Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions

Who was Kara?

Kara Elise Kopetsky was born on February 17th, 1990 in Frankfurt, Germany to Rhonda and Michael Kopetsky. She was the couple’s only child and grew up with a carefree attitude. After moving to the United States, Kara’s parents eventually divorced. Rhonda married Jim Beckford and the couple gave birth to Kara’s younger stepbrother, Thomas. The family lived in Belton, Missouri, which was a working class town, just under a half hour south of Kansas City, Missouri. Kara attended Belton High School and had a group of friends that she was incredibly loyal to.

One of Kara’s close friends, Jennifer, who’d known Kara since middle school, described her friend as happy, energetic, and someone who could always see the positive side of things. This positive energy radiated to the people around her. She was a great friend and Jennifer said that Kara was always there for her, no matter what was going on. She later told interviewers that their favorite song was “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol and that they’d call each other when it came on the radio and laugh about it. They spent a lot of their free time hanging out at each other’s houses and just being teenage girls.

Mike Miller, one of Kara’s teachers from Belton High School thought she was a very special girl. He said, 

“She was a little ornery, a little funny. My type of kid. But I will always remember, she had one of those grins that when she smiled, it just went ear to ear.” 

Miller said that it was always hard to get on her about something because she had that beautiful smile. Another friend said that if it weren’t for Kara, she wouldn’t be where she was now. Kara befriended her at church and convinced her to keep coming back. She truly cared about the people she loved and never had a problem with letting them know.

The Day of the Disappearance

On the morning of Friday, May 4th, 2007, Kara gave her mother a hug and a kiss, told her she loved her and that she’d see her after school. She called her mom from school and asked her to wash her work uniform so she could come home after school, change, and head to work. Kara worked part-time at a local chicken restaurant called Popeye’s. To Rhonda’s surprise, Kara never came home after school and she never showed up to work. She began calling Kara’s cell phone, but there was no answer. Rhonda’s concern grew as her daughter didn’t return any of her phone calls. This was extremely unlike her. Her parents very quickly went into panic mode.

Local police were notified by Kara’s parents that they were really concerned  that something had happened to their daughter. Police, of course, immediately assumed that 17-year-old Kara had run away, but her parents said her not showing up to work or home AND not returning her calls was incredibly out of character for her. Regardless of the police’s initial instincts, they still had a minor missing, so they began asking questions at the last place she’d been seen: Belton High School.

Friends confirmed that Kara had made it to school that day. She was talking to them in the morning, asking them if anyone wanted to skip school. Her friends decided not to, but that didn’t deter Kara. Surveillance video at the high school showed Kara leaving school at 9:21AM. There didn’t appear to be anyone with her. 

Rhonda was immediately suspicious of Kara’s 19-year-old boyfriend, Kylr (like Skyler without the S…dumb) Yust (you-st). The two had started dating in 2006, but were no longer together. Their relationship had become very toxic, with Kara telling people that Yust was physically and emotionally abusive. On April 21st, just over two weeks before Kara had disappeared, Yust showed up unexpectedly at Kara’s friend Amy’s house. Kara left Amy’s house with Yust and returned almost an hour later. She reportedly had a swollen lip and “choke marks” on her neck. Yust then continuously called Kara’s cell phone, but she wouldn’t pick up.

Less than a week later, on April 28th, Yust showed up at Kara’s work, just as she was leaving. He convinced her to get in his truck, where he drove around and physically assaulted her, before dropping her off in the next city over. Two days later, on April 30th, Kara and her mother went to the police station so Kara could file a restraining order against Yust. In the report, she checked the boxes indicating that Yust had caused physical and emotional harm to her, as well as stalking her. Under what acts she was referring to, Kara wrote:

“Saturday 4/28-kidnapped, restrained…1 month ago choked me, dec 06 had knife in hand and said ‘I’m gonna slit your mother fucking throat’, march 07 wouldn’t let me out of my home.’

Under the space where it asked why the person posed a risk to the person filing the report, Kara wrote, “Because I’m unsure of what he will do next, because the abuse has gotten worse over time.”

On May 1st, Yust was served with the restraining order and explicitly told that he was not to have any contact with Kara.

Three days later, Kara disappeared.

The Investigation

Those who knew Yust described him as charming, but with a dark side. He had violent tendencies and unfortunately, Kara was sometimes on the receiving end of his aggression. On May 6th, police interviewed Yust. He told them that he was with his grandfather at a nursing home in Kansas City on the day that Kara disappeared and denied any involvement in her disappearance. Police never followed up to verify this alibi. An attendant at a local convenience store told police that he saw Kara and Yust together on the day she disappeared around 11 or 11:30AM at his store. There were reportedly problems following up with this worker and police never got the surveillance video footage. In fact, they lost track of the worker all together. 

Yust told police that his last contact with Kara was on May 3rd, the day before she disappeared. He said that Kara called him on the 4th, but he was unable to answer. When he tried to call her back, Kara didn’t pick up. Unfortunately, phone records didn’t match Kyle’s story. Kara had indeed called Yust and he had called her back, but Kara did answer. And they talked for 20 minutes. At 9:20AM, which was the time that Kara was seen on surveillance footage leaving the school. When police told Yust what they’d found on the phone records, he continued to stick to his story. He said he hadn’t talked to Kara on the phone that day. He admitted to the incident where he’d essentially kidnapped her in April, but still denied any involvement in her disappearance. 

A witness came forward to authorities at some point to tell them that he had spoken to Kara on the day she went missing. This witness was a mutual friend of Yust and Kara. He said that Kara had called him that morning, asking if she and Yust could come hang out at his place. He said he was busy, so Kara never came over. Yust though, came to his home around 12:30PM to smoke a cigarette. Alone. The friend said that later that day, Yust called him, extremely upset, begging him not to tell anyone that he’d been with Kara that day. Yust said he didn’t want to get in trouble for violating the restraining order. The friend called Kara after this, but his calls went straight to voicemail.

On May 9th, Kara’s paycheck at Popeyes was available for her to pick up, but she never went to get it. This was just another indication to Kara’s friends and family that she hadn’t disappeared by choice. There was still no activity on any of Kara’s social media or bank accounts.

On July 23rd, police spoke to Yust again. He told them that when he talked to Kara on the phone on May 3rd, they’d gotten into an argument. He said that he accused Kara of “planning to spend the weekend partying and running around on him”. Obviously Kara denied this, so the two argued. Yust maintained that he had no idea where Kara was.

Months and years passed with no sign of Kara. She didn’t contact her family or her friends and, though it was difficult, Kara’s family tried to hold onto hope. Though there were no solid leads coming in, the community refused to let the case fade away. They held rallies and vigils and passed out flyers. They put on events and participated in everything they could to keep Kara’s face in the public eye. Her family did interviews and made sure that no one forgot that they were still looking for Kara.

Drunken Confessions

In 2008, Yust reportedly confessed, while drunk, to his new girlfriend, Katelynn Farris, that he killed Kara. She said that Yust had asked her if she knew about him and Kara. He then told her That he’d put Kara in his car and she was never seen again. 

In 2009, Yust, again drunk, supposedly told one of his former roommates that he “snapped” and killed Kara because she “refused to love him”. On April 26th of 2010, that roommate called Belton police and told them what Yust had confessed to him.

In late 2010, Yust’s then ex-girlfriend, Katelynn Farris was contacted by the FBI. She told them that they were still on good terms. Investigators asked her if she’d been willing to wear a wire and meet with Yust. Katelynn agreed and traveled from North Carolina to Missouri, where she’d arranged a meeting with Yust. During the audio and video recording of the meeting (Yust was unaware that he was being recorded), they had a lot of small talk. Katelynn asked him what his raven tattoo around his neck meant. Yust replied that it was representative of fingers around the neck, of death. 

Katelynn asked Yust if they could use a Ouija board to contact Kara and see if she was happy. Katelynn tried to convince Yust that he could tell her what happened, that he could trust her. Yust said that he could only trust her as far as he could throw her. She told him that he’d feel better about getting it off of his chest. Yust responded that he wished he’d never told Katelynn about it. 

Katelynn had picked up Yust in her car and they were heading to the spot where they were going to use the Ouija board. Yust is heard saying “we’re going to the death spot of the girlfriend I killed…” He called himself a killer and said he wasn’t good enough for anyone because he “killed someone”. Yust starts telling Katelynn that she’ll probably never hear from him again because he’s going to end his own life.

As the two refocus on the Ouija board, Katelynn said that she thought Kara seemed like a “cool girl”. Yust told her that Kara was awesome and that she and Kara would’ve liked each other. Once they finally reached the place where they were going to use the Ouija board, Katelynn asked Yust if he was excited to hear what Kara had to say. He responded that he wasn’t. He said, “Do you understand this is the biggest fuck up of my entire life?” Reportedly, Katelynn tried to get Yust to tell her where Kara was, but he wouldn’t. 

In August of 2011, one of Yust’s ex-girlfriend’s came to police to file a restraining order against him. She told investigators that Yust had choked her several times and that he’d admitted to killing girlfriends in the past, and that he would kill her too. She also said that he’d hurt and killed animals in front of her. In September, Yust pled guilty to assault and animal abuse charges. He was sentenced to two year of probation and required to attend a “batterer prevention program”.

On June 5th, 2012, a witness contacted the Belton police to inform them that earlier that year, Yust admitted to him that he’d picked Kara up from school on the day she disappeared because she’d had an argument with a teacher. He told the witness that he and Kara had gotten into a physical fight and he’d choked her to death before placing her body in the woods.

In 2013, Yust was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison for drug trafficking charges. AND because this idiot can’t shut his piehole…a cellmate of Yust’s said that Yust asked him to help him get an alibi because he’d killed Kara and gotten rid of her body. A total of at least seven witnesses came to police and reported that Yust had told them that he’d murdered Kara, yet charges still hadn’t been brought against him.

Jessica

Jessica Runions was born on July 10th, 1995 to Jamie and John. She was described by her family as a “generous, loyal young woman who loved music, dancing, and baking.” She was a beautiful girl who especially loved her family. Jessica and her little sister Megan had an especially close relationship, and Megan looked up to her. She was fun-loving and outgoing and was someone who friends could always count on. Jessica had a big heart and loved working as a cook and a server at a nearby retirement home.

At 21 years old, Jessica enjoyed going out with friends in her hometown of Raymore, Missouri, which was just a few miles south of Belton, where Kara lived. On Thursday, September 8th, 2016, Jessica attended a party at a friend’s house in Grandview. She was seen leaving the party around 11PM in her black Chevy Equinox. Her friend had been with her that night, and witnesses remembered that he seemed jealous of Jessica talking to friends. Despite the perceived problems between Jessica and her friend, the two left together. Jessica’s friend had just been released from prison six days earlier. His name was Kylr Yust.

The Disappearance

On Friday, September 9th, after discovering that no one had seen or talked to Jessica since she left the party, Jaime Runions contacted police to report her daughter missing. Police began interviewing those who’d seen her at the party, as well as people who lived near the duplex where the party had taken place, but no one had seen Jessica.

Early Saturday morning, police discovered Jessica’s black Chevy Equinox on the side of the road in an isolated area. The vehicle had been badly burned. Jessica was not inside, nor in the nearby area.

Later that night, Yust was pulled over by police. His half-brother, Jessep Carter was driving, with his wife in the passenger’s seat. Yust was in the backseat. The officer later said that Yust seemed very anxious during the traffic stop. Carter’s wife had a gun on her, which was confiscated by police. After that, the officer let them go. They continued driving a few hours south to Carter’s hometown and dropped Yust off.

On September 11th, Carter called law enforcement and told them that his stepbrother, Yust, had confessed to murdering Jessica Runions and dragging her body into the woods. Carter reported that he was with Yust when he burned Jessica’s car, then he’d taken Yust to his home to heal from the burns he had on his face and hands.  

FINALLY

On September 11th, 2016, at 9:36AM, law enforcement served a search warrant at Carter’s home, where they found Yust and took him into custody. He was found with burns on his hands, face, and arms, and with scratches on his face. Yust was arrested for the burning of Jessica’s vehicle, not yet with murder. The judge set his bond at a very high amount so he couldn’t get out on bail.

On April 3rd, 2017, a mushroom hunter called police to inform him that he’d discovered what appeared to be human remains in a wooded area. The following day, there was a second set of remains found nearby. One set was clearly much older than the other. Just two days after the remains were found, the Kansas City Crime Lab identified the first set as the remains of Jessica Runions. In an interview, Jamie expressed relief that her daughter had finally been found, but said it wasn’t over. She said, “It’s not a resolution unless we find Kara too. We’re a team and it’s still not finished for me.” Jamie and Kara’s mother, Rhonda, had formed an unexpected, but unique bond.

Finally, in August of 2017, the second set of remains were identified by the FBI Crime Lab. They belonged to Kara Kopetsky. On October 5th, 2017, Kylr Yust was charged with the first degree murders of Kara and Jessica.

The Trial

Yust was a slimeball and was able to get the best public defenders. His stepbrother, Jessep Carter, was supposed to be a key witness, but he was found dead in his jail cell, where he was being held on arson charges. This gave the defense the opportunity to blame the murders on Carter, since he was no longer there to defend himself. 

The prosecution called several witnesses to testify, including one of his ex-girlfriends who’d previously told police that Yust had confessed to her that he’d murdered Kara. She spoke of his violence and the abuse she suffered while they were dating. She testified that one day when she was packing to leave him, Yust attacked her and strangled her and said, “I have killed ex-girlfriends before out of sheer jealousy. I will kill you before you can let another scream out of your throat.”

The prosecution talked about Yust’s childhood and how he grew up living with his grandparents and his stepbrother, Jessep. He had an extremely strained relationship with both parents, but particularly with his mother. They even played a recording from a jailhouse phone call between Yust and his mother, where she begged him to tell her where Kara’s body was. Yust explained that he was just “playing into her narrative” because he wanted to do whatever he could to hurt his mother, not because he actually killed anyone.

Another witness brought forward was a local named Ryan Talley. He said that on the day that Kara had disappeared, he’d seen Yust’s truck traveling south around noon on the highway that connected to the area where her body was later found. Talley recognized Yust’s truck from a friend’s house and was surprised because he’d never seen him driving in that area before. 

Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, Jaxxon, took the stand to talk about her relationship with Yust. Jaxxon said that after he and Jessica moved in together, they began having trouble in their relationship and started sleeping in separate rooms. At the time of her disappearance, it was believed that Jessica was dating Yust, who became incredibly jealous about her continued on and off relationship with Jaxxon, with whom she was still living with. This was a very likely motive for her murder.

On the last day of the trial, Yust took the stand in his own defense. He denied both murders and blamed his stepbrother. The prosecution said to him, “You must be the most unlucky guy in the world. You’ve had two girlfriends go missing and the last person they were seen with is you…that’s pretty unlucky, isn’t it?”

Yust, while on the stand, replied, “I think that’s extremely unlucky, but anyone who has a brother that’s a serial killer, I would say is very unlucky.”

As the jury deliberated, there were still a lot of questions surrounding both cases. Most frustrating though, was that people couldn’t understand why Yust wasn’t charged with Kara’s murder in the years before Jessica’s murder. Many witnesses had come forward to police to tell them that Yust confessed to them and it seemed as though there was plenty of information that connected Yust to Kara’s death. Unfortunately, it would’ve been very difficult to bring murder charges against Yust without a body, or really any other physical evidence for that matter. Additionally, while there were many people who relayed information about Yust to police, the information came at different times from different people and was never able to be confirmed. Again, it seemed as though investigators wanted and needed concrete evidence before charging Yust. 

Despite all of this, the community felt as though Jessica’s murder didn’t have to happen. Nobody could understand why the Belton police hadn’t done something as simple as to confirm Yust’s alibi. Perhaps if they’d done this, they would have been able to probe further into Yust’s actual whereabouts and connect him to Kara’s murder years before Jessica was murdered.

The jury deliberated for about 15 hours and found Yust guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Kara and second-degree murder in the death of Jessica. The judge sentenced him to life in prison plus 15 years. Unfortunately, in Missouri, the cap for a life sentence is 30 years, which meant Yust’s sentence would run for 45 years at most. He is currently serving his sentence at the maximum security Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri.