THE DEATH OF Sefanie Welch
by Jason Kravarik
KSN News
LAKIN, Kansas, May 20, 2002 -- "There's just no clue. And that's what makes this case so unique, is we have no physical evidence as to what actually happened to Stefanie Welch."
She vanished from a small town. And, more than a year later, authorities in western Kansas are still looking for a killer.
When Stefanie Welch left her home one February morning, she had no idea her life would become the biggest mystery in Lakin, Kansas.
"This is a tremendous mystery for a town our size. It is a bewildering mystery for southwest Kansas and this is one of the more unique cases for all of Kansas," said Dennis Jones, the Kearny County Attorney.
Stefanie spent her final hours dropping off her children at daycare. Six year old Kyle and two year old James didn't know it, but their mother would never return.
"From there, she went to a home that she was in the process of moving out of. We really don't know why she went to the home. Speculation has been that there were some kids toys and clothes and things like that that she was picking up," said Jones.
That's the last time Stefanie Welch was seen alive. But the real question was, "Why?" Stefanie was going through a divorce and living with another man. Some in Lakin wondered if she'd simply run away.
"There was money left in her car she'd been driving. She would have never left those boys without taking them with her, because she loved those boys more than anything," said Jeff Petersen, Stefanie's father.
Finding Stefanie was now her father's focus, and that of Kearny County authorities. Their first big clue was her abandoned car, found in a mobile home park, along with an elusive man dressed in black.
"The person who got out of that car would be our prime suspect, if we knew who that person was," said Jones, the Kearny County Attorney.
Even though the car wouldn't produce a supect, it was close to leading police to Stefanie Welch herself.
Here's how.
That abandoned 1990 Mazda was reported to police about two hours after Stefanie was last seen at the daycare. Which means if she was killed, whoever did it had only that two hours to abduct Stefanie, committ murder, and dump her body. Police are convinced that's exactly what happened.
And, since the car's wheel wells were covered in dirt and snow, they're also sure her body was driven miles out of town. They began a search.
"The amount of irrigation wells that are still open that are abandoned. The amount of water wells from old settler days that are still available. The fact we have a river changing course every day in southwest Kansas within three miles of town. There are a plethora of places a body could be placed," said Dennis Jones.
Police tried cadaver dogs, helicopter searches, even heat-seeking equipment, but there was no trace of Stefanie Welch. To this day, her body has never been found.
"I just miss her voice. She'd say, 'Hi, Daddy,' and she was always so upbeat," said Jeff Petersen, Stefanie's father.
The hope of hearing his daughter's voice fades with each passing day. But, it's the fading hopes of two young children, that makes Stefanie's loss even worse.
"You know they go to bed with questions. And that, to me, is the sad aspect to this case," said Jones.
"Her boys, some day, are going to ask, 'What happened to my mommy?' and I wish that we had an answer to give them," said Stefanie's father.
The case was declared a homicide a year after Stefanie Welch was reported missing. So far, her divorce has not been linked to her death. However, police also interviewed a man that Stefanie's friend was divorcing. He allegedly made some threats in the past. But police could not link him to the crime, either.
If you know anything about this case, call the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at
1-800-KS-CRIME or, the Kearny County Sheriff.
If you know anything about this case, please call the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at
1-800-KS-CRIME.
