mother and child have peace. What a sweet looking child.

http://i510.photobucket.com/albums/s341/silvahalo68/Fallen%20angels/daee45ed.jpg

[Abroad]

http://www.miamidade.gov/police/cold-cases/1990-1999/cc-62727-k.asp

It is still a cold case......

[cubby]

I'll bet if they can locate those skates they'll find who killed her, but 20 years on, there's probably no chance of that. Everybody in Dadeland needs to check all their closets and hidey holes to see who might have a small pair of skates with blue wheels and don't have any children to wear them.