Spanish Fork, Utah (ABC 4 News) A Utah County father and brother recently shared their pain of losing a daughter and sister in a mysterious disappearance. And at the same time, a Spanish Fork Police Lieutenant, who has been working the case for 22 years - talks about trying to find something or someone that will help bring closure in the death investigation of Peggy Sue Case.
Peggy's father, Richard Ellsworth, says his daughter's death in 1988 has left a "huge empty hole" in his life. And despite the years, he thinks about his daughter all the time. "We no longer shed tears, but everyday she is in our life." Spanish Fork Police Lieutenant Carl Johnston also spends a fair amount of time thinking about Peggy because as he says, he has "had the case and been following up on it for basically the entire time." That means he's been looking for Peggy and looking for answers from July 1988 until today. When I sat down with him I asked him several questions. Don Hudson: "Where do you think Peggy Sue Case is?" Lt. Johnson: "I think Peggy is in a grave in the state of Utah or the state of Nevada." And the reason he thinks that - the background of her boyfriend at the time - Michael I. Kufrin.
The night before Peggy disappeared - witnesses say they noticed some hostility between the 27-year-old woman and Kufrin. That hostility, according to Peggy's family, continued when they went to her Spanish Fork home to find her. Richard Ellsworth says, "We were met at the door of her apartment by her boyfriend who had a gun on his hip." And police say it that attitude continued with them. Hudson: "Has he ever been cooperative in this case?" Lt. Johnston: "He has been at very best a thorn as far as the investigation goes. He was unhelpful."
Lt. Johnston believes Kufrin's work history in Western Utah - in places like Delta and Calleo and in Eastern Nevada, in towns like Panaca, Pinoche and Caliente - could provide the missing clue. And he hopes this story will help someone remember Kufrin or something about him. "They might think it is nothing at all - but it might be enough to solve the case or locate Peggy's body." People don't understand that sometimes it’s the very littlest things that solve the biggest cases."
Lt. Johnston says back then and still today, they don't have enough evidence to make any type of arrest. But just in case that happens he still keeps an eye on Kufrin, who now lives in Illinois. "I do call him. When I make the phone call to him I generally get the receiver and a click is what I get. Sometimes he changes the phone number after I've called." And Richard Ellsworth thinks about him from time to time as well. "I hope in his heart he has at least some remorse and regret for what he did."
Peggy's family hasn't given up hope. However, her brother, Dan Ellsworth says, they have accepted they may never know what really happened and have tried to turn the family tragedy into something that makes them stronger and closer. "I would say, don't let it ruin your life. For everyone else out there that has had this happen in their family - find the good in it and don't let it consume you." "Ultimately it’s about how you deal with what we are handed in life - am I going to let this ruin me and tear our family apart - no."
For more information:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/case_peggy.html
