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A former governorship candidate for Idaho said he was currently under investigation for the murder of a 12-year-old Colorado girl 35 years ago.
Steve Pankey made this revelation during an interview with the Idaho Statesman this week.
The newspaper, citing a warrant, said the authorities felt that Pankey was a person of interest for the kidnapping and murder of Jonelle Matthews in 1984. A house search of Pankey's Twin Falls was done last week.
Pankey, 68, and her ex-wife lived two miles from Matthews when she disappeared from her home in Greeley, Colorado, on December 20, 1984, after returning from a Christmas concert with her classmates. .
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Greeley police said that a construction crew had found Matthews' remains on July 23 of this year while she was digging a pipeline in a rural area.
Pankey claimed to have given the authorities a DNA sample last month. However, Greeley's police said they never made such a request. Pankey has not been charged with the death of Matthews.
Jonelle Matthews, age 12, was last seen inside her family's home on December 20, 1984. (The Charley Project)
"Steve Pankey has made repeated efforts to talk to the detectives throughout this investigation," the department told KDVR-TV. "Greeley's detectives traveled to Twin Falls, Idaho, on August 15, to engage in a conversation.In the course of interaction, Pankey refused to talk to the detectives for unknown reasons."
Pankey ran unsuccessfully for the governor of Idaho in 2014 as a candidate of the Constitution Party and participated in the Republican primaries of 2018. He finished fifth in a race of seven with 1, 4% of the votes.
"I'm trying to be transparent," he told the statesman. "I have nothing to hide."
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The investigators interviewed Pankey several times about Matthews, but he said that he would not speak without his lawyer's presence.
He stated that he settled in Greeley in 1973 and was charged with "rape by a boy" in 1977 by a woman with whom he was in a relationship. He was charged, but the charge was later dismissed. He has also been indicted in Colorado for at least 20 crimes including harassment.
Steve Pankey.
(Steve Pankey for the governor's campaign)
In Greeley, Pankey said he worked as a youth minister and went to church with people who knew Matthews and his family, but added that he did not know her personally.
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Pankey claimed that he was at home with his wife then the night Matthews was gone. He left the next morning to visit his family in California and returned to Colorado on December 26, 1984, he said.
"I have never met Jonelle, I have never met her family, I did not know she existed or disappeared before Wednesday, December 26th. [1984]," he said.
Pankey said he was installed in Idaho in 1987 and has not returned to Colorado since.
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