Fight to keep kidnapper behind bars stronger than ever

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written by Taylor Adams, Reporter
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Nearly 30 years ago, the story of Nancy Shoemaker touched the lives of nearly everyone in Kansas. 

Now, the fight to keep her kidnapper behind bars is bigger than ever. 

Thousands of Carrie Underwood fans filed into Intrust Bank Arena Wednesday night, but before the show, high school senior, Kaitlyn Lumbert, asked just one question. 

"Would you guys like to sign a petition for Nancy Shoemaker?"

Lumbert wasn't even alive in 1990, but she knows the story of Nancy Shoemaker. 

"The terribleness of the story and everything that happened. It's something that needs to be known, like everyone in my generation doesn't know," she says.

The nine-year-old was abducted, raped and murdered by two men in Wichita. One of those men, now 56-year-old Donald Wacker, is again up for parole.

For years, friends of the Shoemakers have fought to keep him behind bars and now, nearly 30 years later, the fight is still strong. 

Sedgwick County Commissioner, Michael O'Donnell, says a concert was the perfect place to gather more signatures. 

"There's a lot of women in their late 30s at the Carrie Underwood concert that grew up in that time 30 years ago," he says.

"When this happened, I had a sister who was 10 at the time and I was, I'm ten years older than she is and this really hit home," says Judy Long, a Wichita woman. 

Judy Long and Melisa Hunt both signed Nancy's petition because they both remember her story. For them, 1990 was a traumatizing time in Wichita. 

"I cannot fathom what these people went through and he needs to stay locked away," says Hunt. 

Supporters hope to gather 20,000 signatures before Wacker's parole hearing in October. 

Wacker's public hearing is October 16th in Derby.

A 24/7 station has been set up in Grace Baptist Church for the public to sign the petition. The address is: 1414 W Pawnee St

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