Kathlynn Shepard reportedly died of "multiple sharp and blunt forced injuries," indicating that she was stabbed and beaten to death in a crime of brutality that is almost hard to even imagine. The report doesn't confirm, but given the fact that a repeat registered sex offender kidnapped and murdered her, it's only easy to speculate that the 15-year-old Dayton girl was likely sexually assaulted.
Thanks to the 12-year-old survivor of this horrible incident, some of the details are known. After Klunder kidnapped the two girls he allegedly "zigzagged" across the Iowa landscape for several hours -- maybe searching for a place to take his new victims. The 12-year-old was lucky enough to escape from the vehicle while it was parked, and she hid in the woods, her survival instinct leading her to safety. She did not witness what Kathlynn went through and this is quite fortunate, for she must already live with the emotional scars of what she experienced and what she knows.
This case will never have closure and there will never be justice. Michael Klunder took his own life hours after the kidnappings. I suspect he was fearful of the younger girl leading officials directly to him -- and of course he would have been 100% correct. That little survivor helped in tracking him down, but the coward snuffed himself out after brutally beating and stabbing his 15-year-old victim. I believe the severity of the crime indicates his frustration and rage at the fact that he knew he was going to be caught and that his days were numbered thanks to the escape of the younger girl.
It's very likely that Michael Klunder was behind the disappearance and murders of Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins, and investigators in Iowa are looking into these possible connections. If he is connected to that tragic case, then that would prove that the slain Iowa cousins' deaths will never be justified either.
