Missing children’s center, DNA work help identify bones of missing teenager

LEWISTOWN -- Better technology for processing DNA samples and the involvement of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children helped the Fulton County Sheriff's Department resolve a 23-year mystery in the disappearance of a female Canton teen. Questions that remain, however, are whether foul play was involved and the cause of death. The case remains open, Sheriff Dan Daly said Tuesday during a press conference held at the Fulton County Courthouse.

What has been resolved is that remains found in 1989 were those of Kim McClaskey, who at age 17 had disappeared six years earlier. She was last seen walking along Route 116 about one-half mile east of London Mills on July 14, 1983. The next day, persons camping along Spoon River a mile southwest of London Mills saw clothes and personal items strewn along the river.

The sheriff's department took custody of those items. At the time, Daly was an investigator for the department. He said finding those clothes caused some confusion early in the investigation. The teen, who was eight months pregnant, may have just run away, or, on the other hand, foul play might be involved, Daly said.

He noted the cause of death has not been determined by studies of the human remains, and there is no evidence to indicate foul play occurred. The next step is to see what new information comes to light. "We're still in the process of further work being done on the remains that might show the cause of death," Daly said.

According to a press release provided at the news conference, the remains were found by a 13-year-old boy in October 1989 in a rural area of northwest Fulton County. The remains were turned over to the sheriff's department in 1993. The remains were then examined by two different archeologists who determined that a portion of the remains were of human origin.

Mitochondrial DNA testing was conducted by two different laboratories in 1994 and 1995, but no conclusive results were found. Earlier this year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children arranged for such DNA testing to be conducted on a portion of the remains by the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

DNA samples for that testing also were collected from the missing teen's mother, Elizabeth Murphy, and the teen's siblings. Results of the testing revealed the remains were 6 million times more likely to be from a child of Murphy and a sibling of her other children than from an unrelated individual, the press release said.

"I'm pleased that this, at least, brings some sense of closure to the family," Daly said.

National exposure the case received from the missing children's center helped county authorities receive more than 100 tips over the years, he said. McClaskey's image appeared on posters, flyers and milk cartons. The center also printed books and pamphlets with photos, and people look at those, Daly said.

"It might be surprising that we continue to receive leads and tips," Daly said. He noted 10 years ago, an age-progression photo was developed to show how McClaskey might look over time. That also helped generate calls, including some this year, he said.

He added investigators over the years ran those leads and tips down, but almost always they found there had been no true sighting of the missing teen. Some calls came from truck stops where drivers seemed certain they had seen McClaskey at some location along their routes. But there was no way to run those kinds of leads down, Daly said.

Another reason the disappearance remained a mystery for so long was few places conducted mitochondrial tests for DNA. Only three in the United States did so in 1994. The process is expensive and still not common -- no Illinois State Police crime lab uses it today, Daly said. He added other labs were reluctant to pursue DNA studies after earlier lab findings had been inconclusive.

But the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children urged such testing be given another try. So some of the remains and DNA samples from family members were sent to the Texas lab, and it paid off.

"The technology has improved considerably over the last 10 or 12 years," Daly said. He explained mitochondrial DNA testing now requires less of a sample and less quality of a sample.

Daly said he always had a gut feeling that the remains were McClaskey. The case has been a challenge for him over the years, he added. Now that her identify has been determined, only time may tell how she died and whether it was an accident or not.

"If there is foul play in her death, I hope it is resolved in the future," Daly said. If so, the perpetrator still could be prosecuted, he added. For now, he said he cannot conclude the death was "suspicious" -- only that its cause remains "undetermined."