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The Girl on the Milk Carton aka Jonelle Matthews had disappeared from her Greeley, Colorado residence on December 1984. For 35 years, this case remained unsolved although the detectives found her remains and even the cause of death.
Decades later, what was most shocking was when Steve Pankey, a man who showed interest and wanted to help the police in this case previously was later charged guilty for the murder of Jonelle Matthews.
The Girl on the Milk Carton, a new true-crime doc series, which will be a two-part special, is all set to air on Oxygen on August 25 at 7 p.m. ET. It will focus on this long-unsolved homicide of The Girl on the Milk Carton.
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As per prison records, Steve Pankey is currently at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, serving his life sentence, and will be eligible for parole in 2040.
Jonelle Matthews aka The Girl on the Milk Carton went missing for decades
Jonelle Matthews was just 12 years old when she disappeared from her Colorado home in 1984. After her disappearance, her name and face were printed on the side of a million milk cartoons to spread the news and get a lead on the case. However that did not help and 10 years after her disappearance, she was declared legally dead.
As per reports, on the evening of December 20, 1984, Jonelle Matthews was performing in the choir and later came home after a friend Diana offered her a lift as her father had gone to watch her sister's basketball game and her mother was out of town. When she came back home, she phoned her father around 8:30 and spoke. That was the last time someone heard from this little kid.
When Jim Mattews, the father of the victim came back home, he found the garage door open. No one was seen in the house. Jonelle’s shoes and shawls were left inside their home, in a place where she would often sit. Past 10 p.m. when she did not return, her father phoned the police and informed them about her disappearance.
Reportedly, the police came and found footprints in the snow and assumed that she could not have gone far without her shoes. There were no signs of a break-in. After her disappearance, the police kept an eye on Jonelle’s biological mother Terri as she was on the list of suspects. However, she was cleared later. The Girl on the Milk Carton's father was also on the list, however, he too was cleared as he helped in every step of the investigation and also signed up for a polygraph.
On July 24, 2019, 15 miles Southeast of where the Matthews used to live, the excavators who were installing a pipeline, found human remains in there. When sent to the lab, it was confirmed that the remains were of Jonelle's. The forensic report stated that her cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
Angela Hicks helped find the killer of The Girl on the Milk Carton
As per reports, in 2019, Detective Robert Cash was informed by Angela Hicks that her husband Steve Pankey, who was a person of interest in this case and had previously come to the police to talk about the little girl's disappearance to them, could be behind the killing. Angela told the detective how he found her husband digging their backyard a few days after Angela’s disappearance.
Allegedly, he had even planned a candid trip after the little girl disappeared and would often hear the radio to get news on the disappearance. He also made his wife read the paper to find out if there was a lead on this case or any developments. She even found a few pieces of paper that mentioned the little girl's name and one of Pankey's cars strangely caught fire, which he had to dispose of.
Pankey's statements did not match with his wife's when he was interrogated again, which allegedly showed him to be guilty. When the detectives wanted to search his house, he did not cooperate, which raised suspicions.
As per reports, Steven Pankey was arrested for the murder and kidnapping of The Girl on the Milk Carton on October 12, 2020, and in 2021. He pleaded not to be guilty of this crime. Again, on November 4, 2021, the jury was unable to come to a conclusion and sentence him. However, finally, on October 7, 2022, he was sentenced to twenty years to life in prison with chances of parole.
He is currently in Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, serving his sentence.
To know more about this case, watch The Girl on the Milk Carton on Oxygen.
