Sister of girl missing 40 years thinks podcast sparked new search

(WJBK) - The sun has set on a day of searching an area near the Clinton River in Macomb Township.

But the search will resume Wednesday and with that search, comes a sense of hope that one family hasn't experienced in 40 years. 

"This sits on my dresser," said Kathie Lucas, the sister of Kimberly King, said. "I see her every morning she is there, she is real. She is not forgotten."

Lucas holds a picture of her sister Kim, but her memories of her never go beyond 1979. 

Home movies show king as an adventurous, confident girl growing up with her grandparents in Warren. At the age of 12 she went missing.
 
Now, new information has led investigators to dig up a field at 23 Mile and North Ave for the second day and counting - with the hope that they will soon unearth answers to questions that have been dangling for decades. 

"Hopefully this is it. but I know they were out at that site, years ago," Lucas said.

In 2008, a convicted child rapist and killer Arthur Ream personally led police to search this same area only to find the body of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki, who went missing from Eastpointe in 1986.
 
But according to FOX 2 sources, Ream, while serving a life sentence, has provided no new information that would lead them to conduct the search now. 

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That is what Kim's sister understands as well. 

"He's wasn't cooperative so it's not like something came out of the interview,"

So why would they start digging after all this time? Lucas has a theory. 

"This is the most media attention overall that has been paid to it," Lucas said. "I can't help but think that podcast, 'Already Gone' was a catalyst."

A podcast called "Already Gone" profiled the Kim King disappearance back in October of 2017. The episode spoke about the case in depth, and possibly ignited new tips and a renewed sense of purpose from investigators. 
  
"It's just going to be too much to sit and ponder her last moments, ponder what could have been," Lucas said. "I am going to leave that to the cops to keep examining. And I am going to be there for whatever the heck they need. the pone thing that happened and it's a terrible thing.  I’m going to leave it to the cops and be there whatever they need."

Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said during the search on Tuesday that King's body might not be alone in the field. 

"We also believe four to six other girls reported missing that are buried there," Dwyer said. 

Included in those four to six are two missing teens - 15-year-old Kim Larrow from Canton, last seen in 1981 and 17-year-old Kelly Brownlee, who went missing in May of 1982 from Novi.

Whatever the reason there is potential that decades of searching may finally yield answers. 

"It would make me so happy to be able to put her next to my grandma in Clinton, Kentucky," Lucas said. "She bought a plot for her."

We are told crews will begin a third day of searching on Wednesday.