Jonelle Matthews - The Girl on the Milk Carton

jonelle Matthews a 12-year-old girl from the United States vanished near gley Colorado on December 20th 1984 her remains were located on July 24th 2019 by construction workers who were installing a new pipeline approximately 15 miles from her residence on October 31st 2022 Steven Panky received a life sentence following his arrest and trial for the murder of Matthews disappearance on the night of December 20th 1984 Matthews participated in a Christmas concert at the Intrawest Bank of Denver as a member of the Franklin Middle School choir from gley at the time her father was attending her sister's basketball game while her mother was out of state tending to a sick family member after receiving a ride home from her friend Dianna Ross and Dianna's father Matthews arrived at her grey home at 8:15 p.m. shortly after 8:30 p.m. she answered a phone call and took a message for her father marking the last known communication anyone had with her at 9:30 p.m. Matthew's father returned home to find the garage door a jar yet the house was empty he noticed matthews's shoes and Shaw placed near a heater in the family room a favored spot of hers when Matthew's older sister Jennifer came home at 10 p.m. she had not encountered her sister concerned their father contacted the police the authorities arrived at 10:15 p.m and discovered footprints in the snow suggesting someone had been peering Through the Windows there were no indications of a struggle or forced entry given the snowy conditions Jim Matthews believed it probable that his daughter would venture far without her shoes in the weeks following The Disappearance law enforcement monitored matthews's birthmother Terry Vieira Martinez without informing her of matthews's absence in 1994 10 years after she went missing Janelle Matthews was officially declared dead in 1997 Gloria Matthews received a letter from Vieira seeking permission to visit Vieira had engaged a search consultant to assist in finding the child she had placed for adoption the Matthews family informed Vieira of the circumstances surrounding The Disappearance and the two families eventually formed a friendship years later after Matthew's disappearance her parents relocated to the Philippines for missionary work and later moved to Costa Rica upon retirement matthews's sister married and left Colorado public interest the case of The Disappearance garnered significant public attention as one of the initial Milk Carton Kids matthews's image and the date of her disappearance were featured on milk cartons as part of a nationwide initiative aimed at locating missing children on March 7th 1985 President Ronald Reagan referenced Matthews during a speech delivered from room 450 of the old executive office building additionally her name was recorded in the Congressional Record of the United States House of Representatives on April 785 on page 7224 in 2010 the gy Tribune provided another overview of the case as recently as 2018 the grey Police Department Revisited the case by contacting Witnesses and utilizing the latest Advan ments in forensic science Matthews is also listed in the database of the International Center for unidentified and missing persons in her memory a choke cherry tree was planted in front of Franklin Middle School unfortunately the tree succumbed after a few years and the plaque bearing matthews's name subsequently went missing investigation on September 13th 2019 the gy police department revealed that Steven Dana Panky a former resident of gley who had previously campaigned for the governorship in Idaho in 2014 and 2018 as well as for the position of liutenant governor in 2010 was identified as a person of interest in the abduction and subsequent death of Matthews on September 4th 2019 law enforcement officials in Twin Falls Idaho executed a search warrant at panky's condominium which indicated that investigators had sufficient grounds to suspect his involvement in Matthew's abduction and murder Panky and his ex-wife resided approximately three miles from the Matthews household and he had served as a youth pastor at the church attended by the Matthews family gy police Commander Roy Smith noted that Panky had made numerous attemps attempts to communicate with detectives regarding the Matthews case however he declined to respond to inquiries when detectives visited Twin Falls on August 15 2019 on October 13th 2020 Panky was formally charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with matthews's death he was detained without bail at the Ada County Jail in boisee until his extradition to Colorado at the time of his indictment Steven Panky was 69 years old Panky became aware of his status as a person of interest in September 2019 during an interview with the Idaho Statesman he informed the newspaper that he was unfamiliar with Matthews or her family and had only learned of them