Deceased/Not Found KS - Franklin Harrod, 24, Butler County, 28 July 1997 *Trussell & Harrod guilty*

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Can anyone tell me, anyone that knows that wont have to spend time looking for it.
Was the grave dug before the murder or after?

 

[zwiebel]

I've had trouble tracking down any media reports from the time of Franklin's disappearance, so I can't find any precise location of where the tarp was found.

After some confusion with google maps, which kept taking me to SoCal and Bob's home ground strangely enough, I found the Walnut River which is a tributary of the Arkansas River. From this, it seems the tarp was found about an hour and a half from Franklin's home.

Call me cynical if you like, but I'm not totally convinced the perps were truthful about where his remains were buried, and I can't work out why the tarp would have been laying on the ground but none of his remains visible at all. Why would the perps have removed his body from the tarp and left it lying there? Would wildlife really have been able to remove every bit of Franklin's body?

I did manage to find a previous murder victim discarded at the Walnut River. From 1893. However, it is useful in that it mentions the remains being found entangled in the roots of a huge tree on the riverbank. Depending on where he may have been buried, I'm thinking floods may have disinterred Franklin's remains and washed them downriver, and that possibly there is a coroner's office with just an unidentified bone or two somewhere?

I'm not ruling out the perps discarded the tarp and Franklin in different locations however, and lied about where he is. Especially if his remains would have revealed a different tale from the one defence presented, about his death.

 

[SapphireSteel]

Wildlife can and do scatter remains far and wide.

Mother nature too, floods and winds can take human bones for miles even out to sea.

A body left in the wild is often never found - a shin bone here, a jaw there if you're very lucky. The smaller bones are totally consumed.

The skull survives the best and longest.

 

[alllads]

I think the flood thing is a viable idea. To me, it does make the most sense that they did indeed bury the body there, maybe don't remember precise spot. The only other explanation that jumps to mind is:

Body is actually buried elsewhere, but they couldn't remember exactly where, or maybe body was disposed of in some other way. Plea bargain includes identifying where body is buried, so they pick a place and say that's where it was?

Though I think wildlife, water, etc. is more likely.

 

[ksgirl]

We have bobcats, foxes, and many smaller animals here in KS. I have no doubt that if there was a body there, they got to it. I would also be interested in knowing if the tarp was analyzed for remains.

 

[hoshizora]

From what I've read of this case, my guess is that Punkie is in the area where the perpetrators said he was buried as they recovered the blue tarp, and I don't believe that was a coincidence.

Unfortunately, as many of you have discussed, I think wildlife has scattered the remains and that's why they weren't found when they went looking.

But I have very little reason to believe he isn't in that general area, especially with the blue tarp being being uncovered.

 

[awhimsicalt]

This is probably a long shot but what about this UID. https://identifyus.org/en/cases/5021.
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/5021

The estimated weight is off, bit since the unidentified person had "brown, shoulder or lower neck length" hair I thought it might be a possibility. Plus the location is a couple of hours away.

 

[zwiebel]

Sadly, there are no dentals, fingerprints or DNA listed for that UID, so it would be hard to match him to anyone at the moment. Odd too, that his death is listed from 1991-99, but estimated post mortem interval is 1 year? That doesn't quite add up, does it?

 

[CastlesBurning]

Who Killed Franklin Harrod Jr.? Where is Kelly Harrod Now?

 

[mlhenn]

https://www.ksn.com/news/crime/kansas-sheriff-seeks-help-finding-remains-of-missing-men/

May 30, 2024
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office is hoping the public can lead them to the bodies of two men who have been missing for decades.

In July 1997, LE began investigating the disappearance of Franklin “Punkie” Harrod. Investigators eventually uncovered a murder-for-hire plot involving Kelly and two others.

During the investigation into Franklin’s disappearance, detectives learned that the disappearance of a second man nearly a decade before was connected.

Ricky Nelms from Alabama, had moved to the Wichita area to work as a roofer. His family last saw him in February 1988 when he left with an old friend to return to Wichita.

Fast forward to 2005, when the investigation into the disappearance of Franklin led to the arrest of his wife and two accomplices. Our sister-station WHNT in Huntsville, Alabama, reports that the investigator looking into Nelms’ disappearance learned that the friend he was last seen with heading back to Wichita in 1988 was a relative of one of the suspects arrested in the disappearance and murder of Franklin in Butler County.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office believes both men may be buried somewhere in Butler County. The department says Sheriff Monty Hughey is offering a substantial reward for information that leads to the location of Franklin and Nelms’ bodies.

 

[dotr]

May 31, 2024
Decades-old cold case in Butler Co. remains unsolved

 

[dotr]

Home - Butler County Times-Gazette

Lifestyle May 28, 2024 Dr. Michael Reynolds Bruce Michael Reynolds Bruce was born to Thomas and Polly (Turpin) Bruce on November 9, 1834 in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. Photo Gallery May 28, 2024 Castle Park rebuild photo gallery: Preparation All photos by Nikole Babb The Friday morning team gathers...

www.butlercountytimesgazette.com

June 1, 2024

Sheriff offers reward in double victim cold case​

''Thursday morning the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, (BCSO), announced they are offering a substantial reward to anyone that turns in information that leads to the discovery of Franklin Harrod Jr''