Viswa Vanapalli
When Devan Duniver suddenly went missing, it became her family’s worst nightmare. Her mother, Lori, mounted a desperate search for her 5-year-old daughter with the help of her 8-year-old son, Dylan, only for it to end in tragedy. ABC’s ‘20/20: Gone Before The Storm’ chronicles the circumstances surrounding Devan’s murder, the controversy of a wrongful conviction, and her mother and brother’s handling of it all.
Lori and Dylan Duniver Were Nearby When Devan Disappeared
At the time of the incident, Lori lived with her children, Devan and Dylan, in an apartment in New Philadelphia, Ohio. On June 27, 1998, the kids had returned after a week from a trip to their father’s home in Cambridge, Ohio. At around 11:30 AM, Devan and Dylan went out to play. The little girl went in and out of the house a few times before her mother asked her to stay back at around 1:20 PM; Lori wanted to go to the grocery store.
But when Lori went to get the kids at around 1:40 PM that afternoon, Devan was nowhere to be seen. Minutes later, she remembered seeing Anthony, their 12-year-old neighbor coming around from the opposite corner. Upon being asked if he had seen the young girl, Anthony claimed he hadn’t, and later on, Lori gave him $5 to help her with the search for her. According to her, Anthony needed that money to go to a tractor pulling event.
The authorities were called eventually and Lori reported her daughter missing, only for there to be an extensive search for her. The following day, her body was found about 150 feet from the apartment in a wooded area. She had been stabbed seven times in the neck. During the investigation, Lori was briefly identified as a person of interest because she had called a suicide hotline not too long ago, saying that she was thinking of hurting herself and her children. The fact she hadn’t contacted officials to report Devan missing until nearly 7 hours later was also deemed suspicious. Moreover, Dylan was also looked at because he had violent tendencies – he had stabbed a cat in the past, was prone to drawing grotesque images from imagination alone, and was expelled 4 times in kindergarten alone.
Lori and Dylan Duniver Are Leading Quiet Lives These Days
While officials were quick to eliminate both Lori and Dylan as suspects, they were later accused of not following up on several other leads, including Lori’s ex-boyfriend and the children’s father. Instead, they zeroed in on then-12-year-old Anthony Harris, who was initially convicted based on a confession and testimony from Devan’s loved ones that she was scared of him. After the ruling, Lori said, “I assumed I would go in there, and he would fall apart, but he just sat there.” She felt Anthony showed no remorse and actually wanted the death penalty for him.
While Lori said she didn’t hate him, she added she wanted the conviction to be part of Anthony’s public record and for him to face the same fate his daughter did. However, the verdict against him was overturned following an appeal more than a year later on the basis of his confession being coerced, and to this day, Devan’s killer has not been found. As for Lori and Dylan, it seems like they have since preferred to keep their personal lives far away from the limelight so as to deal with their loss as well as the ensuing emotions without any prying eyes. Not much is known about Lori’s current standing apart from the fact her last known location remains to be New Philadelphia, Ohio, whereas Dylan now seems to be residing in Cambridge, Ohio, with a small family of his own – a partner plus kids.
Read More: Devan Duniver Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?
