Blood found likely that of missing teen, abductor called 'pure sociopath'

Investigators believe they found the blood of a missing teenager on the body of her kidnapper, on his truck and at a northern Iowa hog confinement facility where he took two girls Monday afternoon, officials said Thursday.

Kathlynn Shepard, 15, of Dayton, was still missing Thursday evening after she and a friend were abducted Monday by Michael J. Klunder, a registered sex offender described by a retired police chief as a “pure sociopath.”

Officials confirmed Thursday that Klunder, who was found dead around 8 p.m. Monday, had hanged himself.

Blood was found on Klunder's body, on the tailgate of his Toyota Tundra pickup and on two buildings at a hog confinement facility where Klunder worked, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Bill Kietzman said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

The blood had not yet been tested to determine if it is Kathlynn's, he said.

“We're going to make a logical assumption that it is her blood,” Kietzman said. “There's no reason to think it's anyone else's.”

The search for Kathlynn will continue Friday, but each day that passes leaves less hope of finding her alive, Kietzman said. The blood found at the scene indicates the teen likely suffered injuries, he said.

“Clearly, this evidence diminishes our hopes of finding her in a safe manner,” he said.

Klunder and his wife, Lisa, lived in nearby Stratford. Lisa Klunder is not a suspect in the kidnapping case and has been cooperating with investigators, Kietzman said. Klunder's previous wife had filed court records saying he had been abusive.

Kietzman confirmed accounts from Dezi Hughes, 12, of Dayton, who was with Kathlynn when they were abducted Monday afternoon. Dezi told the Dayton Leader, an online newspaper, how she escaped from Klunder with his gun and called 911.

Dezi and Kathlynn, who typically ride the school bus together, decided to walk home from school Monday, Dezi told the Leader. The girls were approached by Klunder, who was driving a red pickup.

“He asked us if we wanted to earn some money mowing lawns,” she said. “We told him we'd have to ask our parents first. He said that he'd take us to our house, but he just kept on going.”

Klunder drove the girls throughout the rural Dayton countryside before stopping at a hog confinement building where he worked.

“I tried to be quiet in the truck,” Dezi said. “He said that if we did what he said, he'd let us go. But I knew that we were a long way from other peoples' houses. When we got to the hog confinement, I knew that something was wrong.”

Klunder zip-tied the girls' hands and took Kathlynn to another location on the grounds.

“He had a gun, but he left it," Dezi said. "I took it and hid in the woods.”

The girl tossed the gun, a weapon used for euthanizing livestock, in the woods and kept running, she said. Searchers found the gun Wednesday.

“I ran through the woods and past a field. I found a cemetery and then I ran some more. I kept thinking that I didn't want to not see my friends anymore. I just kept running. I saw some people, so I ran and asked them if I could use their phone," she said.

That 911 call triggered what has become a four-day search-and-rescue operation covering three counties and involving hundreds of volunteers.

Klunder had a criminal record from an early age.

At 15, he was convicted in 1986 of intent to commit sexual abuse, court records state. He was charged in 1989 with intent to commit sexual abuse, but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. He was sentenced to five years in prison and was released in 1991.

A year later, Klunder was convicted of two kidnappings, one involving two 3-year-old girls left in a trash bin.

“He had no feelings for human life,” former Charles City Police Chief Paul Scranton told The Gazette. “I thought he was a pure sociopath and he was certainly at the top as one of the worst I've dealt with.”

Scranton was the chief when Klunder kidnapped Brittany Koster and Tricia Schmitt, both 3, as they played outside their babysitter's apartment in Charles City. Scranton recalls that Klunder had lost a job that day and was upset with someone at the apartment complex.

The girls were found several hours later in a Dumpster near Northwood, about 50 miles away. One of the girls had signs of strangulation marks on her neck and a cut on her hand but the other child was unharmed.

Scranton thinks Klunder believed one child was dead when he put them in the trash bin.

In another 1992 case, Klunder was convicted of third-degree kidnapping and assault resulting in bodily injury. He abducted and assaulted a 21-year-old woman from Rudd, court records state.

Klunder served about 19 years for these crimes and was released from prison without parole in 2011.

Gazette reporter Trish Mehaffey contributed to this report.