Missing
Karen Marie Mitchell
Karen, approximately 1997; Age when reported missing: 30 (approximately 2010); Sketch of unidentified driver's vehicle; Sketch of unidentified driver; Robert Durst, approximately 2001
Date and time person was reported missing : 11/25/1997
Missing location (approx) :
Eureka, California
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 11/30/1980 (40)
Age at the time of disappearance: 16 years old
Height / Weight : 5'5, 130 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A long-sleeved tan shirt, baggy dark brown corduroy pants, tan leather buckled shoes, small hoop earrings, three silver rings and a silver necklace with a crystal. Carrying a Nalgene water bottle.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Sandy brown hair, blue/green eyes. Karen has pierced ears. Her hair was neck-length at the time of her disappearance.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Karen was on the Thanksgiving holiday vacation from high school on November 25, 1997 in Eureka, California. She departed from her place of employment, the Coastal Family Development Center, during the afternoon hours.
Annie Casper, Karen's aunt, was her legal guardian and owned a shoe store inside Bayshore Mall. The shopping center was in the 3300 block of Broadway Street, approximately one mile from Karen's place of employment. She briefly visited her aunt's business before departing from the mall at approximately 2:45 p.m.
Karen was last seen walking towards West Sonoma Street shortly afterwards. She has never been heard from again.
A witness stated that Karen may have entered an unidentified light blue four-door 1976 to 1978 sedan, which was possibly a Ford Grenada, a Mercury Monarch, or a Nissan. The vehicle had California license plates and "Eureka" imprinted on the rear plate's frame.
The driver of the car is described as a Caucasian male, approximately 60 to 70 years old, with balding light gray or sandy blonde hair. The unidentified man had green or gray eyes and a large-sized nose that appeared to have been previously broken. He had a small build and wore eyeglasses. The driver was wearing a long-sleeved button-down light blue shirt.
Sketches of both the driver and vehicle are posted with this case summary. The driver is wanted for questioning as a possible witness in Karen's case. The witness claimed that the car pulled across Broadway Street and nearly hit him before stopping for a girl matching Karen's description.
Robert Durst apparently visited Casper's store several times in March 1998, four months after Karen disappeared, and he resembles the sketch of the man wanted for questioning in Karen's case. His photo is posted with this case summary.
Robert's first wife, Kathleen Durst, disappeared from New York in 1982. Her case remains unsolved and Robert is considered the prime suspect, although he has never been charged in connection with her case.
Robert was charged with the 2001 Texas homicide of Morris Black. He claimed he murdered Black in self-defense, and was acquitted in 2003. In 2015, he was charged with murder in the 2000 shooting death of Susan Berman.
Investigators looked into the possibility that Robert was in the Eureka area at the time of Karen's disappearance, but he has never been charged with any involvement. They've ruled him out as a suspect in the 1997 disappearance of Kristen Modafferi from San Francisco, but he's being looked at in the 1971 disappearance of Lynne Schulze from Middlebury, Vermont. Robert and Kathleen owned a health food store in Middlebury at the time of Schulze's disappearance, and she visited it the day she went missing.
Karen's parents divorced not long after she was born and her mother raised her and her brother alone. Karen moved in with her aunt and uncle when she was thirteen. She had liberal views in 1997 and was passionate about politics, the environment and children.
She was a good student and within a semester of graduating high school by the time of her disappearance; she planned to attend Humboldt State University and possibly study law or political science. Her case remains unsolved.
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