11 September 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — An Oklahoma district attorney says there is insufficient information to pursue charges against serial killer BTK of Kansas regarding an Osage County cold case.
District Attorney Mike Fisher covers Osage and Pawnee counties in Oklahoma. On Monday morning, he held a news conference at the Pawnee County Courthouse in Pawnee, Oklahoma.
Last month, Osage County authorities said Dennis Rader, the man convicted of being the BTK serial killer in Wichita, is “a prime suspect” in some unsolved missing persons cases, including Cynthia Dawn Kinney from Pawhuska.
Last week, the Osage County, Oklahoma, undersheriff said they have at least four “pretty strong connections” to cold case investigations linked to Rader that they feel could go to trial.
On Monday, Fisher said he is not at a point where he can press charges against Rader.
“As of this date, the information that has been shared is insufficient to file criminal charges against Dennis Rader,” he said. “Given the interest that this information has garnered, I have asked that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation open a formal investigation into the disappearance of Cynthia Dawn Kinney.”
Fisher said he will file charges if he learns of any evidence that warrants it.
In the meantime, he is concerned for Kinney’s parents. He met with them for about two hours on Friday. He said they are both in their 80s, and the recent speculation has taken a physical toll on them.
“Cynthia went missing 47 years ago. They’ve got no answers,” Fisher said. “We have reason to believe that it may have been a homicide. We can’t say that with any absolute certainty, but we’ve seen nothing to suggest otherwise as there’s been no contact with Cynthia Dawn since 1976, since her disappearance.”
He said the recent news coverage has her parents considering scenarios of what could have happened to her. They have both lost weight in the past few weeks. So, he is asking people to give them their privacy.
Rader, 78, has been in the El Dorado Correctional Facility since his sentencing in 2005.