Recently unveiled sketches by Dennis Rader, famously known as the self-proclaimed BTK serial killer, have emerged as potential key evidence in solving a long-standing missing persons case and multiple unsolved homicides.
The Osage County Sheriff's Office has released these unsettling images depicting three different women who appear to be bound and gagged within barn-like settings, suspected to be located in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. The images can be found below for reference.
While Rader is already incarcerated for his involvement in ten murders spanning from the 1970s to the 1990s in Wichita, Kansas, law enforcement and his own daughter contend that there may be numerous additional victims.
Although hundreds of Rader's drawings and writings were confiscated following his arrest in 2005, Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden initiated a fresh investigation in January, citing the possibility that these new images might corroborate the existence of further crimes.
Recently, Rader was identified as the primary suspect in the 1976 disappearance of 16-year-old Cynthia Dawn Kinney in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, as well as the 1990 murder of 22-year-old Shawna Beth Garber in McDonald County, Missouri.
The 78-year-old killer is currently serving ten consecutive life sentences after confessing to the ten murders in 2005, adopting the chilling acronym "BTK" which stands for "blind, torture, kill."
Investigative authorities suspect that Rader may have concealed Cynthia Dawn Kinney's remains within a barn situated near the Kansas-Oklahoma border, as her body remains undiscovered to this day.
Sheriff Virden disclosed to CNN that they received an anonymous tip months after Kinney's disappearance, indicating that her body might be located in an old barn along the Oklahoma-Kansas border. Furthermore, law enforcement recently intercepted communications from Rader while he was in prison, suggesting the presence of concealed items within old barns.
A particular sketch from Osage County, Oklahoma investigators is believed to be linked to a missing woman last seen in southeast Kansas in 1991, although her identity has not been disclosed in connection with Rader at this time.
Sheriff Virden explained, "We know from things Dennis said on this exact photograph that it was a drawing he created from an actual barn."
Another sketch portrays a female figure in a red top, similarly bound and gagged, with the sheriff highlighting specific details of the barn's wooden slats and interior features.
The third sketch depicts a female lying down in what appears to be a barn loft, firmly tied to a staircase post that investigators are scrutinizing closely.
Kerri Rawson, Rader's daughter, has been actively collaborating with investigators on her father's case and has shared updates on her social media platforms. She revealed to CNN that her father had a profound affinity for barns and silos, reminiscing about his admiration for these structures during family outings.
"My father absolutely loves barns and silos. Every time we drove around going camping, fishing, to college, he'd absolutely say this one - like he said, I want to retire here. And he would tease my mom about it," Ms. Rawson shared with CNN.
She also disclosed that after his arrest, it became evident that her father had harbored intense fantasies related to these specific locations. She and investigators are now actively searching for these places to investigate if any individuals are missing or buried there.In a striking development, Kerri Rawson confronted her father for the first time in 18 years, visiting him in prison twice in recent months. Rader is currently incarcerated at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas, but despite her efforts, she was unable to elicit a confession from him.
"He's sitting six feet across from me," she said. "He hasn't seen me in 18 years, and he's lying to me."Rawson also provided insights into her father's deteriorating health and condition while behind bars, describing his physical ailments."He's rotting," she said. "He has scoliosis very severe. He's in a wheelchair, he has no teeth left, so he doesn't even look like he has a jaw. He went from this like a vivacious man that was hiking with me right before he was arrested to like an elderly man, you know, his legs wrapped with bandages."
Notably, last month, law enforcement excavated Rader's former family residence, where they reportedly uncovered a "pantyhose ligature," potentially serving as another piece of evidence in the ongoing investigation.
