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Donna Mae Kisselman:1969, Greeley, Colorado

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        Donna Mae Kisselman was born on May 20th, 1950 to Mary Jane (Ehle) and Henry Kisselman Jr. she was the younger sister of three brothers and a sister. It was a bustling household. Her family lovingly called her “Baby”.  I stumbled upon Donna Mae Kisselman’s story accidentally. I had typed in the beginning of someone else’s name on Find-a-Grave but Donna popped up instead. I decided that I simply must present her story.    She grew up in Windsor, Colorado. That’s roughly an hour’s drive north of Denver and it is west of Greeley.    When she was 18 she was eager to get out into the world. She found a little apartment in Greeley and a job waiting tables there too. This was the start of her grown up life and a grand adventure. I’m sure she was full of optimism and ambition. Her apartment building was right across from a lovely little city park with mature trees. Today a hotel and a civic center stand where her apartment ...
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Lisa Gail Handlon Kopanakis:1989, Portage, Indiana

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  Lisa Handlon was born in 1965. She was the daughter of Linda Jane Reinhard and Steven Handlon.    In 1989, Lisa lived in Portage, Indiana. Portage sits along the crowded Lake Michigan shore in Indiana. Lake Station is to the west of Portage.    Lisa married George Kopanakis on August 21st 1988. He had grown up nearby in Lake Station, Indiana.    Someone broke into the Kopanakis apartment and killed the couple’s two beloved dogs on Easter day in 1988. The dogs’ throats were slashed. Who could be so cruel? Was it a neighbor upset about the dogs’ barking? Was it someone like a stalker who wanted to eliminate a couple of noisy dogs so he could quietly come back later?   Who would know that Lisa and her husband were not going to be home that day?    Lisa and her fiancee, George, were understandably so rattled by the murder of their little dogs that they moved to another apartment.    They...
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Jerry Leon Johns:Serial Killer

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        Jerry Leon Johns was a serial killer. Like many serial killers, the true scope of his crimes has yet to be known.     In most news reports about Jerry Leon Johns you’ll see that he lived in Cleveland, Tennessee. I thought that meant he was from Cleveland, Tennessee. He was actually from Flat Rock, Michigan. So, why did they say he was from Cleveland, Tennessee? Well, that’s where he was incarcerated for decades.   He was born on November 16th, 1948. He grew up in Michigan near Detroit.   Jerry Leon Johns killed Tina Marie McKenney Farmer in late 1984. She was found on January 1st, 1985. (DNA has recently linked him to the crime.)    She went missing from Indianapolis, Indiana and her family reported her missing and checked back with police over the years. Indiana didn’t have a law then that compelled police to share missing person’s reports across the country.   Consequently, she went uni...
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Brenda Sue Black:1980, New Lenox, Illinois

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         Brenda Sue Black was born around 1955. I wasn’t able to find her date of birth or family information.     I became acquainted with her case because a dear family member got me a true crime calendar and Brenda’s case was featured on January first. As you know, I am very curious and I always want to know more.    I did find that Brenda graduated from Butler High School in Vandalia, Ohio in 1972. Vandalia is located just north of Dayton, Ohio on I-75.    After high school she supposedly headed toward California. But she must have traveled back to Ohio because she was last seen in Vandalia, Ohio. on January 1st, 1980. Perhaps she had gone home for Christmas and New Year’s and then headed out again.     Brenda was found along I-80 in Illinois on April 19th, 1981. She had been dead for about a year. Plants had grown up around her and mostly concealed her skeletal remains. A per...
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