Police to conduct 'cold case' inquiry into Kenney case

On Monday, Jan. 31, Nevada Police Chief Graham Burnley announced that Nevada Police Sergeant Jeff Baker will be heading up a cold case investigation into the disappearance of Cheryl Ann Kenney from the Working-Man's Friend convenience store on Business Route 71 on the night of Feb. 27, 1991.

Kenney was 30 years old when she disappeared on the east side of Nevada and this year marks the 20th anniversary of her disappearance. The investigation will include the development of an investigative task force comprised of members of the Nevada Police Department, the Vernon County Sheriff's Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The investigation "officially kicked off today," Burnley said, with a telephone meeting of the involved agencies. They had originally planned to meet in person, but the impending winter storm has all departments stretched pretty thin. Bad weather or not, the investigation into the case, which is still classified as a "missing person" will move forward from this point.

"We're doing this now for several reasons," Burnley said. It is "an effort to perhaps establish new information," to re-interview witnesses and tipsters and "try to get some resolution for the family." Burnley called the effort a "fresh look," pointing out that none of the officers in his department were on the force at the time of Kenney's disappearance.

One of the things the new investigation is going to take advantage of is the expertise of the behavior analysis experts of the Kansas City office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Even though there has been no federal crime, that department has offered to assist local law enforcement with "a case consultation," and possibly "make some recommendations" and "give some direction" to the investigation, according to Burnley.

Burnley said he has used those services before with good success and that the task force plans to use every resource possible.

"Our hope is someone along the line can help us resolve this situation," Burnley said, "I don't know where it's going to end."

The investigation will be "under the command and control" of Baker, who said, "We're going to start from the beginning." He had no idea how long the investigation would last, he said, 'If it takes us a year --there's no set time."

Cheryl Ann Kenney, a Caucasian female, was 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighed 117 pounds when she disappeared. Kenney's hair was blonde and her eyes green and she has a unique tooth pattern. She was last seen wearing a blue pullover top, a jacket, blue jeans and L.A. Gear sneakers.

On the night of her disappearance, Kenney clocked out of work at 10 p.m., but she never returned home and has not been heard from since. The store was locked and her car was found abandoned in the store parking lot.

Kenney would now be 50 years old. There are no dental records available, but DNA is on file. The Nevada Police Department, the Vernon County Sheriff's Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol urge anyone with information on the disappearance of Cheryl Ann Kenney to contact the Nevada Police Department at (417) 448-2710 or contact the TIPS hotline at (417) 448-5117.