Was A Serial Killer Operating In Springfield Missouri During The 1980's And 90's?

     On June 18, 1985 a delivery driver spotted a car he recognized on the side of the road.  The delivery driver knew the black camaro with personal plates belonged to Jackie Johns, a twenty-year-old who worked at the local cafe.  The delivery driver contacted the cafe.  Jackie's boss at the cafe drove out to where the car was and found the door open, her purse inside, and what he thought could be blood.  He immediately called 9-1-1. 

     Police arrived and searched the car.  They found a carjack covered in blood and hair and immediately thought Jackie had fallen victim to foul play.  The small town of Nixa Missouri was in shock as they launched a massive search for Jackie.  On June 22nd fishermen at nearby Lake Springfield spotted Jackie's body.

     A call to a police tipline about a very distinctive vehicle at the gas station where Jackie was last seen led to police developing a strong suspect in the case.  The man was a frequent visitor to the cafe where Jackie worked.  He was also from a well-known and very influential family in the area.  Although forensic evidence was collected in the case, the term DNA was still unknown to most people and the technology needed in this case was still a few years away.  Police were not able to find enough evidence to bring charges against the suspect and the case went cold.

     Then, on April 27, 1987 another disappearance rocked the greater Springfield-Nixa area.  A yellow Volkswagen convertible was found with the door open, lights on, and motor running.  The car's owner, thirty-two-year-old Debbie Sue Lewis, was missing.  Her purse was still inside the car.  Debbie's body was found eight months later in Newton County near Joplin Missouri.  Police had even less evidence in the Lewis case than they did in the Johns case.  Lewis' murder case soon went cold, but the disappearances and murders in the greater Springfield area continued.

     On June 30, 1989 twenty-four-year-old Kelle Ann Workman disappeared while mowing the Dogwood Cemetery just south of Seymour Missouri.  The keys were still in her car.  Kelle's body was found on July 7th on a county road ten miles away.  Much like the Lewis and Johns cases, the murder of Kelle Ann Workman soon grew cold.

     Then, on June 7, 1992 three women disappeared from a Springfield Missouri home and the case soon received national attention.  Forty-seven-year-old Sherrill Levitt, her nineteen-year-old daughter Suzie Streeter, and Suzie's friend eighteen-year-old Stacy McCall seemingly vanished without a trace from Levitt's home.  Their purses and personal belongings were still inside the home as was the family dog.  Their vehicles were still parked outside.  The only thing out of place appeared to be a broken porch light.

     It's believed that the two young women didn't arrive at the home until around two in the morning.  They had graduated high school that night and had attended a graduation party.  Levitt's bed appeared to have been slept in.  It's not known what time the three women disappeared.  Friends became alarmed the next morning when Streeter and McCall failed to meet them.  Police began investigating later in the day when they were alerted by McCall's family.  But police had very little to go on and the mysterious disappearance of the Springfield Three, as they came to be known, went cold just as the Lewis, Johns, and Workman cases did.  There were already whispers of a serial killer on the loose in the Springfield area, now everyone wondered if he would ever mess up enough to get caught.

     Then, in March of 1993 someone tried to abduct an eighteen-year-old woman off the side of the road in Springfield at Ingrim Mill Road.  Luckily the young woman was able to get away.  Her escape led to the arrest of Gerald Carnahan.  Carnahan was charged and convicted of the attempted kidnapping and sentenced to two years in prison.  Ironically, Carnahan was the main suspect in the murder of Jackie Johns back in 1985.

     With DNA technology advancing, investigators blew the dust off the old Jackie Johns cold case and gave it a second look in 2007.  The DNA of Gerald Carnahan was compared to forensic evidence collected from Jackie's body and a match was made.  Carnahan was arrested and charged with the rape and murder of Jackie Johns.  In 2010 he was convicted.

     Local rumors persist that Carnahan is also responsible for the deaths of Lewis and Workman as well as the disappearance of the Springfield Three though he has not been charged in any of these cases.  People also point out that Carnahan lived and worked part time in China where his family owned a factory and have questioned whether Carnahan could be tied to any missing or murdered women there.  Most locals feel like Carnahan would have been charged in the other Springfield area murders and disappearances if police had more physical evidence in those cases.

     What do you think?  Is it possible that none of these cases are related?  Or was Gerald Carnahan a serial killer preying on the women of Springfield Missouri for years?  And will the other unsolved cases ever be resolved?