Viswa Vanapalli
When Devan Duniver suddenly went missing, it became her mother’s worst nightmare. Lori Duniver mounted a desperate search for her five-year-old daughter, only for it to end in unimaginable tragedy. ABC News’ ‘20/20: Gone Before The Storm’ chronicles the circumstances surrounding Devan’s murder and the controversy around Anthony Harris, who was wrongfully convicted of the slaying. So, if you’re wondering what happened to Lori since then, here’s what we know.
Who is Lori Duniver?
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 1:50 PM that afternoon, Devan was nowhere to be seen. Minutes later, she remembered seeing Anthony, then a 12-year-old and their neighbor. He came around from the opposite corner and told Lori that he was returning from school. Anthony claimed to have not seen Devan, and later on, Lori gave him $5 to help with the search. 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 later on June 27. The following day, Devan’s body was found about 150 feet from the apartment in a wooded area. She had been stabbed several times in the neck. During the investigation, Lori was initially 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. Dylan was also looked at because he was considered violent and had even stabbed a cat in the past.
Where is Lori Duniver Now?
Later on, the authorities were accused of not following up on several leads, including Lori’s boyfriend and the children’s father. However, they zeroed in on Anthony, 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.
While Lori said she didn’t hate him, she added that she wanted the conviction to be part of Anthony’s public record. However, Anthony’s conviction was overturned more than a year later, and to this day, Devan’s killer has not been found. As for Lori, it seems that she has kept her life private in the years after the legal proceedings. Not much is known about what Lori currently does, and her last known location remains to be New Philadelphia, Ohio.
Read More: Devan Duniver Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?
