OH OH - Kurt Sova, 17, vanished from a party, body found in ravine, 23 Oct 1981 *fresh initiative*

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dotr said:
This is intriguing..
Eugene Kvet

Eugene Kvet
''Details: Eugene Kvet was a thirteen-year-old boy who vanished from Newburgh Heights, Ohio, in January 1982. His body was later found in a ravine. Some believe his death may be connected to that of an acquaintance of his, seventeen-year-old Kurt Sova. There are several similarities between the two cases. They were both found in ravines, just 2.5 miles from each other, both were missing for an amount of time before their bodies was found, and when they were found, both of their right shoes were missing. An autopsy showed that Eugene died from falling into a ravine, but whether he fell in accidentally, or was pushed or thrown in is unknown, and both his and Kurt's deaths remain unsolved.
Suspects: None known''
Click to expand...
Was a toxicology screening performed?
 
bykerladi said:
I'm baffled why there's no known cause of death...
Click to expand...
Cannot help but wonder if GHB played a role in Kurt's death, it would have left his body without a trace and if it was an overdose and/or mixed with alcohol, it could have dangerous results, imo, speculation.rbbm.
How Long Does GHB Stay in Your System?
''Depending on the dose, GHB’s effects last for about three to six hours, and the drug quickly exits the body. On average, it remains in a person’s system less than 12 hours.

How Is GHB Broken Down in the Body?
After someone drinks GHB, the drug is rapidly absorbed into the blood through the gastrointestinal tract. GHB reaches its peak concentration in the bloodstream within 20 to 40 minutes.

After that, the drug is broken down by the liver in much the same way as alcohol. The liver converts GHB into several other chemicals, which are broken down further and eventually leave the body as carbon dioxide and water.''

What Are the Effects of Mixing GHB and Alcohol?
''When GHB is added to alcohol, it may have a slightly salty taste, but it can be easy to miss. When the substances are combined, the sedative and depressant effects are amplified, and a person may be more apt to fall victim to a crime like sexual assault and to get into an accident. They may be more prone to fall down and become injured, and more likely to act in a manner that is out of character.''
''The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that every day in the United States around six people die from alcohol poisoning. Drugs may often be involved in these fatalities as well. An overdose involving GHB and alcohol can cause a person to struggle to breathe, potentially resulting in respiratory failure, coma or death''
 
January 27, 2020
Hundreds to gather at Chicago CrowdSolve to examine Newburgh Heights cold case
''Hundreds to gather at Chicago CrowdSolve to examine Newburgh Heights cold case
Can hundreds of strangers solve a cold case? CrimeCon's CrowdSolve event will comb through Kurt Sova's case in search of answers.''

''Kurt Sova's case will become the focal point of CrowdSolve, a CrimeCon event that invites the public to apply detective work to unsolved cases. Participants will gather at Chicago's Hilton Palmer House Feb. 21-23 to combine their heads in attempt to find answers to Kurt's death.''

''Retired U.S. Marshal Arthur Roderick suggested Kurt's case to CrowdSolve's producers, who decided the case happened close enough to Chicago to appeal to the region.

"It's a rare thing to find police departments that are open to what we do," Balfe explained. "Certainly Newburgh Heights was."

''Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy said he hadn't heard of CrowdSolve until they reached out. Once he learned about CrowdSolve's objectives, he said his department was excited at the opportunity.

"We were also humbled to have this case selected because our thought process was that if we bring enough attention to the case, perhaps someone may come forward with information to help us solve it," Majoy said. "They saw our press conference and reached out to us, which is terrific. Now we want to capitalize on this opportunity and perhaps march toward solving this case."

CrowdSolve is for anyone interested in advancing their true crime enthusiasm. Balfe expects the event to attract 300-400 attendees, who will work in breakout groups to examine file packets on pertinent elements of Sova's case. The groups will reconvene to present their findings for the Newburgh Heights Police Department.

"What we're trying to bring are average people — teachers, architects, people from all walks of life. It's for people interested in taking the next step from the couch," Balfe said, though he added that it's a hands-on, immersive experience. "It's a really rewarding weekend, but also a highly emotional one. It's not for the fan who just wants to sit and listen."

Majoy, who will be in attendance at the CrowdSolve event, added that he doesn't expect to return home with all the answers, but remains optimistic CrowdSolve could nudge the investigation in the right direction.''
 
dotr said:
January 27, 2020
Hundreds to gather at Chicago CrowdSolve to examine Newburgh Heights cold case
''Hundreds to gather at Chicago CrowdSolve to examine Newburgh Heights cold case
Can hundreds of strangers solve a cold case? CrimeCon's CrowdSolve event will comb through Kurt Sova's case in search of answers.''

''Kurt Sova's case will become the focal point of CrowdSolve, a CrimeCon event that invites the public to apply detective work to unsolved cases. Participants will gather at Chicago's Hilton Palmer House Feb. 21-23 to combine their heads in attempt to find answers to Kurt's death.''

''Retired U.S. Marshal Arthur Roderick suggested Kurt's case to CrowdSolve's producers, who decided the case happened close enough to Chicago to appeal to the region.

"It's a rare thing to find police departments that are open to what we do," Balfe explained. "Certainly Newburgh Heights was."

''Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy said he hadn't heard of CrowdSolve until they reached out. Once he learned about CrowdSolve's objectives, he said his department was excited at the opportunity.

"We were also humbled to have this case selected because our thought process was that if we bring enough attention to the case, perhaps someone may come forward with information to help us solve it," Majoy said. "They saw our press conference and reached out to us, which is terrific. Now we want to capitalize on this opportunity and perhaps march toward solving this case."

CrowdSolve is for anyone interested in advancing their true crime enthusiasm. Balfe expects the event to attract 300-400 attendees, who will work in breakout groups to examine file packets on pertinent elements of Sova's case. The groups will reconvene to present their findings for the Newburgh Heights Police Department.

"What we're trying to bring are average people — teachers, architects, people from all walks of life. It's for people interested in taking the next step from the couch," Balfe said, though he added that it's a hands-on, immersive experience. "It's a really rewarding weekend, but also a highly emotional one. It's not for the fan who just wants to sit and listen."

Majoy, who will be in attendance at the CrowdSolve event, added that he doesn't expect to return home with all the answers, but remains optimistic CrowdSolve could nudge the investigation in the right direction.''
Click to expand...

Here is another report about the Crowd Sourcing event to try and solve this crime:

Can 100 strangers solve a crime? ‘CrowdSolve’ to take up Ohio teen’s 39-year-old cold case death
 
dotr said:
Cannot help but wonder if GHB played a role in Kurt's death, it would have left his body without a trace and if it was an overdose and/or mixed with alcohol, it could have dangerous results, imo, speculation.rbbm.
How Long Does GHB Stay in Your System?
''Depending on the dose, GHB’s effects last for about three to six hours, and the drug quickly exits the body. On average, it remains in a person’s system less than 12 hours.

How Is GHB Broken Down in the Body?
After someone drinks GHB, the drug is rapidly absorbed into the blood through the gastrointestinal tract. GHB reaches its peak concentration in the bloodstream within 20 to 40 minutes.

After that, the drug is broken down by the liver in much the same way as alcohol. The liver converts GHB into several other chemicals, which are broken down further and eventually leave the body as carbon dioxide and water.''

What Are the Effects of Mixing GHB and Alcohol?
''When GHB is added to alcohol, it may have a slightly salty taste, but it can be easy to miss. When the substances are combined, the sedative and depressant effects are amplified, and a person may be more apt to fall victim to a crime like sexual assault and to get into an accident. They may be more prone to fall down and become injured, and more likely to act in a manner that is out of character.''
''The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that every day in the United States around six people die from alcohol poisoning. Drugs may often be involved in these fatalities as well. An overdose involving GHB and alcohol can cause a person to struggle to breathe, potentially resulting in respiratory failure, coma or death''
Click to expand...
 
Some things are puzzling to me. First, a beaded (wooden beads) necklace had been given to Kurt, yet it is only mentioned once and is not mentioned that it was on his body when he was found in the ravine. Also, it is not mentioned but just out of curiosity, were the bottoms of Kurt's feet dirty (as though he had been dragged)? Was the skin on his heels dirty/scratched (again, as if he had been dragged)? If he HAD been dragged, his feet/heels would be dirty with soil, leaves, etc. from the ravine. If they were NOT, does that mean some person (or people) carried him there and positioned him? I'm trying to put things together as to why Kurt's one shoe was found 12 feet from his body, still tied and wedged in between two rocks while his other foot was, according to most interviews, without a shoe or a sock (and if there was a sock, was IT dirty?). Think about it. Also, I realize there was no mention of drag marks leading to his body. Did anyone LOOK for drag marks anywhere around the general area of the body?
 
I'm full of questions... Kurt's stomach contained a "dark brown liquid" at autopsy. I don't know anything about bodily processes after death, so I wonder...is that a normal find? If not, how quickly does the stomach break down food and does that process stop immediately at death? Something about the time of death interests me.
 
dotr said:
This is intriguing..
Eugene Kvet

Eugene Kvet
''Details: Eugene Kvet was a thirteen-year-old boy who vanished from Newburgh Heights, Ohio, in January 1982. His body was later found in a ravine. Some believe his death may be connected to that of an acquaintance of his, seventeen-year-old Kurt Sova. There are several similarities between the two cases. They were both found in ravines, just 2.5 miles from each other, both were missing for an amount of time before their bodies was found, and when they were found, both of their right shoes were missing. An autopsy showed that Eugene died from falling into a ravine, but whether he fell in accidentally, or was pushed or thrown in is unknown, and both his and Kurt's deaths remain unsolved.
Suspects: None known''
Click to expand...
------
His body was found on the 1st of February, 1982. We believe he went missing around the 27th/28th of January because he was buried on the 5th of February, 1982. This would be the same amount of days Kurt was also missing.

· Wednesday, January 27, 1982 – Fog

· Thursday, January 28, – Snow

· Friday, January 29, – Clear

· Saturday, January 30 – Fog/Rain

· Sunday, January 31 – Fog/Rain/Snow

· DATE OF BODY FOUND: Monday, February 1, 1982

· This was a WAXING CRESCENT moon phase. 51% Illuminated. The weather was clear and had a temp of 20 degrees.

SIMILARITIES observed by others that I found online:

They both had vanished for 4-5 days before their bodies were found in the same area that they were reported missing from.
· Both had missing right shoes.
· Kurt (17) & Eugene (15) were around the same age.
· We have from a source that Eugene Kvet was wearing a white/grey coat. Kurt Sova was wearing a yellow shirt when he went missing.
· Inclement weather patterns surrounding both cases during the period of time that they disappeared.
· The bodies of Eugene & Kurt both had minimum damage, including bruises & a few scratches.

In regards to Eugene, not only was he around the same age as Kurt but the UM segment said he and Kurt were friends.

According to what this individual told CD, both he and Eugene used to ditch school quite regularly and head on over to the ravine (or "the falls" as he termed it) and on the occasion of Eugene's death he apparently just fell to his death at this location. This individual mentioned that on the day Eugene Kvet died, he was supposed to accompany him to the ravine but ultimately decided not to go.

He did however, make mention that around the time Eugene Kvet died, both himself and Kvet were being routinely harassed by local gang members. Whether this ties in at all to the death of Eugene Kvet would obviously amount to nothing other than wide speculation.









 
How Selena Gomez became a 'detective' in unsolved Newburgh Heights murder
February 29, 2020
''CHICAGO — Actress, singer, sleuth.

Yes, Selena Gomez can add “detective” to her resume.

The Hollywood star was in Chicago last weekend where she and her mom attended CrimeCon's CrowdSolve – an event focused on the unsolved murder of 17-year-old Kurt Sova, which dates back to 1981 in Newburgh Heights.

“They were perfect detectives who, along with hundreds of others, helped bring peace to the Sova family,” CrimeCon posted on their Instagram page.

CrimeCon explored the unsolved Sova murder to answer one question: “Can hundreds of attendees with varied experiences and backgrounds work alongside the police and our world-class experts to help develop new ideas and leads in a cold case?”

''Sova’s story was recently chronicled in a VAULT Studios podcast as featured by 3News. The podcast covers how Sova skipped school on Oct. 23, 1981, "went drinking with friends and ended the day at a house party on Harvard Avenue. He left the party that night and wasn't seen again by his family. Kids found his body five days later in a nearby ravine that his family and friends and police thoroughly searched earlier."

To date, his death remains a mystery.''
 
The Kurt Sova UM segment is definitely one of the most haunting & disturbing that I've seen on the show.

I believe that KS died due to some kind of drug overdose/alcohol poisoning that the autopsy didn't pick up - for whatever reason. Re: the alcohol poisoning (i.e., too much alcohol), I know people have died from this, especially teens/young people who have been known to binge-drink. Even though the coroner said he couldn't find an explainable cause of death, that means nothing because he could have been incompetent/missed something.

I also believe KS was probably in the basement of that apartment house (on the cot) for several days after that party, and the people who had the party/lived there there didn't want to tell his parents because he was sick & they were afraid of being held liable. By the time someone let his parents know that KS had been there, when they went to investigate he wasn't there anymore - since he had probably been removed at that point.

Based on the interview with this parents, he definitely didn't seem like the type of kid who would just disappear for days on end - without telling them where he was. So, I also agree that the alleged sighting of KS after his disappearance (when his friend claimed to have seen him walking on the side of the highway & getting into a truck) was a false lead; I don't think that was KS, just someone that looked like him.
 
Feb 22 2021 Jean Campbell
The Unsolved Murder of Teen Kurt Sova
''The strange prophecy
This next part is so eerie, I will quote directly from the Cleveland Plain Dealer (the primary source for this article). Keep in mind that Slavic Village and Newburgh were relatively small communities of a few thousand people in 1981.

On Monday, an eerie occurrence at a Slavic Village record shop foreshadowed the discovery of Kurt’s body. An apparently homeless man had been hanging around the shop for a couple of weeks and had bragged of having access to bodies flown into Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. He had bragged of removing shoes from the bodies.

On this day, the man showed up and pointed to a flier of Kurt taped to the window. [Dorothy and Ken had handed out fliers to businesses.]

“He says: ‘They’re gonna find him and they’re gonna find him in two days and they’re not gonna know what happened to him,’ said Judy Oros, who was manager of the store. “He was right.”


''Kurt Soza had three older brothers. Today, the only family member still alive is his brother Kevin.

“Kurt was fun-loving, very funny. A comedian,” said Kevin. “Some kid who went to a party, drank too much and killed himself…[but] what if that’s not [what happened]?”

Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for any information leading to an arrest in Kurt Sova’s case.

Contact them at 216–25CRIME.''
 
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