Katharina Buczek
In 1985, Jody Ledkins of Kansas City, Missouri, was just fourteen-years-old. And unfortunately, the young teen had a rather tumultuous home life.
Four years prior, Jody’s parents had gotten divorced. Then, shortly afterward, her mother, Karen, remarried– but it did not take long for that union to end as well.
These relationship changes took a toll on Jody, as well as her inability to find her footing in one community.
In fact, prior to her fourteenth birthday, Jody and her family had moved four separate times before eventually settling down in Kansas City.
So, it appears that these struggles pushed the teen to act out. Jody would frequently run away from home– so much so that she actually landed in a juvenile probation program.
Jody would also skip school and had an assigned juvenile probation officer due to an incident in 1984– when she pushed a security guard.
Still, by 1985, Jody and her mother started to regrow and heal their relationship. That was until May 23 of that year, though, when everything changed for the teen’s family.
That morning, Jody actually did not show up at school and opted to skip her classes with a friend named Melissa – which was not uncharacteristic.
Then, the pair headed to Melissa’s home, which was near East 14th Street and Winchester Avenue, to spend the afternoon hanging out.
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