Twin Falls Politician May Be Killer of Colorado Girl

Steve Pankey has been in my studio.  The former Republican candidate for Idaho Governor doesn’t appear dangerous.  He’s now under investigation in the 1984 killing of a little girl.  Pankey has told the Idaho Statesman he gave a DNA sample to police in Colorado. 

Pankey, a man who told me he had a troubled life when young, found a new life when he came to Christ.  Or it would be one aspect I recall from our conversation.  Mild-mannered is a way I would describe him.  At the time of his primary challenge last year he was going to the same church attended by a friend of mine.  Some in Pankey’s church family describe him as being kind and devout.

He appears to be fully cooperating with the investigation.

Pankey never made the top tier in the Republican Primary for Governor.  It was dominated by three well-funded candidates.  One of whom, Brad Little, is today Governor.  Pankey was also a Constitution Party candidate for Governor in 2014.

The Statesman explains 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews of Greeley, Colorado went missing just before Christmas of 1984.

The girl’s remains were discovered two months ago as workers were excavating ground for a pipeline.  She had returned from a Christmas concert and was home alone when she vanished.

Matthews had long been remembered by the Doe Network, which tracks missing people around the world.

There was no sign of a struggle when Matthews disappeared but someone is believed to have been looking into windows at the family’s home and to have entered through an open garage door.