‘Dateline NBC’ to feature story of girl who vanished in 1984 and the tie to an ‘odd’ Idaho politician convicted of murder – East Idaho News

IDAHO FALLS — The case of a 12-year-old who went lacking practically 40 years in the past and the previous Idaho gubernatorial candidate convicted of her homicide might be featured in a brand new two-hour ‘Dateline NBC’ Friday night time.

Jonelle Matthews vanished in December 1984 after being dropped off at her empty dwelling by a household pal following a Christmas live performance in Greeley, Colorado. When her father returned dwelling an hour later, Jonelle was gone.

“She walked off the face of the earth and it stayed that approach for the following 35 years,” ‘Dateline NBC’ correspondent Dennis Murphy tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Everybody was asking – the place is Jonelle Matthews?”

The one suspects within the case have been Jonelle’s father and the pal who dropped her off at dwelling. 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 employees digging a pipeline in a rural space close to Greeley. She was sporting the identical outfit because the day she disappeared and dental information confirmed it was Jonelle.

Murphy visited the location 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 dwelling with out her footwear 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 recollects. “I informed them I felt like we have been on sacred floor. That they had been searching for this little one for 30 years. She was 12 years outdated, sporting braces, and once they dug her physique up, she nonetheless had the braces on.”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 There have been outdated VHS and reel-to-reel tapes together with 20,000 pages of affidavits and different paperwork.

“That they had all of it digitized they usually discover there’s one title who’s talked about approach again then solely two occasions. It’s a man named Steve Pankey from Idaho they usually begin to surprise what this man’s story is,” Murphy says.

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 might be fascinated by listening to however wouldn’t reveal them except they promised to not cost Pankey.

“He did that again and again they usually thought this man was an actual goofball,” Murphy explains.

Pankey stored 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 Social gathering candidate for Idaho governor in 2014 and within the Republican gubernatorial major in 2018, the yr authorities named him as an individual of curiosity within the woman’s loss of life.

RELATED | Former candidate for ID governor investigated in 1984 Colorado chilly case killing

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 loss of life of Jonelle. He was sentenced to life in jail with the potential for parole.

RELATED | Former Idaho gubernatorial candidate convicted of killing Colorado woman who vanished in 1984

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 stunned at how a lot this story affected me. It simply screamed out for justice,” Murphy says.

‘Dateline NBC’ airs Friday at 8 p.m. on KPVI Channel 6. Watch our total interview with Murphy within the video participant above.