No Sanctuary: Who Killed Kelle Ann Workman In Missouri In 1989?

This hard working 24 year old woman was scheduled to do one of her several jobs on 30th June 1989. She was at a rural church mowing the grass near Dogwood, Missouri.

During that afternoon she started the task but the rain came down so she went home and took care of some chores at her family farm. She was seen by a relative as she returned to cutting the grass. This was at about 5.40pm. At around 6.15pm her absence was noted.

An overview of the church Ms Workman disappeared from.

Her vehicle was there in the church parking lot with the keys in. The mower was there and the grass area was only partially cut. A search was started but initially there was little to go on. There was no sign of violence at the church and despite the best efforts of locals (including the use of a helicopter) no trace of the young woman was found.

On 7th July her fully clothed body was located, half submerged in water, 10 miles away to the east of Oldfield, Missouri. In one report it said the coroner was not sure if this lady had been strangled or asphyxiated due to the time her body had been in the open. The Webster County Citizen features an article that says clearly she was shot and that a .22 calibre rifle had been used. Apparently two writers for that publication did a lot of work on the case in 1999. The link is below.

Several suspects have been linked to the murder. Also there are a number of suspicious vehicles that have not been identified. A theory goes that the victim was abducted with rape as the motive. Those that knew her believe she would have put up a fight which would explain why she was callously killed without other offences being evident.

As I was looking around I saw this poem. It was written by Ms Workman’s mother, Joan. It struck me as quite a description of a woman who I didn’t know.

“Like a slender pine
My daughter grew
Was that my shadow?
No, it’s you
With gentle fingers
The earth you spade
While others enjoyed
The beauty you made
The pain you suffered
Will never be told
Your grassy lawns are now
Streets of Gold”