Jonelle Matthews

After almost 35 years, excavators installing a pipeline discovered human remains at 4:50 PM on Tuesday, July 23, 2019 near the intersection of county roads 34.5 and 49, at coordinates 40°14′23″N 104°36′09″W  /  40.239848°N 104.602514°W  / 40.239848; -104.602514 , about 15 mi (24 km) southeast of Jonelle's home. Based on DNA evidence, the Weld County Coroner’s Office positively identified the remains as Jonelle Matthews. As of July 29, 2019 the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has not released any information about how Matthews might have died, but have stated that the case is being treated as a homicide. Authorities are searching historical records to determine who owned or lived on the land where the remains were found.

On September 13, 2019, Greeley Police Department announced a "person of interest" of Jonelle Matthew's abduction and murder. The person of interest is named, Steve Pankey, who ran for governor in Idaho in 2014 and 2018, and for lieutenant governor in 2010. His home in Colorado was searched under a warrant that stated investigators had probable cause to believe that Pankey abducted and murdered the girl that night. Pankey and his former wife lived only 2 miles away from the Matthews home where Jonelle was last seen. Greeley Police Commander Roy Smith stated that Pankey “had made repeated efforts to speak with detectives” about the Matthews case. But after detectives traveled to Twin Falls Idaho on August 15, 2019, Pankey refused to answer questions. Commander Smith stated Pankey has not been charged with Jonelle’s murder, but he is being investigated in relation to her death.

The disappearance attracted public interest, including the president and members of congress. President Ronald Reagan mentioned Jonelle Matthews in a speech on March 7, 1985, in Room 450 of the Old Executive Office Building. She was mentioned in the Congressional Record for the United States House of Representatives on April 2, 1985, page 7224. In 2010, the Greeley Tribune published another summary of the missing child—still not found. As recently as 2018, Greeley Police have been re-contacting witnesses and applying the latest forensic advances to learn what happened to Jonelle. She appears in the International Center for Unidentified and Missing Persons' database.

Jonelle Matthews was a 12-year-old girl, who disappeared on December 20, 1984. She remained missing for 34 years, until her remains were discovered on July 24, 2019 by workers constructing a new pipeline.

Jonelle was a member of the Franklin Middle School Choir, which performed at IntraWest Bank of Denver in the evening of December 20, 1984. Jonelle's father was at his other daughter's basketball game. Jonelle's mother had flown east to be with Jonelle's grandfather, who was ill. At 8:15 PM, Jonelle arrived at her home in Greeley, Colorado, after getting a ride from her friend DeeAnn Ross and DeeAnn's father. Shortly after 8:30 PM, Jonelle answered a phone call and took a message for her father. That phone call was the last time anyone heard from Jonelle.