Nothing Changes

It's almost a month to the day, March 27th, when I spoke to Lt. Tunks about a couple of my concerns. I wanted to get the phone records which Kevin's step-mother had paid for through the private investigator and had wanted someone to sit down with me and go over Kevin's case. To this day I only know bits and pieces, very little coming from the police, and a little bit more coming from my own inquisitiveness. But still I know nothing. Patsy had mentioned a piece of information in passing, about Kevin going off of the Walnut St. bridge. I had not heard this before and told Lt. Tunks so. I was in New York, as I've mentioned before. On my many trips back and forth I'm sure I didn't ask the right questions, probably not as prepared as I should have been but I always made contact with them, the police. They called me when they found Kevin's remains. That was about it. The detective at the time did go over a few things with me on my trips out here but that was over a year ago. I want to give credit where credit is due but it seems that I've been "blown off" since I've been back in Des Moines as of last August. I'm sure it was a lot easier to appease someone who was going to be here for a few days and then return home 1100 miles from Des Moines.

Lt. Tunks told me it would take him awhile to read Kevin's file and then he would get back to me. I'm sure he's a very busy man but he must be somewhat familiar with the basics of the case... So how long does it take to review the file? He's not going to tell me any names of witnesses or who they interviewed or didn't interview. Who saw Kevin heading toward the Walnut St. bridge? At the time, August, 2004, I was told that Dustin who was supposedly last with him couldn't even tell them what direction Kevin went. At that time apparently no one saw Kevin or identified him as being at the Royal Mile. Not one of the owners, bartenders, or waitresses said they recognized him but, the latest, I was told, was that witnesses or a witness saw him go toward the bridge? Now, I'm being told that? For so long I couldn't understand why not one person came forward (other than people who were with him) to say they had seen him. My girlfriend couldn't understand that either. She felt Kevin would stand out in a crowd more so than some others. So then March 27th, over a year and a half later, I hear about "witnesses"?

One of the detectives along with Lt. Tunks mentioned how the case was still open since all of Kevin's remains were not found. This was my refrain. I was the one who made a big stink about the fact that Kevin's skull had not been found, not the police. Now they're using it for whatever reason? Maybe the police have done everything humanely possible. Maybe there is no fault here but then where does a person go who doesn't agree with their findings. They're the experts? There are no experts anywhere, just some people who are more knowledgeable in their fields (granted, sometimes a lot more so) than most others. But that doesn't mean they're 100% right.

Also around that time , perhaps the same day, I stopped by the Iowa Dept. of Criminal Investigation and had a nice talk with one of the investigators there. They do not get involved in cases under the police jurisdiction unless they are asked. Obviously, they weren't asked even though the police repeatedly told me, ad nauseum, that they didn't have the resources... budget cuts you know. The investigator did say that they were working on a "cold-case" unit as most large cities have one but Des Moines doesn't.

So nothing has changed and probably nothing will change, either, but this is the way it has been all along. Nothing will change with the police.