The disappearance of the Klein Brothers
Dec 12, 2019 8:17:43 GMT
theravenking, forca84, and 1 more like this
Post by hi224 on Dec 12, 2019 8:17:43 GMT
A new podcast series is investigating one of the oldest known active missing child investigations in the country. The Klein brothers, Kenny, David, and Danny, ages 8, 6 and 4, left for Farview Park in Minneapolis’ Northside on Nov. 10th, 1951 and were never seen again. After an initial, extensive search that turned up almost nothing, it was assumed they fell into the Mississippi River and drowned. Two plaid stocking caps, positively identified as belonging to two of the brothers, were found about 150 feet upstream from the St. Anthony Falls Spillway. The boys' father believed someone threw the boys caps into the river to throw police off. Their surviving older brother also doesn't believe the boys drowned in the river. He has always maintained that his younger brothers never would've gone anywhere near the river without him.
Pilots who searched the river by air said two of the boys were wearing red jackets and should have been easy to spot if they were in the river. And according to an expert from the podcast, if the boys were indeed in the river, all 3 bodies would've eventually surfaced.
Over the past several years, investigators have been looking into old leads and have identified potential suspects that could be involved in the disappearance of the boys. Those include:
• A truck driver who lived close enough that the boys could have cut through his yard on the way to the park. Soon after the Kleins disappeared, he reportedly poured a new concrete floor in his basement and replaced the bed of his pickup truck. It was also reported that he told a neighbor that they boys "weren't worth looking for". A decade later, a woman came forth saying he had molested her 5-year-old daughter in the 1950s.
• A former playground worker at Farview Park who had moved away from Minneapolis shortly after the Kleins vanished. He was also a suspect in the murder of three Chicago boys.
• A woman dying of cancer about 15 years ago told a private investigator hired by the family that she rented rooms in the area to a “creepy” man in his 50s and a teenager. She saw them playing basketball with some boys when the Kleins went missing, but kept quiet out of fear of the older renter.
The Klein family has always believed that the boys were kidnapped and adopted out to other families. Given that the bodies never surfaced in the river, is that a reasonable explanation? Is drowning still the most likely scenario? What do you think about the suspicious neighbor and the other suspects?
Synopsis of the disappearance and the investigation
True Crime Diva case synopsis
Charley Project Daniel Klein
Charley Project David Klein
Charley Project Kenneth Klein
Websleuths thread (includes comments from a younger brother of the Klein boys)
Podcast - Long Lost: An Investigative History Series
Pilots who searched the river by air said two of the boys were wearing red jackets and should have been easy to spot if they were in the river. And according to an expert from the podcast, if the boys were indeed in the river, all 3 bodies would've eventually surfaced.
Over the past several years, investigators have been looking into old leads and have identified potential suspects that could be involved in the disappearance of the boys. Those include:
• A truck driver who lived close enough that the boys could have cut through his yard on the way to the park. Soon after the Kleins disappeared, he reportedly poured a new concrete floor in his basement and replaced the bed of his pickup truck. It was also reported that he told a neighbor that they boys "weren't worth looking for". A decade later, a woman came forth saying he had molested her 5-year-old daughter in the 1950s.
• A former playground worker at Farview Park who had moved away from Minneapolis shortly after the Kleins vanished. He was also a suspect in the murder of three Chicago boys.
• A woman dying of cancer about 15 years ago told a private investigator hired by the family that she rented rooms in the area to a “creepy” man in his 50s and a teenager. She saw them playing basketball with some boys when the Kleins went missing, but kept quiet out of fear of the older renter.
The Klein family has always believed that the boys were kidnapped and adopted out to other families. Given that the bodies never surfaced in the river, is that a reasonable explanation? Is drowning still the most likely scenario? What do you think about the suspicious neighbor and the other suspects?
Synopsis of the disappearance and the investigation
True Crime Diva case synopsis
Charley Project Daniel Klein
Charley Project David Klein
Charley Project Kenneth Klein
Websleuths thread (includes comments from a younger brother of the Klein boys)
Podcast - Long Lost: An Investigative History Series