Dennis Rader's daughter releases statement amid search of serial killer's former property
PARK CITY, Kan. (KAKE) - The daughter of Dennis Rader, the self-proclaimed "BTK Killer," has released a statement after authorities released details of a search at the serial killer's former property in the suburban Wichita town of Park City.
Kerri Rawson said she became aware Tuesday that Oklahoma and Kansas law enforcement agencies were at the Park City site "where my childhood home originally stood, working active investigations into possible missing persons and unsolved murder cases allegedly tied to my father."
The Osage County, Oklahoma Undersheriff Gary Upton said his investigators were acting on a tip received connected to the disappearance of Cynthia Kinney. Rawson identified Kinney as a 16-year-old cheerleader who disappeared from a laundromat in Pawhuska, Oklahoma on June 23, 1976.
Rawson said that she found out about the Kinney case in January. In June, she said she also became aware of the unsolved murder case of Shawna Garber, whose remains were found near Pineville, Missouri in December of 1990. Her statement said she is assisting law enforcement with both cases.
"Beyond these two cases that have been released publicly, I’m not at liberty to discuss other possible missing persons and unsolved murder cases that are being actively investigated as possibly committed by my father, nor can I comment on my direct assistance in the investigations," Rawson said.
She said multiple law enforcement agencies are seeking long-sought answers in cold missing persons and murder cases in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma and possibly locations beyond the tri-state area.
"This past spring, federal transaction immunity was offered to my father in the tri-state area by a federal district attorney's office to give my father a chance to confess to any other violent crimes he may have committed from roughly 1963-2005, giving decades-long grieving families long-sought answers, and in return, my father would not be charged in these cases," Rawson said.
Rader, who is serving 10 consecutive life terms in prison, admitted in 2005 to carrying out the brutal killings to fulfill his sexual fantasies. He suggested in a letter found long before his capture that he should be called “BTK,” short for “bind, torture, kill.”
Rader, now 78, admitted to the string of murders in the Wichita area from 1974 to 1991. The dedicated churchgoer and married father of two described in court how he chose and stalked his victims before killing them. In more than one case, the killer said he took Polaroid photos of his victims.
Among his victims were two women who worked with him in an office as well as a co-worker’s husband and two children.
As Rader went uncaught for decades, he continued mailing cryptic letters to the media -- including KAKE News, Fox Kansas and the Wichita Eagle -- and investigators, a practice that ultimately lead to his capture. Rader was arrested in 2005 after police traced a floppy disk he mailed to a local TV station to a computer at his church. Investigators then determined that Rader’s DNA matched the killer’s.
Rader is incarcerated at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.
Kerri Rawson statement:
"August 22, 2023, I became aware that Osage County Sheriff's Office investigators from Oklahoma & Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents, assisted by the Park City Police Department, were at the Park City, KS site where my childhood home originally stood, working active investigations into possible missing persons and unsolved murder cases allegedly tied to my father, Dennis Rader, the BTK Serial Killer. These cases predate his arrest on February 25, 2005.
"In January 2023, I became aware of the missing person case of Cynthia ‘Cyndi’ Dawn Kinney, a 16-year-old cheerleader who disappeared from a laundromat on June 23, 1976, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
"In June 2023, I became aware of the unsolved murder case of Shawna Garber, whose remains were found near Pineville, MO, in December 1990.
"In June 2023, I contacted the McDonald County Sheriff's Office in Missouri to offer my volunteer assistance on the Garber case. I was quickly connected with the Osage County SO, to which I offered the same aid, and was promptly flown to Osage County, OK, to assist on both cases.
"I’ve returned since to the Osage County SO to work in a volunteer capacity as an active agent of LE, assisting on these two cases, including visiting my father twice at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.
"My March 2021 “Do Not Contact Order” was legally lifted via assistance from EDCF, the Kansas Department of Corrections, & the KS Governor’s office.
"Beyond these two cases that have been released publicly, I’m not at liberty to discuss other possible missing persons and unsolved murder cases that are being actively investigated as possibly committed by my father, nor can I comment on my direct assistance in the investigations.
"Multiple LE agencies are seeking long-sought answers in decades-old missing persons & unsolved murder cases in the tri-state area of KS, MO, & OK. And possibly locations that extend beyond the tri-state area.
"This past spring, federal transaction immunity was offered to my father in the tri-state area by a federal district attorney's office to give my father a chance to confess to any other violent crimes he may have committed from roughly 1963-2005, giving decades-long grieving families long-sought answers, and in return, my father would not be charged in these cases.
"At this time, all avenues of justice remain open, and investigations are ongoing.
"I want to thank the following LE partners: Osage County SO, who have embraced me like family; McDonald County SO, Wichita PD, Park City PD, KBI, FBI, EDCF, KDOC, the office of the Kansas Governor, and all other local, state and federal partners that are seeking answers and Justice.
"I hope that inner agency cooperation continues at a steady pace and that a tri-state or beyond, cold case BTK task force be formed by these agencies to fund and power these vital ongoing tasks.
"I will continue to partner closely and heartily support all LE agencies and offer my volunteer assistance.
"Together, daily, we can make a difference. Let’s keep working together to solve these cases for these families. They deserve all that we can give them. We can join together to put our mark on modern inter-agency cooperation and modern forensics.
"Kerri Rawson, daughter of Dennis Rader, the BTK Serial Killer"
