Naman Shrestha
Oxygen’s ‘The Girl on the Milk Carton’ is a two-episode docuseries that profiles the decades-long mystery behind the complicated 1984 disappearance and murder case of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews in Greeley, Colorado. As the investigation lasted for almost four decades, it showed the incompetence of the Greeley police department. The two episodes feature exclusive interviews with the loved ones of the victim, the local police involved in the investigation, and the woman who played a key role in catching the perpetrator.
Jonelle Matthews Went Missing From Her House After Her Concert
A 13-year-old girl named Terri Vierra gave birth to Jonelle Renee Matthews on February 9, 1972, at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California. Just six weeks later, James “Jim” and Gloria Matthews adopted the infant Jonelle and welcomed her into their family, which also consisted of their older daughter named Jennifer Mogensen. In an attempt to start a new life, the family relocated to Greeley, Colorado, where Jonelle went to Franklin Middle School. Given her talent for singing, she became an integral part of the school’s choir. She was also a member of Sunny View Church of the Nazarene.
The young girl had a bright future ahead, but fate had other ideas. Five days before Christmas 1984, on December 20, was an eventful evening for every member of the family — Jennifer had a basketball game to play, Gloria had gone out of state to visit her mother, and Jonelle had a Christmas choir concert at United Bank Venue in downtown Greeley. As a sports lover, Jim decided to attend Jennifer’s basketball game over Jonelle’s concert. After the concert, Deanna Ross and her father, Russell Ross, offered to drop her home. Around 8:15 pm, she reached home safe and sound. When Jim returned home from the basketball game around 9:30 pm, he could not find Jonelle anywhere in the house.
Jonelle Matthews’ Remains Were Found Several Decades Later
Jim started to get worried and called up a few acquaintances to ask if they had seen her. Upon talking to Russell, he learned that the garage door was open when he dropped her off at the property, which was quite unusual. Concerned about the well-being of her daughter, he reported her missing. The police arrived at the house but did not find any sign of struggle or forced entry. However, they did find footprints in the snow outside the house, which meant that someone had been lurking outside looking for the right opportunity to kidnap her.
The disappearance of Jonelle Matthews gained so much publicity that even President Ronald Reagan talked about her in a speech on March 7, 1985. In order to raise more awareness about the case, her picture was printed on the side of milk cartons for a long period of time. Decades went by without any development in the case. After nearly 35 years, on July 24, 2019, her skeletal remains were dug up by oil and gas workers in a secluded field of Weld County. After examining the remains, the cause of her death was declared to be a single gunshot wound to the head.
An Unlikely Suspect Emerged in the Case of Jonelle Matthews’ Murder
In the initial stages of the investigation, the police suspected Jonelle Matthews’ father, Jim Matthews, who was even asked to take a polygraph test. Although he failed it, the investigators removed him from their list due to a lack of evidence and motive. In another part of Greeley, Angela Hicks noticed her husband, Steven “Steve” Pankey, acting strange around the time of the preteen’s disappearance. Just a few hours after she went missing, Steve took his family out of town for a few days. Upon returning, Angela saw him burn down their car in the back of their Greeley residence on December 28, 1984.
However, she did not connect his strange behavior with the vanishing of Jonelle until 1999. As soon as she did, she began looking for clues around the house connected to the missing girl and found a few pieces of paper thrown by her husband that mentioned Jonelle. Despite her taking the evidence to the police and giving a statement about him, no developments were made in the case. After two long decades, in 2019, she was contacted by Robert Cash, the detective who was in charge of the cold case at the time, and asked if she had any recollection of the Jonelle disappearance case. After she was done telling the detective all about Steve, he and his partner drove down to his Idaho house on August 15, 2019, and obtained a search warrant a couple of weeks later.
The Perpetrator Was Brought to Justice in His Second Trial
Once the police had enough evidence against Steve, they arrested him for the murder and kidnapping of Jonelle Matthews on October 12, 2020. A year later, on October 14, 2021, he stood on trial and pleaded not guilty. However, at the end of the trial, on November 4, 2021, the judge declared a mistrial in the case after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Despite the unfavorable outcome, the prosecution did not give up. When his second trial commenced on October 7, 2022, they were more determined than ever to get Jonelle the justice she deserved.
After several weeks, the jury found Steven Pankey guilty of second-degree kidnapping with the use of a deadly weapon, felony murder, and false reporting to the authorities. Subsequently, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after two decades. Following his sentencing, he addressed the court and said, “I am a Christian. I will be in heaven. I am innocent, and this is not justice for Jonelle.”
Read More: Steve Pankey: Where is Jonelle Matthews’ Killer Now?
