Kevin Collins News Round-Up

Kevin Collins is all over the place this morning. If you're too busy to google, here's your one-stop-shop.

First up, Kevin's Wiki, for background:

Kevin Andrew Collins (born January 24, 1974; disappeared February 10, 1984) gained national attention as one of the first missing children to appear on milk cartons and on the cover of national publications, such as Newsweek magazine in 1984. His abduction from San Francisco city streets helped bring to light the plight of missing and exploited children in America. On February 10, 1984, Kevin left early from basketball practice in the school's gymnasium between 6:10 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. One of his older brothers, twelve-year-old Gary, normally would have accompanied Kevin to basketball practice but was home sick that day. Kevin was last seen at approximately 7:55 p.m. at the corner of Oak Street and Masonic Avenue, waiting for the No. 43 bus. Witnesses reported seeing him at the bus stop talking to a tall blonde haired man. He was never seen or heard from again. Prior to Amber Alerts, national TV shows (such as America's Most Wanted) and the World Wide Web, local news and print advertisements were the only way to inform the general public of a child's disappearance. Following the evening of Kevin's disappearance, posters with his picture were distributed and displayed on telephone poles and storefront windows around San Francisco.

CBS News:

Police didn't disclose what prompted investigators to seek a search warrant and renew the probe into the case. The FBI and the Alameda County sheriff's department contributed to the search Tuesday. Renewed interest in the case, which included a memorable milk carton image of the freckled-faced Kevin, put his mother on an emotional roller coaster, especially when the remains turned out to be animal bones. "Mostly I'm just numb," Ann Collins, 72, said. "To see them digging in a building so close to where he disappeared was shocking."

SF Gate:

The home that was searched Tuesday is a block south of Oak and Masonic. The current occupants are not suspects, police said in a statement, but a law enforcement source said a man who used to live there had been a person of interest in the case.

ABC Local:

When Newsweek magazine put Kevin on the cover, the tips poured in. They all lead nowhere, but San Francisco police either missed or chose to ignore one significant lead -- a possible connection to serial killer Jon Dunkle.

NBC Bay Area:

Collins remembers his father and the coach going out to the school and then driving back and forth on the path Kevin would have walked. "There are one or two witnesses that saw him after that," Collins said. "There's a spot where he was last seen and it's where this house is right now that's being dug up today."

KTVU:

Ann Collins said that the discovery felt like it came from out of the blue, especially occuring only days after what would have been Kevin's 39th birthday.

SF Examiner:

A law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the search warrant in the case is sealed said the home was once occupied by someone who was once a “person of interest” in the case.

SFist:

No word yet on what lead to today's possible break in the Collins case. Back in October of last year, ABC7 also thought they had a lead when they uncovered documents in which serial killer Jon Dunkle — who was convicted of killing three young boys in the early 80s — allegedly confessed that he had killed a fourth, unknown boy victim around the time of Kevin's disappearance. After confessing the crime to his cellmate lover in San Luis Obispo, Dunkle apparently told psychiatric evaluators that he had killed a fourth boy by throwing him off the Golden Gate Bridge and making it look like a suicide, but SFPD investigators apparently missed that detail.

Associated Press:

Since her son's disappearance, Collins and her husband divorced, and she moved to the San Francisco suburb of Concord. "It would be nice to have closure," she said. "But then a part of me, you know, doesn't want to find him like that."