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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 2019)
LOCAL FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019 THE OBSERVER — 5A received. However, DeFord is still hopeful and continues to fi ght for her mother to be found. Kinsey is the only person in La Grande to have gone missing and not been found in the last 20 years, according to Sgt. Hays. He said something like this is very uncommon for this town. “This one bothers me,” Hays said. As for DeFord, she contin- ues to fi ght for her mother to be found. DeFord has started a Facebook page for missing and murdered indigenous women and has taken the issue to the government, establishing House Bill 2625. HB 2625 directs state police departments to study how to improve and increase criminal justice resources relating to missing and murdered Native American women in Oregon. These efforts help DeFord keep her mother’s memory alive and help in the contin- ued search. DeFord is hosting a 20-year memorial event Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. in La Grande’s Max Square. DeFord hopes con- tinued efforts toward fi nding her mother will not only keep Kinsey’s memory alive, but will prompt someone to share what they know. “I just don’t want this little town that I’ve called home to forget her,” DeFord said. “May- be now, people who might have been afraid will feel safe enough to come forward.” La Grande Police Department photo La Grande Police Department searched a pond in Wallowa area in 2019, but found nothing. Courtesy photo Carolyn DeFord is still seeking answers as her mother, Leona Kinsey, pictured above, has been missing since 1999. KINSEY Continued from Page 1A was important to her mother. DeFord said Kinsey spent time with a group of friends, some she’d known for more than 15 years, but most of the time she was work- ing on her various projects and at her job. Her projects included refurbishing found furniture. Kinsey had worked as a housekeeper for most of DeFord’s childhood, and she prided herself on her work. “What stability she did have, she worked hard for,” DeFord said. At the time of her disap- pearance, Kinsey was trying to start her own business, do- ing janitorial and landscaping odd jobs with companies she contracted with. According to DeFord, she wasn’t the type of person to just walk away from her work. Kinsey also had pets at home, a cat and a dog. DeFord said it was very out of charac- ter for her mother to leave the dog at home. According to the detective currently working Kinsey’s case, LGPD Sgt. Jason Hays, an ex-boyfriend of Kinsey’s who reported her missing also thought it was odd that she would leave her pets without making prior arrangements. Kinsey’s disappearance Kinsey was reported miss- ing by two of her friends and her daughter after a friend who Kinsey was supposed to meet called DeFord to say Kinsey never showed up, ac- cording to a previous Observer article. Her friend said Kinsey was supposed to stop by after a trip the Albertsons grocery store, but never showed up. “I didn’t believe it at fi rst,” DeFord said about her mother being declared missing. “We didn’t have cellphones then, we didn’t have 24-hour access to each other. I thought it was just a miscommunication, and there was something logical that would explain it.” Kinsey’s car was found in the Albertsons parking lot, and according to Hays, the detectives at the time couldn’t fi nd anything that would tell them what had happened to her. This was just the start of what has now been a 20-year investigation. At the beginning of their search for Kinsey, police interviewed more than 22 people, mostly family, friends and known associates of Kinsey’s. Oregon State Police performed a polygraph on two people of interest and had planned to perform a third on a different ex-boyfriend of Kin- sey’s, than the one who report- ed her missing, but he failed to show up. This ex-boyfriend remains a person of interest in the case, but his deportation to Mexico in 2006 has made further investigating diffi cult, Hays said, although police did have a brief interview. Many people have been in- volved in this case, Hays said. Eight detectives, including a cold case specialist, Union County Search and Rescue, the Union County District At- torney and the Oregon State Police have all at one time or another been a part of search- ing for the missing La Grande woman. “I am grateful they are still looking and keeping the case open and active,” DeFord said. Kinsey left her home and everything behind. For DeFord, a diffi cult moment was packing up her mother’s things and taking them back to her house, which was eight hours away. DeFord now lives in Washington. “I packed up as much of it as I could and brought it home,” DeFord said. “What do you do with the rest, when it’s all sacred? I can’t get rid of her things. These are her things. (At the time) I still didn’t be- lieve she wasn’t coming back, and (I thought) she was going to be pissed that I called the police let alone that I packed the stuff up.” DeFord has also struggled with the unanswered ques- tions. She said she sometimes imagines what might have happened to her mother, and she can’t watch any TV shows or movies with crimes because they trigger her grief. “I’ve watched my mom die a thousand gruesome ways and have to hold on to all those gruesome things that could have happened to her and not know what happened,” DeFord said. “I’m sick of imag- ining it.” Updates in the case Since the world learned of Kinsey’s disappearance, people have come forward to offer tips and share what in- formation they had. Although these leads have not revealed any useful evidence. “We are leaving no stone unturned,” Hays said. The sergeant added that every tip the police has received has been looked into. If any new information has merit and some support it, LGPD will dig as deep as they possibly can. Some people have said they heard Kinsey’s ex-boyfriend, who was later deported to Mexico, bragging about being involved in her disappearance, according to both Hays and DeFord. Initially the police looked everywhere Kinsey might have gone, including places she frequently visited, but nothing was found. In 2009, an ex-wife of the deported ex-boyfriend shared a possible location in Wallowa County where Kinsey could be found, but when searching the area the police found nothing. A year ago, the police returned to the area to search the previ- ously unsearched pond, but once again the offi cers were unable to fi nd anything. The pond had gone unsearched before because of a lack of proper resources and access, according to Hays. LGPD has received three tips in Kinsey’s case in 2019 so far. In 2018, only one tip was in Your Observer Get your 2019 Round-Up magazine FREE ($5 value) when you purchase the Sept. 4 edition of the Observer newspaper. To subscribe, call 1-541-963-3161 or log onto www.lagrandeobserver.com SPORTS ANNEX Continued from Page 1A gyms, I don’t know what we would do,” McKinney said. The gym in the annex, which has batting cages, is also used by La Grande High School’s baseball, softball and soccer teams and by outside organizations. Others who depend on the annex include the La Grande School District’s food service program, which has a walk-in freezer there and uses space for the storage of dry food and equipment. The school district’s grounds and maintenance department also makes extensive use of the building for storage. At the beginning of the work session, Waite pre- sented the school board with three preliminary options to consider for the annex building: Option 1: The annex build- ing would be maintained on a status quo basis. This would involve replacing the roof for about $240,000 and performing upgrade work es- timated to cost $150,000, as- suming a structural analysis does not fi nd any unforeseen One percen t better problems. Option 2: The entire annex building would be replaced for a cost of between $4.5 million and $9 million. Option 3: The annex build- ing would be replaced by two separate facilities — a fi eld house for athletics and a ware- house. The total cost of doing this would be between $3.75 million and $8.25 million. FRIDAY-SUND AY • August 16-18 , 2019 • $1.5 Mayor of Elgin, tw o students earn Mayors 0 Good day to our By Sabrina Thom pson The Observ er A dedicated mayor to improve and enhan will work hard ce his or her city. The Oregon Mayor has recognized Elgin’ s Association s mayor for his Union schools to seek $4 million bond leadership and two local students for their ideas about was caught off guard. what ” if they were mayor. they would do Many of Duffy’s project s were “I was very surpris highlighted as the ed,” Mayor reason he was Allan Duffy said chosen for the award about , including his OMA Mayors Leader receiving the “Block by Block” project, in which ship Award. “I every year the City of Elgin improves By Dick Maso n The Observer 10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City 541-975-1364 www.reed-insurance.net city forward,” Duffy said about what motivates him. “I love and I love to serve.” my community Currently Duffy is the city to comple working with te its museum See Awards / Page By Alex Castle EO Media Group Medicare, Auto, Home insurance and Annuities Toll Free 1-866-282-1925 Juniper of La Gran d Assoc. awards The Oregon Depar of Transportation tment an- Tickets available at Joseph Hardware, Dollar Stretcher, The Bookloft, Favorite Finds on Main and online at Eventbrite.com An Independent Insurance Agency valued subscriber Jerry one block of the town, from the pipes to sidewalks and new street. He was also asphalt in the lauded for his work rebuilding trust and unity in the city. “It’s about being able to move a ODOT projects ahead in NE Oregon The Union School trict’s aging buildin Dis- be receiving major gs may in the near future upgrades . The Union School passed a resolution Board day night author Wednes- izing its school district to fil Reed & Associates for excellent service LOCALLY! Nicole Cathey Inside Faith Lutheran Chu continues Haiti wo rch Peak Perspectives, rk, 1B Kevin Reed 5A
