Parents of Missing Belton Girl Believe Link to Kelsey Smith Case

Just over a month ago, another Kansas City metropolitan area girl went missing; her name is Kara Kopetsky. She lived in Belton, Mo., with her mother, Rhonda Beckford, and her stepfather, James Beckford. She is 17, according to NBC Action News.

Some believe there is a link between Kopetsky's case and the case of Kelsey Smith, the 18-year-old Overland Park girl who was abducted from a Target store last Saturday. Smith's body was just found on Wednesday and on Thursday, a man was arrested in the case. His name is Edwin R. Hall, and he is to be arraigned.

The girls have some things in common. Both are quite young and have brown hair and brown eyes. Smith's body was found near Belton, in Grandview, Mo. Kopetsky went missing from Belton High School and has been missing since May 4.

There are flyers across the city alerting the public to Kopetsky's disappearance. Her parents were keeping abreast of Kelsey Smith's case, hoping it would lead to clues about Kara's case. "It's almost one month to the day that Kara came up missing that Kelsey came up missing," her stepfather pointed out. "They said it was abnormal for that to happen. They said she has no reason to leave or runaway. Kara had no reason to leave or runaway," Rhonda Beckford said top NBC Action News.

The Bradfords are frustrated that a bogus rumor came about that Kara Kopetsky was sighted in Louisburg, Kan., some time ago. It is misleading and has some thinking that Kara is safe. The Bradfords want the public to know that the rumor is untrue and that Kara is still missing. James Bradford said, "That sighting was not confirmed or verified there was no surveillance tape video tape to back it up." Rhonda Bradford added, "People out there if you have fliers up please leave them up cause she's still missing."

In an interview with NBC Action News on Monday, Kara's parents sympathized with the then missing Smith. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them and we know what they're going through," they said.

The police have not drawn any conclusions between the two cases and have not necessarily confirmed that they suspect it, but the parents of Kara Kopetsky believe that there is too much in common between the two for it to be a mere coincidence. They want the police to take the possibility seriously.

Sources:

NBC Action News, Parents Question Connection Between Missing Teens, http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=ec7c84ec-1210-466e-959e-46e01c974c52