MN MN - Ken, David, & Dan Klein, ages 4, 6, 8, Minneapolis, Nov 1951

[doublestop]

Three young brothers, Ken, David and Dan Klein, ages 4, 6 and 8, went to Farview park near their north Minneapolis home one day in November, 1951. When their older brother, Gordy, went to join them he couldn't find them...and they were never seen again.

After a few days, police found two of their caps in the Mississippi River, and decided they had drowned. Their bodies were never recovered, nor were other clothes. One airplane pilot told their heartbroken father that since the boys were wearing red jackets, the pilots of search planes would have been able to see their bodies, but none had. The police called off the search anyway.

"In the months after the official search was ended, the Kleins continued their own relentless search. Kenneth went to schools throughout the region - he hoped to visit every school within 500 miles of Minneapolis - looking at the faces of the children. "

Thirty-one years later, their parents were still putting ads in the newspaper looking for them.

What happened to the Klein brothers?

(source, 38-year vigil continues - Parents still hope they'll be reunited with three sons missing since 1951
Star Tribune, November 14, 1989 )

 

[Kat]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=5369,3480610&dq=ken+david+dan+klein&hl=en

13 NOV 1951

(the article above says that a tracking dog was taken to an area where a witness said they had seen three boys resembling the Klein brothers sitting on the curb(stone). The tracking dog followed a scent trail to the river bank where it stopped, the area of the river where the scent stopped-current very swift).

I only see other articles published in the same time frame that all seem to have the same information, just rewritten or republished by different papers.

 

[Mr. E]

Of course, you can't say for sure without proof, but it does sound like the boys drowned. Maybe the littlest boy fell in and the two older ones tried to save him. Apparently the current there was very fast.

 

[punklove]

Of course, you can't say for sure without proof, but it does sound like the boys drowned. Maybe the littlest boy fell in and the two older ones tried to save him. Apparently the current there was very fast.

I have to agree - the dog went from the place the boys were last seen sitting to the riverbank. I would assume the boys were goofing around the water (maybe throwing rocks into it or something similar) and one (or more) fell in and the others tried to help. It was November and in Michigan so I even if they were able to swim they would have gotten hypothermia quickly.

Poor boys.

These sort of cases bother me most - sucks when a family loses a child but its even worse when they have no idea what happened to them for the rest of their life.

 

[CastlesBurning]

I'd also have to go with drowning; I know that it's technically possible, as is anything in this world, but it would be REALLY hard to abduct three kids at one time.

My question is, did the Klein boys have friends who might've seen them at the park that day? Also, how much time elapsed between when the three initially set off for the park and when the oldest joined them?

 

[mikkismom]

State attempts to identify unknown remains

http://www.messagemedia.co/millelacs/news/state/article_b056e796-cd23-11e2-84c1-001a4bcf6878.html

The remains being tested as part of this effort were found in Minnesota from the 1970s to the 1990s.

 

[chris24]

I am from MN...and the Mississippi can get very high. Plenty of people have drowned and not been found for a long time. Recently Kira Trevino's body was found there by a worker...and the river had been previously searched. It's huge.

I just don't see someone kidnapping 3 kids. Maybe one fell in and the others went after him. Maybe they thought to go swimming?

 

[masnitram]

The brothers have been added to NAMUS

Daniel: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/28884/148/
David: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/28885/149?current_page=case_information
Kenneth: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/28886/150?current_page=case_information

 

[Nocgirl]

Wow never heard of this case until today on Charley Project. Why did it take so long to get them added to NaMus ? I cannot imagine losing 1 kid let alone 3. Is the older brother still alive ?

 

[Boomeroreo]

found and fishy:

http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census...237&o_lid=0006160237&o_sch=Affiliate+External

 

[Trino]

found and fishy:

http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census...237&o_lid=0006160237&o_sch=Affiliate+External

I don't think so. The Ancestry David was born in 1922. He was 6 years old in 1951 when he disappeared.

 

[Donald]

The dogs tracked my brothers three times, not always to the river, but always near the north side police station. The river was searched by boat, foot and air. The water level was lowered and the water clarity was good. Things like toilet seats, tires and other assorted trash were found. It was stated at the time that if they had been there they would have been found. Just too many to lose completely without trace and the trail the dogs followed didn't actually end at the river. Hats were found, but it looked suspicious to investigators. My brothers case had been conveniently and wrongly closed by the Minneapolis Police department and other agencies though legally it should had remained open as a missing persons case. The Minneapolis police have also managed to misplace or lose pretty much everything they had connected to this case which is kind of funny considering this case has been pursued by our family, retired officers, investigators, sleuths, writers and occasionally reporters for all these years and has appeared in the local media ever so often. Yet they claim they have no idea where any of the boxes or files could be, nor will they take the time to look. I guess its all about who you are, not what the State or Federal Constitutions say our rights are or maybe there is a reason they don't want it solved, who knows? We will keep trying to push on, obviously against the odds and we will keep trying to get justice for our family. My parents are both deceased now. My Mom kept watching for them to the end. When my parents health made them move to town my Mom worried that they (our lost boys) may not be able to find them if they moved. After they moved to town every time a vehicle would slow down my Mom would hope it was one of her lost sons returning, I know this because I can still hear my Mom say in a excited voice, maybe one of the boys are here, wouldn't that be something? I was also there to see the tears.
This makes what the Minneapolis police and other agencies have done or not done all these years all the more wrong to me personally. No wonder Minneapolis has a ugly history of human trafficking.

 

[Damarna]

I'm sorry your family has had to endure this pain. There must be answers somewhere!

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[Dogface]

The dogs tracked my brothers three times, not always to the river, but always near the north side police station. The river was searched by boat, foot and air. The water level was lowered and the water clarity was good. Things like toilet seats, tires and other assorted trash were found. It was stated at the time that if they had been there they would have been found. Just too many to lose completely without trace and the trail the dogs followed didn't actually end at the river. Hats were found, but it looked suspicious to investigators. My brothers case had been conveniently and wrongly closed by the Minneapolis Police department and other agencies though legally it should had remained open as a missing persons case. The Minneapolis police have also managed to misplace or lose pretty much everything they had connected to this case which is kind of funny considering this case has been pursued by our family, retired officers, investigators, sleuths, writers and occasionally reporters for all these years and has appeared in the local media ever so often. Yet they claim they have no idea where any of the boxes or files could be, nor will they take the time to look. I guess its all about who you are, not what the State or Federal Constitutions say our rights are or maybe there is a reason they don't want it solved, who knows? We will keep trying to push on, obviously against the odds and we will keep trying to get justice for our family. My parents are both deceased now. My Mom kept watching for them to the end. When my parents health made them move to town my Mom worried that they (our lost boys) may not be able to find them if they moved. After they moved to town every time a vehicle would slow down my Mom would hope it was one of her lost sons returning, I know this because I can still hear my Mom say in a excited voice, maybe one of the boys are here, wouldn't that be something? I was also there to see the tears.
This makes what the Minneapolis police and other agencies have done or not done all these years all the more wrong to me personally. No wonder Minneapolis has a ugly history of human trafficking.

Donald, I am so sorry that your family has had to face this. It breaks my heart your parents passed without answers. I wouldn't find this story so strange if it only involved one missing person. I would think if three people entered the river at least one would have been found. Have you tried filing a freedom of information request?


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[Donald]

Ya and we don't live that far away from the Minneapolis Police Department. If they didn't know we were looking for this information it was because they didn't want to know. Its hard to believe with all the hours, the numbers of people involved and media attention that this has received throughout the decades that Minneapolis police wouldn't have kept this as a active case and kept all the files and associated evidence together and close at hand. Its hard to believe they could so consistently be more of a wall than a door or even a window. I think I am the only one in my family who has not made the trip down there in person to be shoed away. We have spent a lot of time, for most of us all of our lives, effort and not just here but following leads all around the country and money on this and it is not that there were no leads, its just that there was little to no follow up by the Minneapolis Police, BCA or FBI. We are still waiting for the Minneapolis Police Department.
We are still involved in investigating this crime even at this very moment. We have those who also have invested their personal time and considerable expertise in this cold case. I would like to say much more about them as they deserve more than me or my family could ever give them, but under the circumstances I worry about their careers.
I will say there was a neighbor who was on the short list, he is dead now, but from what he said when questioned and by his alleged actions at the time he was certainly a person of interest and the residents he lived in is still of great interest to everyone except those who have the power to do something.
I do want to Thank you all for your thoughts and your caring we do appreciate it very much.

 

[curiousnotnosey]

i can't imagine one of my siblings being missing, much less three. I hope you get some answers.

 

[Eloise]

It seems unlikely but there is at least one case of three kids being abducted: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_children_disappearance I think kids would have been far more innocent, and willing to go with a convincing stranger, back then than now.

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[Vegas Bride]

Bumping up.

while it would be unusual for three children to be taken together, I think their young age would make that easier to manage.
It’s also possible they could have been lured to go somewhere willingly.

I can remember going over to play in the basement of one of our neighbors. She was an elderly widow and liked having kids come by. In my case it was innocent, but sadly that’s not always the case.

How far away from the river were homes or people? I’m just wondering if there would be people who should have heard any yelling or shouts of help.
If one did fall in the water, I would think the boys would naturally begin to call out, it would not have happened quietly.

 

[tackjeff]

I'm local and have followed the case over the years. If memory serves, wasn't there a rumor that the boys may have been abducted and ended up under a cement floor in a house? If so, are the owners of the house open up the idea of breaking up the flooring to look?

 

[masquerading]

At first glance over this case, I was pretty well convinced that these boys had drowned, but thinking about it realistically (as in, if I or one of my siblings fell in the river), I can't fathom how nobody heard anything. They must have been screaming, calling for help, etc. Were there buildings/homes nearby? Was anyone else out that day? I know it was mentioned that there was a police station in the vicinity, I imagine they would've heard screaming. I suppose the boys might've drowned quietly, but I think it's highly unlikely.

I can see how 3 boys could've been abducted together if there was a common distraction - a man asking them to help find his dog, something like that. It's easy to get kids to help you with something, especially if you appear injured or upset. By the time the kids realized something bad was happening, it would've been too late to get away.

It's odd to me that the police found their caps in the river and immediately decided they had drowned and called off the search so quickly. It's a logical assumption, but it seems like it was the only explanation they wanted to find.