Missing woman Jessica Runions identified
 

BY LAURA BAUER AND KAITLYN SCHWERS
lbauer@kcstar.com
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Some of the bones found two days ago in rural Cass County have been identified as those of missing Raymore woman Jessica Runions.

Kansas City Police notified the Runions family Wednesday evening, according to a release from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. Runions, 21, was last seen on Sept. 8.

Forensic specialists were called in after a mushroom hunter found human bones Monday afternoon near a quarry in rural Cass County. One skull was found the first day of the search and a second the day after.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local...#storylink=cpy

Sad deal.

If the other is kopetsky it pretty much shows yust did it

Wonder if they will find enough evidence to convict yust

Probably not

You know it is. I'm just glad the families can finally have closure. Not what they had hoped for I'm sure, but at least now they know.

For sure. And yeah they said one skull had been there a lot longer. It's obviously them

What is the back story to this crime? I am a huge fan of whodunnits and like watching 48hr on ID etc.....

Girl dates guy, comes up missing
Another girl leaves party with same guy years later and disappears. He is charged with burning her car at this point.

They have possibly found both skulls in the same area. They disappeared over nine years apart iirc"

That's the condensed version.

And in that 9yr span you wander how many more did he kill. Interesting.:hmmm:
Thanks !

I followed this closely - I'd be surprised if they can't convict him. I just wonder how much involvement KCPD will have as opposed to this moron.

This Yust piece of shit used to punt his ex-girlfriends kittens in a ravine, and throw them away in a dumpster at their apartment just to menace her. He is a grade-A piece of shit psychopath. If he gets out, and is not convicted, I hope somebody takes his ass down. He's a significant danger to society.

the streets will get him if the law doesn't.

And that is Biblical what you just said. "You live by the sword, you will die by the sword".

How dumb would it be to have disposed of them in the same place?

Not sure why someone would dispose of the bodies in the same spot? But whatever, hope they slam his ass to the wall

I'm sure after the first girl was missing for decade he felt good about the second one in the same place

TheRemember was a restraining order on him in Karas case and proof he burned the Jessica girls car.

Aren't we all innocent until proven guilty?

That's rough you know? Kinda cliche if you ask me. Is it better to hope for a happy ending and not know or is it better to know the horrible truth? All I know is if it was my kid, I'd be pulling a Sam Jackson from A Time to Kill.

im usually on board with this, but if you've read about this case and done recon on Yust there isn't even a question

I wonder if they're pressing charges against the mushroom hunter.

Damn fools wander around like they own everything.

I would say that there's a pretty good chance he did something stupid like leave his cell phone on when he dumped the bodies so they will be able to trace his location.

I wouldn't think they would be able to with Kopetsky since it was so long ago. Doubt they could even if he had the same provider as he does now. But with Runnion? I would think that is a possibility.

They need a warrant foe his phone records I think. I have no clue how far back they can go.

ROFL :clap:

I'm sure they will have no issues getting that.

He may have had a cell phone the first time around, but it may have been some sort of flip phone and the carrier has probably erased the records since then. Now that they have found where he dumped the bodies, it should be much easier for them to tie him to that location.

With old landline technology it used to be 3 years. But I would imagine they can go much further back now.

She had two heads? That's crazy.

actually it's a reasonable action - the first hadn't been found in 10+ years, why rick another spot?

I'm an asshole, I know, but as I'm reading that, I found myself mainly wondering if the guy found any mushrooms and if they are good size this year

ROFL

he found a couple of pounds. A few of those he's gonna sell or give away tho....dunno why

I have to ask myself what the Runion girl was thinking. Most people in this area are familiar with the Kopetski story. Why would a woman with any common sense put herself in a position to be alone with this guy? I'm certainly not blaming her, but some girls don't exhibit much concern for their own well being when it comes to guys.

From the pictures I've seen of the dude it's pretty easy to tell he's a shitbag ex-convict. Even if she wasn't familiar with the case, it's pretty easy to see that he's spent significant time in prison by just looking at him.

Is there really any doubt? He was Kopetsky's ex-boyfriend, he had forcibly abducted Kara from her job once before, and Kara had taken out a restraining order against him just before she disappeared.

A few years later he beat the hell out of his latest girlfriend and told her that he has killed people in the past, including ex-girlfriends.

Article from 2014

If I had been Kara's dad, I truly believe I would have hunted Kylr Yust down and shot him dead. I would be sitting in prison right now, but I could just smile and say "I got him", and Jessica Runions would still be alive.

Nievate. And probably the promise of continuing the party elsewhere with free drugs. Not meth, but something like molly, especially if she was already on molly.

That never happens.

There never was any doubt in my mind

option; stalk him, buy a rifle cash money / no ffl; hit him from long range sniper style, saw barrel into eleventy pieces and dispose to various locations, destroy stock.

Crack beer, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Not as easy as on tv. He would need to of made a phone call or answered. Then they could triangulate or time the distance.

It would probably be very easy to do a drive by down in the country and get away with it.

and in the country, and given this guys history, I'm sure the folk down wouldn't 'see' or 'hear' anything.

He likely found a large reward $$$

OJ was innocent.

You may be an asshole, but you are the Dental Profession's asshole.

Skidmore (Ken McElroy), but otherwise you're right.

The idea of 'street justice' among the rank and file, even in the country, vanished some time ago. It's pretty much confined to gangs and prison culture these days.

KCPD: Remains found by Runions search group belonged to missing Merriam man

A body searchers found in Kansas City woods Jan. 28 while looking for a missing Raymore woman ended up being that of a 19-year-old Merriam man missing for nearly two months, Kansas City police said Friday.

Relatives who reported Dante Jamal Jefferson missing in January told Merriam police they had not seen him since Dec. 5.

Friends and relatives of Jessica Runions discovered his body at 53rd Street and Brighton Avenue.

His cause of death has not been released but Kansas City police are investigating the death as a homicide. The condition of the remains made it difficult for the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office to immediately identify Jefferson, police said.

Investigators said Jefferson last was seen getting into a gray Chrysler near 18th Street and the Paseo.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local...#storylink=cpy

I heard about this, but why did you post it?

Not in all cases, it was explained to me that cells now "talk" to the towers on an almost continuous basis and are traceable even if no calls are made or taken.

That's correct. As long as you have your phone turned on and it's not in airplane mode, your phone continues to talk to the towers and your location can be narrowed down to a very close area. It's basically the same as carrying a GPS around with you all day.

That was my job as a year ago. Historic cell sites or gps is not kept unless a call is made. Then it is just triangulation or per call measurement data. Only live gps or a mixture of realtime data will show what you are talking about. The government wants us to retain more but will not pay for it. Especially the fbi.

Not really true. That is pcmd technology. While you can use it to help. It is not accurate. Can be off a square mile or more especially historic information.

Wouldn't they have located the bodies long ago if they had this.

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It would be hard to know his exact location at every moment, even if he kept his phone on. If he kept it on all the time, they would have to search a radius of everywhere that he's been over a period of time. Knowing the exact location of where the body was dumped could help determine if he made trips to that vicinity right after he killed her. It wouldn't prove anything, but it could definitively give the police a place to start.

He was a suspect I'm sure it was easy to get a judge to issue a warrant to examine his cell phone.

A dirt bag like this most likely had a burner that he smashed to bits and tossed in a river. That kid is no stranger to killing and no telling how many are under his belt.

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Silly law question but they obviously have enough evidence to convict him of Jessica's murder but can they still convict him of Karas murder if all that's left is bones but no physical evidence that ties him to the murder?

They don't mention if this guy has any ties to Yust though???

No, they didn't even find her bones

Huh? They found the remains of two bodies, or at least that's what has been reported. You know something we don't?

they dont know that yet, telling the family it might be a year to know for sure

I think he means the other remains/skull has not been identified.

http://fox4kc.com/2017/04/06/investi...second-victim/
CASS COUNTY, Mo. -- For nine long and grueling hours, more than 100 investigators from the Kansas City Police Department, the Cass County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and several other metro area law enforcement agencies searched a thick, muddy wooded area on Thursday.

"The FBI's crime scene team is first going to grid the area into squares to make it easier for the searchers to see. We have a rather long area that is very difficult to see," said Captain Kevin Tieman with the Cass County Sheriff's Office.

High in the air with a drone, on the ground, crawling around on their hands and knees, and shoulder to shoulder in the snake-infested woods, the searchers scoured almost three acres of rugged terrain near East 233rd and Y Highway Thursday afternoon.

Their mission?

Find anything that could lead them to the person who killed 21-year-old Jessica Runions who had been missing for seven months before investigators confirmed Wednesday a skull, a mushroom hunter found earlier this week, belonged to the missing woman.

The searchers also carefully examined "anything human-related," said Cpt. Kevin Tieman.

"We want to find anything that we think could help solve Runions' murder mystery or help identify a second set of human remains found at the same site this week," added Cpt. Tieman.

"We would've loved to have found her alive and well, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Runions family," said Captain Stacey Graves with the KCPD.

For hours, the searchers tackled the tough terrain and put down bright, orange, miniature flags, marking off anything they thought could be "evidence" in connection with both crimes.

By late afternoon as the search began to wind down, Cpt. Tieman updated then news media.

"We did identify several pieces of evidence. I'm not ready to tell you if they're human remains or something else, but we are recovering evidence and things that we believe will help us possibly identify the second person and help with the ongoing homicide investigation," Cpt. Tieman said.

Meanwhile, investigators desperately want to know whether the second set of human bones belonged to Kara Kopetsky, who has been missing for 10 years now.

"Investigators are working tirelessly to identify those second bones, " said Captain Stacey Graves.

On Friday a specialized team of crime scene technicians and investigators "who specialize in the recovery of human remains will be back at the Cass County site at 8:30 in the morning," said Cpt. Tieman.


This is from last week.

Yes, that's what I meant to say.

I looked for the latest news on Kylr Yust, and he's sitting in a Jackson County jail waiting trial for the burning of Jessica Runions car. I imagine that trial will get postponed as long as legally possible as they search for evidence against him in these two cases.

http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/...-missing-women

And here is an older story of Yust's connection to both the girls...

http://www.kshb.com/news/kylr-yust-c...-missing-women

This kid is a big ole bag o' shit.

Yeah, Yust is a scumbag.

Gotcha. :thumb:

The other bones were Kara's.

http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/...-kara-kopetsky

Condolences to the families...

Hopefully this means Yust goes 'bye, bye' for life.....

At least now her family can finally have closure.

Several years ago I used to work at the same place as Kara Kopetsky's mom, but on a different shift. Didn't really talk to her much, but she seemed nice. Every time I would walk by her, I would feel sad knowing her daughter was missing. At least now they can finally give her a proper burial.

Very sad ending to this. Hopefully Kara's parents are able to gain a slim amount of closure with this.

What happened was awful. I'm guessing the family had accepted this fate. Now they can have closure and bury her properly. I hope that scumbag rots forever in a cage.

There really is no closure with the death of your child. Especially this way. I have great empathy for them. It's the worst possible situation. It really is. I want to kill this guy.

Yeah I guess I mean and Al probably does to, closure in a physical sense.

What's worse sometimes is finally not wanting to pull that trigger and join him. Then it hits you that you've allowed yourself to heal and it feels like betrayal. You convince yourself you SHOULD hurt all the time. You SHOULD think of him and your role in it, every single day. YOU SHOULD. So you do.

It's a daily grind for those who lost a child.

I meant as in by finally being able to bury her and know exactly where she is. **** Kylr Yust, that piece of shit doesn't have that control anymore.

I can't even begin to fathom. I don't care how many years it had been. I can't envision a scenario where I didn't tear the guy to pieces with my bare hands.

still outsmarting the police i see - If he's not yet been convicted - I don't see it happening - the country boys of Belton will have to take care of him.