So far, this guy hasn't killed (that we know of). He even took the 3 year olds and drove them to a garbage bin to dispose of them versus killing them. We can only hope that this is the case with Kathlynn...that she's tied up somewhere.
So, quick question on the stats of these crimes...is it typical for someone to have such variances in their victims? Adult woman, then two 3 year olds, possibly Lyric and Elizabeth who were 8 and 10, and then a 12 and 15 year old?
I wonder why such variances in age. Very mentally ill man, regardless of the answer.
Also...he's not really "good" at what he does. The woman got away, he let the 3 year olds go, didn't kill anyone (that we know of YET, although we still don't know where Kathlynn is)...I wonder if he really can't go through with the actual killing once the "thrill of the hunt and capture" is over?? That would put Lyric and Elizabeth out of the norm of his typical offenses if he did indeed kill them.
Here's what I think (not that that means much) anyways, I think he grabbed the 20 yr old and discovered she wasn't compliant and was more sophisticated than he imagined, this failure left him frustrated. The 3 yr olds became victims of his transferred aggression and frustration because he was unable to complete the attack on the 20 yr old, but after he grabbed them, he didn't know what to do with them because that age group was not his preferred target, so he dumped them. Keep in mind, he didn't turn them loose where they'd be found warm and safe, he dumped them like garbage in a dumpster-that is an act, that although it's not overtly aggressive, it is hostile. Then he runs, runs to Fl and then to TX, gets caught and is sentenced to prison.
While he's in prison, he does all the things he's supposed to do, and probably does well in a controlled structured environment, certainly nothing that would raise any big red flags, go hop over to his facebook page and check out what his favorite quotation is.
https://www.facebook.com/michael.klunder.10/info?collection_token=100001908411050:2327158227:35
Once he's released from prison, he meets a nice girl, has a home, everything is looking up, but he has predatory urges, as this guy is a predator. For instance, I have 3 cats. 2 of the three aren't predatory, if a bird came by they might reach their paw out, but the instinct to hunt and kill it just isn't very strong. My other cat is a predator. He figured out how to open my son's gerbil cage and got poor little Speedy out, and killed him. The few times he's been outdoors, he brought back a snake and 2 baby bunnies. My cat doesn't want for food, he has all the food he wants and needs, he kills things because his predatory drive is strong. Klunder is like my cat. He's a predator. That instinct to have complete control over something else and the excitement that comes with it, is very strong.
So he gets out of prison and gets married, but the urges are still intact. He's grown up from when he went into prison, and is more calculating than before. His experience has taught him that a 20 yr old victim was a lot of trouble, and she got him caught-way to messy to attempt that again. He starts looking for easier targets, ones that are less sophisticated and would be easier to gain compliance and control over, he already knows that 3 yr olds aren't really his "thing", so what does that leave? teens and children.
Now I have no idea whether he had anything to do with E & L case, but this scenario works for both E & L and Kathlynn and the 12 yr old. He may have only gotten "inspiration" from E & L case.
He decides on younger girls, ones that would have a little bit of freedom from their parents, ones that wouldn't be missed immediately like a 3 yr old would be, kids that might go off on an adventure and loose track of time-would 2 be a viable option? Could he control 2 at once? I would be willing to bet that he did a few "dry runs", he would talk to kids and see what their comfort level was, what can you say that puts them at ease-he used a ruse in his past abduction, I'd guess he tried out a few to see what would fly. Kids in pairs probably also have their guards down more than a child alone as well.
If he did kill E & L, clearly he would have been very satisfied with himself, but they've been buried now, and his high is gone, and the urge comes back, he knows he can't grab someone from the same area again, so he looks a bit closer to home (he's also more comfortable with what he's doing now, he was successful before), and so he waits, he waits until he sees opportunities, and if it presents itself, he's already got a plan laid out, where he'd go, and what he'd do. If he had nothing to do with E & L, it would be hard to get away from the news coverage of it here, and he looks and thinks "Hey I can do that too."
To me, it makes sense if his victim selection changed from 20 to younger girls, they're easier to manipulate and control. I think the 3 yr olds were nothing more than victims of opportunity and were taken out of frustration that he wasn't able to complete the attack on the 20 yr old.
Obviously this Klunder story has a long way to play out, and I really hope it brings some conclusion to E&L case, if it's not him, then there's another predator walking with us.