Kathlynn Shepard Update: Police recover backpacks of 2 Iowa girls kidnapped by man with long record
(CBS/AP) DES MOINES, Iowa - Investigators searching for Kathlynn Shepard, a 15-year-old Iowa girl who was abducted this week, have recovered her backpack along with one belonging to a 12-year-old who escaped from the kidnapper.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety said a search team of police and dogs found the backpacks Tuesday afternoon.
Kathlynn and the 12-year-old girl were abducted Monday by 42-year-old Michael Klunder while walking home from school in Dayton. The backpacks were found in a rural area, several miles south of a hog confinement where the girls were taken.
Klunder was found dead of self-inflicted injuries hours after the 12-year-old escaped, authorities say.
According to police, Klunder has a long criminal history and was ordered for sex offender treatment when he was a teenager, and residents are now questioning why he was not in prison and locked up for treatment.
Bremer County Sheriff Dan Pickett says it's unfortunate Klunder "was able to walk the streets." Cerro Gordo County Sheriff Kevin Pals called Klunder "a creep" who once kidnapped a 21-year-old woman and two 3-year-old girls.
Police are continuing to search for Kathlynn, specifically around Dayton, about 60 miles north of Des Moines.
Investigators have also released an image of Kathlynn exiting a school bus, shortly before her abduction.