Post by hi224 on Mar 20, 2019 20:31:41 GMT
The disappearance of Kelly Hollan Jr.
The disappearance of Kelly Hollan Jr., sometimes listed as Kelly Junior Hollan, is a missing persons case that I have followed since I started following missing persons, so probably around 25 years. Sadly, there is not a lot of information out there and I am going to try to provide a comprehensive run down of things I’ve read throughout the years including facts and some of my own/others speculations. Facts and speculations will be clearly distinguished in the text.
Kelly was just six years old at the time of his disappearance on February 12, 1982. An adorable redhead, Kelly had a small scar above his lip from a cleft lip correction surgery. His listing on the DOE network says he had blue eyes but every picture I’ve seen of him the look brown. Kelly was born November 17, 1975 and lived in a very rural area of Eastern Kentucky in Knott County. Kelly was from the Mousie area in Pine Knott Hollow. For some perspective, the nearest town was Hindman which in 1980 had a population of 876. Larger, though still small, towns of Hazard and Prestonsburg were over half an hour away. Roads in this area are curvy and isolated, especially in the early 80’s.
Kelly was in Kindergarten when he went missing although the day of his disappearance was a snow day and local schools had been shut down. It was reported that Kelly had some speech difficulties and some of his words were not pronounced clearly. Kelly’s mother, who was treated as a suspect from the beginning, stated that she fed him breakfast and he went outside to play around 11 am that day. The scarce reports I read about if she saw him again after that are conflicting. I know that earlier reports said that she looked out and saw him playing outside several times during the day up until 4 pm but interviews given years later she is quoted as saying when he went outside to play at 11, she put his (broken) coat on him and never saw him again. Either way, he wasn’t reported missing until after midnight.
His mother’s story continues that at 6pm she went outside to call him in for dinner and when he did not answer she went inside and ate without him. She said she assumed he had went to a friend’s house nearby to watch the Dukes of Hazzard with a friend as the family did not own a television. Sometime between then and midnight (the reports say she said she went at dark but at that time of year in that area it would have already been dark by 6pm) to the friends’ house and they reported they hadn’t seen him all day. I can’t find any information that this was verified by the police but I would imagine it’s a reasonable assumption that it was. She reported yelling for him and looking for him after that but he ultimately wasn’t reported missing until just after midnight.
The family also did not own a phone and his mother, Judy Moore, went to her boyfriend’s (who lived with Kelly and her) mother’s home to report him missing, presumably to a rescue squad. 911 was over ten years away from making it to that area and it’s not clear if she called the police who dispatched the rescue squad or if she called the rescue squad directly. The story was that the boyfriend’s mother refused to allow her to use the phone until that time. The weather continued to be bad that day and no one made it out to start a search until dawn the next day.
Of note are the facts that Kelly had two older siblings that were in the custody of their paternal grandparents as the mother (it wasn’t clear if the parents were still together at that time) had lost custody of them. This was a fairly rare phenomenon in the 80’s. They were half siblings with a different father than Kelly and from what I understand when custody was lost, Kelly wasn’t born yet. From what I could gather in the past Kelly’s older siblings were allowed to occasionally visit. It was reported also that Kelly’s mother and her boyfriend had some substance abuse issues. This wasn’t listed on anything official I read but from reading it seemed to be common knowledge. Judy’s boyfriend additionally was not Kelly’s father and I read something, years ago, that he had been abusive to Kelly but I am not sharing this as fact because it was on a gossip site (I think Topix but I am not sure) and you could say anything on sites like that without any verification.
The weather slowed the search tremendously and the short of it is, they found nothing. No trace of the child was ever found at all.
There was a grand jury investigation and Judy from the beginning was a suspect. However, she was never charged with anything. Her own sister reported at one point that Judy killed him and she helped bury the body according to an interview Judy gave more recently though the reporting didn’t ask the sister this, I can’t imagine lying about your sister thinking you killed your child. Judy said they hadn’t spoken since.
The case is still officially opened and a detective (I believe the current detective, Det. Simms) has stated that while it’s classified as a non-family abduction that he truly believed it was not. Kelly is one of only two children listed as non-family abductions officially. Somewhat recently what was believed to be a gravesite was excavated but nothing was found. Given the time and the prevalence of wild animals in the area the police believe the likelihood of finding anything at this point is low.
Theories:
My personal theory is that something happened during the large period of time when Kelly arrived home from school the day prior (I assume there was school that day, not sure exactly when the snow happened but that area is still to this day quick to dismiss school for snow due to the curvy roads) and when he was reported missing at around midnight the 12/13th. It could have been anything of course, but I believe the substance abuse issues within the family played a role. Perhaps the mother or boyfriend snapped at some point and young Kelly was killed. The family had all that time to dispose of the body and there were mine shafts that could easily conceal a body for…well forever. I believe there are lots of circumstantial evidence pointing to this – the lack of reporting for that long, no one else seeing Kelly that day, the rumors of prior abuse, and the fact that the boyfriends’ mother wouldn’t let the mother call to report the child missing. Why would anyone, even a stranger, turn down letting someone report a child missing in the frigid cold unless she wanted to protect her son?
Another possibility is that due to the child being chronically neglected that entire day he succumbed to the elements. The child was six and of presumed average intelligence so it would seem that he would come inside if he got too cold, but it’s possible that while it snowed he got lost in the hills near the home and couldn’t find his way home or that he was exploring the area and fell into a mine shaft (there are mine shafts everywhere in this area, I don’t specifically know that there was one within easy walking distance for a six year old boy )
The theory of stranger abduction is fairly week in my opinion. As I stated before, the roads were curvy and the likelihood of someone driving around that didn’t live in that area is pretty slim due to the weather conditions. That’s not to say that someone that lived in that area, or that had family in that area, didn’t see a golden opportunity to snatch the child and take him but I find it somewhat low in probability.
The child’s mother said at some point that she felt like it could have been Kelly’s father that took him although reports I’ve read was that he was living in Alabama at the time of his disappearance and that that was confirmed by investigators. At one point earlier in the investigation someone in a school in Florida called and asked for Kelly’s records, or at least some one identifying themselves as being from a school in Florida. Details about this are murky at best and I haven’t seen it confirmed by anything official.
I am local to this area which is part of the reason this case has always stood out to me. I would love to hear anyone else’s thoughts/theories.
The disappearance of Kelly Hollan Jr., sometimes listed as Kelly Junior Hollan, is a missing persons case that I have followed since I started following missing persons, so probably around 25 years. Sadly, there is not a lot of information out there and I am going to try to provide a comprehensive run down of things I’ve read throughout the years including facts and some of my own/others speculations. Facts and speculations will be clearly distinguished in the text.
Kelly was just six years old at the time of his disappearance on February 12, 1982. An adorable redhead, Kelly had a small scar above his lip from a cleft lip correction surgery. His listing on the DOE network says he had blue eyes but every picture I’ve seen of him the look brown. Kelly was born November 17, 1975 and lived in a very rural area of Eastern Kentucky in Knott County. Kelly was from the Mousie area in Pine Knott Hollow. For some perspective, the nearest town was Hindman which in 1980 had a population of 876. Larger, though still small, towns of Hazard and Prestonsburg were over half an hour away. Roads in this area are curvy and isolated, especially in the early 80’s.
Kelly was in Kindergarten when he went missing although the day of his disappearance was a snow day and local schools had been shut down. It was reported that Kelly had some speech difficulties and some of his words were not pronounced clearly. Kelly’s mother, who was treated as a suspect from the beginning, stated that she fed him breakfast and he went outside to play around 11 am that day. The scarce reports I read about if she saw him again after that are conflicting. I know that earlier reports said that she looked out and saw him playing outside several times during the day up until 4 pm but interviews given years later she is quoted as saying when he went outside to play at 11, she put his (broken) coat on him and never saw him again. Either way, he wasn’t reported missing until after midnight.
His mother’s story continues that at 6pm she went outside to call him in for dinner and when he did not answer she went inside and ate without him. She said she assumed he had went to a friend’s house nearby to watch the Dukes of Hazzard with a friend as the family did not own a television. Sometime between then and midnight (the reports say she said she went at dark but at that time of year in that area it would have already been dark by 6pm) to the friends’ house and they reported they hadn’t seen him all day. I can’t find any information that this was verified by the police but I would imagine it’s a reasonable assumption that it was. She reported yelling for him and looking for him after that but he ultimately wasn’t reported missing until just after midnight.
The family also did not own a phone and his mother, Judy Moore, went to her boyfriend’s (who lived with Kelly and her) mother’s home to report him missing, presumably to a rescue squad. 911 was over ten years away from making it to that area and it’s not clear if she called the police who dispatched the rescue squad or if she called the rescue squad directly. The story was that the boyfriend’s mother refused to allow her to use the phone until that time. The weather continued to be bad that day and no one made it out to start a search until dawn the next day.
Of note are the facts that Kelly had two older siblings that were in the custody of their paternal grandparents as the mother (it wasn’t clear if the parents were still together at that time) had lost custody of them. This was a fairly rare phenomenon in the 80’s. They were half siblings with a different father than Kelly and from what I understand when custody was lost, Kelly wasn’t born yet. From what I could gather in the past Kelly’s older siblings were allowed to occasionally visit. It was reported also that Kelly’s mother and her boyfriend had some substance abuse issues. This wasn’t listed on anything official I read but from reading it seemed to be common knowledge. Judy’s boyfriend additionally was not Kelly’s father and I read something, years ago, that he had been abusive to Kelly but I am not sharing this as fact because it was on a gossip site (I think Topix but I am not sure) and you could say anything on sites like that without any verification.
The weather slowed the search tremendously and the short of it is, they found nothing. No trace of the child was ever found at all.
There was a grand jury investigation and Judy from the beginning was a suspect. However, she was never charged with anything. Her own sister reported at one point that Judy killed him and she helped bury the body according to an interview Judy gave more recently though the reporting didn’t ask the sister this, I can’t imagine lying about your sister thinking you killed your child. Judy said they hadn’t spoken since.
The case is still officially opened and a detective (I believe the current detective, Det. Simms) has stated that while it’s classified as a non-family abduction that he truly believed it was not. Kelly is one of only two children listed as non-family abductions officially. Somewhat recently what was believed to be a gravesite was excavated but nothing was found. Given the time and the prevalence of wild animals in the area the police believe the likelihood of finding anything at this point is low.
Theories:
My personal theory is that something happened during the large period of time when Kelly arrived home from school the day prior (I assume there was school that day, not sure exactly when the snow happened but that area is still to this day quick to dismiss school for snow due to the curvy roads) and when he was reported missing at around midnight the 12/13th. It could have been anything of course, but I believe the substance abuse issues within the family played a role. Perhaps the mother or boyfriend snapped at some point and young Kelly was killed. The family had all that time to dispose of the body and there were mine shafts that could easily conceal a body for…well forever. I believe there are lots of circumstantial evidence pointing to this – the lack of reporting for that long, no one else seeing Kelly that day, the rumors of prior abuse, and the fact that the boyfriends’ mother wouldn’t let the mother call to report the child missing. Why would anyone, even a stranger, turn down letting someone report a child missing in the frigid cold unless she wanted to protect her son?
Another possibility is that due to the child being chronically neglected that entire day he succumbed to the elements. The child was six and of presumed average intelligence so it would seem that he would come inside if he got too cold, but it’s possible that while it snowed he got lost in the hills near the home and couldn’t find his way home or that he was exploring the area and fell into a mine shaft (there are mine shafts everywhere in this area, I don’t specifically know that there was one within easy walking distance for a six year old boy )
The theory of stranger abduction is fairly week in my opinion. As I stated before, the roads were curvy and the likelihood of someone driving around that didn’t live in that area is pretty slim due to the weather conditions. That’s not to say that someone that lived in that area, or that had family in that area, didn’t see a golden opportunity to snatch the child and take him but I find it somewhat low in probability.
The child’s mother said at some point that she felt like it could have been Kelly’s father that took him although reports I’ve read was that he was living in Alabama at the time of his disappearance and that that was confirmed by investigators. At one point earlier in the investigation someone in a school in Florida called and asked for Kelly’s records, or at least some one identifying themselves as being from a school in Florida. Details about this are murky at best and I haven’t seen it confirmed by anything official.
I am local to this area which is part of the reason this case has always stood out to me. I would love to hear anyone else’s thoughts/theories.