(UnitedVoice.com) – Dennis Rader is one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. The prolific murderer called himself “BTK,” an acronym for what he liked to do to his victims: bind, torture, kill. Now, nearly 20 years after he was arrested for his crimes, he’s back in the news again.
Who Is BTK?
Over a period of decades, a serial strangler killed 10 people in Park City and Wichita, Kansas. His first known murders took place on January 15, 1974, when he killed four members of the Otera family. He tied up 38-year-old Joseph Otero, 33-year-old Julie Otero, and two of their children, 9-year-old Joseph Jr. and 11-year-old Josephine. He then strangled the mother, father, and little boy. He sexually assaulted the young girl and hung her in the basement. After his capture, Rader admitted to these murders and described what happened in disturbing detail.
Over the next three years, he killed three more women. Kathryn Bright died in April 1974, Shirley Vian Relford lost her life in March 1977, and then in December 1977, he killed Nancy Fox.
In May 1985, Rader killed 53-year-old Marine Hedge. The following year, he killed 28-year-old Vicki Lynn Wegerle. He took a break for a few years but once again murdered someone in 1991, when Dolores Davis (62) became his final known victim.
Rader managed to avoid capture for decades even though he’d been sending letters to the media about his crimes. In 2004, he had the bright idea to send 11 letters to the local media. That led to his arrest and conviction for 10 murders.
Police Look For New Clues
On August 22, deputies from Osage County, Oklahoma, were in Park City, Kansas, to search the property that Rader once owned. Osage County Undersheriff Gary Upton spoke to the media the next day, informing them that an investigation had uncovered other “additional unsolved murders and missing persons that are possibly connected to” Rader.
A news release from the department stated law enforcement received “specific leads” that he could have been involved in the disappearance of Cynthia Dawn Kinney. She went missing in 1976 in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
Osage Sheriff Eddie Virden told Fox News Digital that during the search of Rader’s former property, the investigators found items of interest. One of the items recovered was a “pantyhose ligature” that they will turn over to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Rader had reportedly told police he hid trophies in the area that was searched. Concrete slabs covered the area, but they were moved so the search could be conducted.
Osage County is about two hours from the property. The investigation is ongoing.
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