A Life Cut Short | The Tragic Case of Pamela Butler
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Keith Nelson had a sick plan. He knew he would be going back to prison and wanted to commit a big crime to end his time as a free man. While Keith had told a co-worker about this plan, this was chalked up to Keith just wanting to scare him. Nobody knew that this plan would be enacted in one of the most disturbing manners, right in front of everyone. This is the tragic story of 10-year-old Pamela Butler. Born March 13, 1989, to Sherry West, Pamela Butler was one of three children. Not much is known about Pamela's early life, and her father was not in the picture. Pamela lived with her family in Kansas City, Kansas, and by all accounts, they were an average American household. The three children were all enrolled at the local school, and Pamela was noted as being a good student. She was kind, bright, and intelligent and had the whole world ahead of her. October 12, 1999 was an unremarkable day, no different from the rest to Pamela and her siblings. Pamela spent the day at Fisk Elementary School before returning home.
Not one to waste a good day, Pamela asked her mother, Sherry, if she could go to the store to buy some cookies. Sherry knew that her daughter was responsible and entrusted her to go to the shop and come straight back. Shortly before 5pm, Pamela laced up her rollerblades and glided to the store. Unbeknownst to Pamela, a man was waiting nearby. As she rollerbladed back from the store, she noticed a white pickup truck parked near her home. As she drew closer, she noticed the door was ajar and corrected her path so she could skate around it with ease. But as she passed by, she felt a hand wrap around her waist. In an instant, a man grabbed Pamela as she screamed for help. Nearby, Pamela's sister, Penny Butler, witnessed the kidnapping, screaming for her sister. Time seemed to blur for Penny as she helplessly watched her sister being forced into a vehicle. Before she could act, the white pickup truck driven by the strange man sped past their home. In a final taunt to Pamela's family, he shouted, You'll never see her again.
The neighbors, who also witnessed the kidnapping of little Pamela, tried to intervene, but it was too late. One neighbor jumped in his car following the pickup as it left 11th and Scott Streets, but the truck was too fast, managing to evade the Good Samaritan. Back home, Pamela's sister and other neighbors had managed to write down the license plate on scraps of paper. Missouri Plate 177-CE2 This would become vital in tracking down the man responsible for one of Kansas' most horrific crimes. The once quiet 11th and Scott Streets, lined with residential homes, had become a hub of police activity. Pamela's sister had called the police shortly after her kidnapping, as had many other witnesses.
Nearly an hour had passed, and police knew the white pickup could be anywhere, easily blending in to the cityscape. By now, the attacker had bought himself time, driving Pamela to Grain Valley, just over the border in Missouri, a territory he was far more familiar with. From here, he dragged Pamela kicking and screaming from the pickup and into a small patch of woods. The man stripped Pamela of her clothing before sexually assaulting her. Court records show the medical examiner found that Pamela's hymen had recently been broken. After the brutal sexual assault, Pamela was strangled to death with a piece of electrical cord. The assailant, Keith Nelson, knew that the hunt was on and he had to move quickly.
That evening, his pickup was seen in the parking lot of the Grain Valley Christian Church in Kansas City, Missouri. The custodian, sensing something unusual, noted the license plate, Missouri 177-CE2. In Kansas, the police rushed to the Butler residence, gathering as many witness statements as possible. Each account mentioned the Missouri license plate and an Afghan seen in the truck's front seat. That evening, Sherry West and the Kansas City Police addressed the community during the 10 o'clock news. News of Pamela's kidnapping quickly spread through the community, and residents began watching for the white pickup.
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