IDAHO FALLS — The case of a 12-year-old who went lacking almost 40 years in the past and the previous Idaho gubernatorial candidate convicted of her homicide can be featured in a brand new two-hour “Dateline NBC” Friday evening.
Jonelle Matthews vanished in December 1984 after being dropped off at her empty residence by a household pal following a Christmas live performance in Greeley, Colorado. When her father returned residence an hour later, Jonelle was gone.
“She walked off the face of the earth and it stayed that means for the subsequent 35 years,” Dennis Murphy, “Dateline NBC” correspondent, tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Everybody was asking – the place is Jonelle Matthews?”
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The one suspects within the case have been Jonelle’s father and the pal who dropped her off at residence. They have been by no means arrested and the case appeared to go chilly. However in July 2019, the woman’s physique was discovered by staff digging a pipeline in a rural space close to Greeley. She was carrying the identical outfit because the day she disappeared and dental data confirmed it was Jonelle.
Murphy visited the positioning the place Jonelle was discovered with Greely Police Division detectives Robert Money and Mike Prill.
“I used to be out on this crusty, snowy prairie plain with the 2 cops. They mentioned that is it – we’re standing proper right here the place she was discovered. She had been kidnapped from the sanctity of her residence with out her sneakers and in some unspecified time in the future alongside the best way, she was ditched right into a shallow grave proper right here within the snow,” Murphy remembers. “I informed them I felt like we have been on sacred floor. They’d been in search of this baby for 30 years. She was 12 years previous, carrying braces, and once they dug her physique up, she nonetheless had the braces on.”
With the invention of Jonelle’s physique, detectives started poring over proof gathered within the case a long time in the past. There have been previous VHS and reel-to-reel tapes together with 20,000 pages of affidavits and different paperwork.
“They’d all of it digitized and so they discover there’s one title who’s talked about means again then solely two occasions. It is a man named Steve Pankey from Idaho and so they begin to surprise what this man’s story is,” Murphy says.
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Shortly after she disappeared, Pankey went to the police station and mentioned he had details about Jonelle however requested for immunity from prosecution. He acted “odd” and informed officers he had secrets and techniques they’d be eager about listening to however wouldn’t reveal them until they promised to not cost Pankey.
“He did that time and again and so they thought this man was an actual goofball,” Murphy explains.
Jonelle Matthew’s mother and father, Gloria and Jim Matthews, communicate to “Dateline” on Friday. (Picture: ‘Dateline NBC’)
Pankey saved updated on the case all through the years whilst he moved his household to a number of states earlier than settling in Idaho. He ran unsuccessfully as a Structure Occasion candidate for Idaho governor in 2014 and within the Republican gubernatorial main in 2018, the 12 months authorities named him as an individual of curiosity within the woman’s dying.
Pankey was finally charged and a trial was held however a jury couldn’t attain a consensus on a verdict so a mistrial was declared in 2021. Final October, he was discovered responsible of felony homicide, second-degree kidnapping and false reporting within the disappearance and dying of Jonelle. He was sentenced to life in jail with the potential for parole.
Along with interviewing the detectives, Murphy additionally spoke with Jonelle’s mother and father, Jim and Gloria Matthews, Weld County D.A. Michael Rourke and others for the episode entitled “Footprints within the Snow.”
“I used to be shocked at how a lot this story affected me. It simply screamed out for justice,” Murphy says.
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“Dateline NBC” airs Friday at 8 p.m. on KPVI Channel 6. Watch your entire interview with Murphy on EastIdahoNews.com
According to multiple press releases, Idaho State Police (ISP) responded to multiple incidents on Idaho roadways this past weekend, including two fatal accidents, and a typically routine stop that ended in an arrest and several felony charges. Below is a recap of the major events.
Fatal Crash Near Elk City Summit Rd. in Idaho County
On October 5, 2024, ISP and the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office responded to a single-vehicle crash near Elk City Summit Rd. The vehicle involved was a 2001 Ford F350 driven by a 57-year-old man from Nampa, Idaho.
Casualties and Injuries
A 41-year-old male passenger was pronounced dead at the scene, while a 67-year-old female passenger was airlifted to a local hospital. The driver sustained no injuries.
Seatbelt Usage and Road Conditions
While the female passenger was wearing a seatbelt, neither of the male occupants were. The crash resulted in a road closure for three and a half hours. Alcohol and speed were not considered contributing factors.
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Idaho State PoliceIdaho State Police
Just after midnight on October 4, 2024, an ISP trooper stopped a vehicle on Interstate 15 for speeding. The vehicle was driven by a 46-year-old man who was later arrested for multiple offenses.
Discovery of Drugs and Firearm
During the stop, a K9 unit from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office was deployed and alerted to narcotics. A search revealed 2.25 pounds of methamphetamine and a handgun.
Charges and Arrest
The driver was arrested on charges of DUI, methamphetamine trafficking, and possession of a firearm.
On October 4, 2024, a powerful dust storm caused a massive pileup involving over 60 vehicles on US Highway 95, south of Genesee, Idaho.
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Emergency Response and Road Closure
ISP and Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office closed the highway, while local tow companies worked to clear the scene. The road was reopened after several hours of effort.
Injuries and Seatbelt Use
Though multiple injuries were reported, the use of seatbelts minimized the severity. Three individuals were transported to local hospitals, and most drivers were able to avoid additional crashes.
A two-vehicle collision occurred on October 4, 2024, at the intersection of State Highway 33 and Interstate 15. A 29-year-old man from Nampa driving a Honda Accord rear-ended a tractor-trailer.
Airlifted to Hospital
The driver of the Honda Accord was seriously injured, transported by air ambulance and succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital. The tractor-trailer driver, a 62-year-old man from Alberta, Canada, was unharmed.
Ongoing Investigation
The highway was blocked for three hours, and ISP continues to investigate the crash.
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Do You Recognize Any of Idaho’s 9 Most Wanted Criminals? (Updated August 2024)
Take a good look at these photos. Do you recognize any of them? If you do you can make submit tips to IDOC by clicking here or to local agencies through Crimestoppers.
IDAHO COUNTY, Idaho – A 41-year-old man is dead after the truck in which he was a passenger veered off the road early Saturday morning.
According to Idaho State Police, the crash took place at around 3 a.m. near Elk City Summit Road and Newsome Creek Road in Idaho County.
A 57-year-old man was driving his truck when the vehicle lost the ability to break, causing the truck to go off the road and up an embankment before flipping over.
The 41-year-old man was pronounced dead on scene, while another passenger was transported to the hospital and the driver sustained no injuries.
Birthrates in the United States have reached a historic low, with women having an average of 1.6 children in their lifetime. However, while some states have seen significant reductions in population growth, others are seeing their populations boom.
Since 2020, one of the fastest growing states in the U.S. has been Idaho, increasing by 6.2 percent between 2020 and 2023, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents a rise from 1,849,339 in July 2020 to 1,964,726 in July 2023. However, this growth has not been even across the state.
The map below shows which Idaho counties are growing the fastest:
The fastest population growth was seen in Camas County, with a 14 percent increase between 2020 and 2023. This was followed by Boundary County at 12 percent. Tied for third place was Adams County, Boise County, Bonner County, and Canyon County, with an 11 percent growth rate.
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So, what might be driving these increases?
According to researchers at the University of Idaho, more than a quarter of the state’s growing population are new to the state. By analyzing vehicle registration and license surrender data from the Idaho Transportation Department between 2011 and 2021, the team found that nearly half a million Idaho residents had moved to the state in the last decade.
“We’re not in the middle of nowhere anymore,” Jaap Vos, a professor in the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho who focuses on planning, said in a statement on the university’s website in 2022. “We’re actually in the middle of all the action. If you look at the numbers, you can see we are getting new people coming in constantly.”
Map shows Idaho counties with the fastest growing population. Map shows Idaho counties with the fastest growing population. rarrarorro / iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty
According to the Idaho Department of Labor in March 2023, net migration into the state accounted for 88 percent of Idaho’s population growth between 2021 and 2022, the majority of which were U.S. citizens moving in from other states. The remaining 12 percent was from natural change when birth rates overweigh deaths.
While Idaho is seeing this influx of new people, many longstanding Idaho residents have been increasingly moving elsewhere, resulting in a significant reshaping of Idaho’s demographics.
According to a January interview with Matthew Hurt, an economist at the Idaho Division of Financial Management, with the Idaho Statesman, two thirds of Idaho’s predicted revenue growth through the 2028 fiscal year will be added through migration, with as many as one third of migration in Southwest Idaho coming from California.
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For every Idaho family that moves to California, Idaho gets three back, Hurt added.
“California totally dominates the net migration story, and it really is because Californians come to Idaho,” he said. “Idahoans don’t really go to California.”
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the U.S. population? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
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