My brother Tim King, age 11, was abducted in the early evening of March 16, 1977 from or near the back parking lot of a pharmacy that was a 10 minute walk from his house. He was held captive for six days before he was murdered and dumped on a roadside. Those days were not filled with summer-camp-type activities.

He was considered to be the fourth victim of what was then known as the Oakland County child killer, although it is basically beyond any legitimate argument that these were “group killings.” Multiple people were involved. Multiple people had knowledge. There are four sets of evidence–clothing, belongings and lab samples. There is the “Allen” letter, envelope and stamp. There is all of the evidence obtained in the search of the old Busch home in October 2008.

It is also beyond any legitimate argument that the case was solvable at the time, even considering the techniques and limited technology of the time. There are still people crawling around this planet who worked on the case back in the day and they know this to be true. No matter what they did to stay in the dark or compartmentalize, anyone with enough intelligence to be a detective knows in their heart this is true.

When I look at this situation with as much dispassion as I can muster, these are the steps that must take place if Oakland County and the Michigan State Police have any integrity as concerns these four homicides.

1. The case files must be digitized. It should have happened long ago, when this case spent another decade in the active churn factory that was in reality a place to park two MSP detectives to get them to full retirement/pension beginning in 2005. It is standard operating procedure in a cold case. That it was never done speaks volumes in this case. Cost is the problem of the state police, who have mishandled and abused the finances of this case.
2. The evidence must be tested by a third-party lab. Apparently the focus is only on what has been tested previously–the hair evidence (what has not been extinguished by earlier testing) and the Y-str sample from a vaginal swab from one of the girls. (Still think the girls were not sexually assaulted?) They refuse to address all of the other evidence. If it has been determined to be so poorly cared for in handling, storage and previous testing attempts, the state police owe the public an explanation. Not all evidence is amenable to forensic genetic genealogy evaluation in a case where legit protocols were followed. This case is a cluster fuck. Retest or explain.
3. This case belongs with a dedicated cold case unit, not Special Investigations. The only reason the OCCK case is considered “special” is that someone has to keep a lid on it. A real cold case unit–not a close-to-retirement gig or a too-busy special investigations unit–would know that #1 and #2 go without saying.

What can you do to honor the memories of Tim, Kristine, Jill and Mark? Read Guarded by Jackals: Predators, the Public Officials Who Protected Them and Resolution of Michigan’s Most Notorious Cold Case, https://www.amazon.com/Guarded-Jackals-Predators-Officials-Resolution/dp/B0D9WFQV85. Actually read it. Yeah, it’s hard reading. But get over yourself and read it. Carefully.

When you cross paths with an old cop from Oakland County (local PDs or sheriff’s office), ask him W the literal F? Same with people in government in Oakland County. Then evaluate the bullshit response. The county and the state police love that we all looked away; that we believed their lies/propaganda about the safety/security of Oakland County, the facts of these cases, the investigations over the years, and that somehow this case (as it has always, always been portrayed) is now unique as a cold case.

I’ll tell you what is unique. These kids were held captive–kept alive–for horrors that we can’t even comprehend, before they were murdered and dumped. And the communities let this shit go. We believed the police and prosecutors. Everyone looked away.

The rules didn’t apply to then Oakland County Prosecutor L. Brooks Patterson. That’s how four kids were held captive for a total of over 30 days, tortured, sexually assaulted, murdered and dumped on Michigan roadsides. That’s how an organized group of pedophiles trolled Oakland County for victims. That’s how the case got scuttled.

The rules don’t apply to the state police. That’s how, in spite of the largest manhunt in the country at the time and millions in tax dollars and grants, not one arrest was ever made or suspect eliminated or named. That’s how a state lab, the repository for all of the evidence in these four homicides, mishandles and continues to fail in the handling of the evidence entrusted to it.

That’s how 48 years later, these four kids are nothing but a bad memory. It’s hard to be dispassionate about that.