“Bind, torture, kill” (BTK) serial killer Dennis Rader was named this week as the prime suspect of two unsolved murders out of Missouri and Oklahoma.
The New York Times reports that Rader, who’s currently in a Kansas prison serving multiple life sentence, is now the primary suspects in the deaths of Cynthia “Cindy” Kinney, 16, and Shawna Beth Garber, 22.
According to the Osage County Sheriff’s Office, Kinney, a cheerleader from Pawhuska, Oklahoma, disappeared from a laundromat on June 23, 1976, and has never been found. Garber, of McDonald County, Missouri, was found raped and murdered in 1990, but she wasn’t officially identified until 2021.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Kansas police found evidence Tuesday while searching Rader’s former Park City, Kansas, home. For months, investigators had been considering a potential link between Rader and Kinney.
The search, led by Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden, uncovered “items of evidentiary value based on specific leads,” the sheriff’s office stated in a news release. Park City police also allowed crews to remove concrete sidewalks around the property, for potential additional evidence.
Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office said it will continue its investigation while working in collaboration with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
“Our next steps are to work in collaboration with the FBI to identify pieces of evidence in their possession that match pieces of clothing that we’ve seen in polaroid pictures that Dennis Rader took, and see if those items match the DNA of our victims,” Undersheriff Gary Upton told People.
In 2005, police arrested Rader, years after he eluded and taunted investigators and the media. His trail of digital evidence is what eventually helped police capture him. He then nicknamed himself “BTK.” which stands for “bind, torture, kill.”
Rader is now serving 10 consecutive life sentences for the deaths of 10 people between 1974 to 1991.
The story is developing. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: In this image made from video and provided by Court TV, Dennis Rader , 60, of Park City, Kan., speaks in court in Wichita, Kan., Monday, June 27, 2005. Rader, who admitted killing 10 people in the Wichita area between 1974 and 1991, taunted media and police with cryptic messages calling himself “BTK,” for`Bind, Torture, Kill.” (AP Photo/Court TV, Pool)
