KAREN CLARISE KAPPELMAN - 15 yo - Walton KY

A 15-year-old girl has been
found dead in the snow outside a northern Kentucky apartment complex and
sheriff's officials say the case is being treated as a homicide.
Boone County Sheriff's spokesman Ton Scheben says the remains of Karen
Kappelman, a student at Ryle High School, were found at about 10 a.m.

Sunday outside of The Legends at Steeplechase complex, where she lived.The girl was found at the
bottom of the hill, near a sidewalk running alongside the parking lot
with a coat on the ground nearby. Scheben said the teen was partially
clothed but declined to elaborate.
Scheben says investigators were told that the girl was possibly with friends Saturday night.
She was not reported missing and her family was at an undisclosed location Sunday. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

WALTON KY --- Boone County authorities are investigating the death of a
15-year-old girl whose body was found lying in the snow Sunday morning
at an apartment complex here.
Sheriff’s investigators said there was no obvious sign of trauma on
the body of Karen Kappelman, but they were treating her death as
suspicious.

“We’re looking at this from all possible angles,” said sheriff’s spokesman Tom Scheben.

Sheriff’s
officials said the girl attended Ryle High School and lived in The
Legends at Steeplechase complex, where her body was found in the 200
block of Overland Ridge.A resident found the teen’s body around
10 a.m. at the complex, which sits off Ky. 338 not far from the
Interstate 75 Richwood exit.

Scheben said an autopsy would be performed Monday.

Ryle principal Matt Turner said the girl was a freshman and had moved to the area last fall from out of state.“By
all accounts from her teachers and her friends, she was just a great
kid,” Turner said. “She was quiet, very polite, a good student. She was
just getting acquainted with a lot of the people at school and starting
to make friends.”

Grief counselors will be at the school Monday, he said.

The
body was found at the bottom of a hill, near a sidewalk running
alongside the parking lot. Crime scene markers were strewn up and down
the hill, which was covered in patches of snow.A coat was on the ground. Scheben said the girl was partially clothed but declined to elaborate.

Investigators were told that the girl was possibly with friends Saturday night, according to Scheben.

She was not reported missing and her family was at an undisclosed location Sunday.
Deputies did not say whether they have a suspect in the case.Resident Heather Byrd, 28, said she went to start her car Sunday morning when she saw two deputies near a prone body.

She was approached by the officers and then realized the girl was dead.

Byrd said she was outside between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday and didn’t see anything suspicious.

The low temperature overnight in Walton was 29 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Boone County Sheriff Deputies continue to look for answers in the
death of a local high school student, whose partially clothed body was
found in the snow outside an apartment building early Sunday morning.
Investigators are calling the death of 15-year-old Karen Kappelman's, a student at
Ryle High School, "suspicious." Counselors will be on staff at the
school today to help students and staff deal with her death.Kappelman
was found by a neighbor outside the Legends Apartment Complex off of
Grand National Boulevard in Walton at around 10:00 a.m. Sunday. She
was laying not far from her apartment. Investigators say there were
tracks in the snow leading to and away from her body. "Obviously,
we're investigating it from every angle," said Tom Scheben, Boone
County Sheriff's Department Spokesman. Officials aren't sure how long
Kappelman had been laying in the snow. An autopsy will determine how
she died. Meanwhile, police made plaster casts of the footprints in
the snow and took photos of the area from high above from a fire ladder.
Investigators are also interviewing Karen's family and friends to determine when she
was last seen and to retrace her steps in the hopes of discovering what
happened to her.Kappelman was a student at Ryle High School.
Principal Matt Turner says additional staff and counselors
will be at school today to help students with the grieving process.

Boone County Sheriff Deputies say an autopsy is underway to determine
the cause of death for a local high school student, whose partially
clothed body was found in the snow outside an apartment building early
Sunday morning.
Investigators are calling the death of
15-year-old Karen Kappelman's, a student at Ryle High School,
"suspicious." But the Boone County Sheriff's department say at the
same time, people who live in the apartment complex where Kappelman's
body was found should feel safe in their neighborhood.Counselors
are on staff at the school today to help students and staff deal with
Kappelman's death. She was found by a neighbor outside the Legends
Apartment Complex off of Grand National Boulevard in Walton at around
10:00 a.m. Sunday. She was laying not far from her apartment.
Investigators say there were tracks in the snow leading to and away
from her body and she was missing her pants. "Obviously, we're
investigating it from every angle," said Tom Scheben, Boone County
Sheriff's Department Spokesman. Officials aren't sure how long
Kappelman had been laying in the snow. Police made plaster casts of the
footprints in the snow and took photos of the area from high above from
a fire ladder.Investigators are also interviewing Karen's family
and friends to determine when she was last seen and to retrace her
steps in the hopes of discovering what happened to her.

WALTON - While they still don’t know how she died, authorities
say the 15-year-old girl who was found dead outside her apartment early
Sunday was not killed, the Boone County coroner said.
“The cause of death is deferred right now,” said coroner Doug Stith.
“There was no evidence at this point of any suspicion, or evidence of
trauma or foul play.”

Officials will have to wait for the
results of toxicology tests to determine how Karen Kappelman died, he
said. The results should take about two to three weeks, he said.

Kappelman’s
body was found partially clothed Sunday lying in the snow near her
building in the Legends at Steeplechase complex off Ky. 338. A neighbor
saw the body lying on a hill about 10 a.m. and called sheriff’s
deputies.
Kappelman
was about 100 yards down the hill from the first-floor apartment where
she lived with her parents. Her coat was lying nearby and she was only
partially clothed, said Boone County Sheriff’s spokesman Tom Scheben.

The
low temperature Saturday in Walton was 29 degrees, according to the
National Weather Service. But Stith said Kappelman’s death does not
appear to be weather-related.The coroner’s findings in the
autopsy performed Monday confirm what deputies saw on Sunday – no
trauma to Kappelman’s body or signs of struggle, Scheben said.

“We
didn’t feel like there was an attack by the lack of evidence there, so
we don’t feel like we have somebody that is responsible for her death,”
he said, “at least in that regard.”On Monday, investigators
continued to interview Kappelman’s family and friends and anyone who
might have information about where the teen was Saturday night, Scheben
said.

On Sunday investigators said they were told that the
girl was possibly with friends Saturday night. But Scheben said Monday
that Kappelman was supposed to be at home.

“Her parents thought she was home,” he said.Kappelman’s parents were home Saturday night and did not report her missing Sunday morning.

They likely thought she was sleeping, he said.

“How
many 15-year-olds are up and out of bed at 10 a.m. on a weekend?”
Scheben said. “I know some of them that will sleep until noon if you
let them, or later.”

Stith said his office was told she may have been at a party Saturday night.At
the apartment Monday, Kappelman’s mother Danette Kappleman said she did
not want to comment. The Kappelman family moved to Boone County from
Montgomery, Ala., last fall.

In her short time at Ryle High
School, Karen Kappelman had already made many friends. By Monday
afternoon at least three Facebook pages had been created in Kappelman’s
memory including one with nearly 700 members.

Counselors at Ryle were trying to help Kappelman’s classmates deal with her death Monday.Erik
Arkenberg, one of three counselors, said he and Principal Matt Turner
went to each of Karen’s classes to meet with students.

“We wanted them to see our faces and to say to them ‘You can ask us for help,’” Arkenberg said.

He
said when students asked what happened, Turner told them that he will
share information with them when he receives it, but that it is still
under investigation and he simply doesn’t have any answers yet.“That’s the tough part,” Arkenberg said.

The
school also brought in a few district psychologists to help. Arkenberg
said several students took advantage of their presence Monday.

“We had kids come in off and on throughout the day,” he said. “It’s all just really a shock for them right now.”

WALTON, Ky. -- The preliminary autopsy results are in for a 15-year-old
Ryle High School student who was found dead outside her family's
apartment Sunday morning.

Boone County Coroner Doug Stith tells
9News that Karen Kappelman's death was not suspicious and that there
was no evidence of trauma.

"There were no broken nails, there
was no skin under the nails, like a defensive wound or bruising. There
was no evidence of a struggle in the snow, so some of those things
would be present if there was an attacker, some kind of an assault,"
said Tom Scheben, of the Boone County Sheriff's Office.

The final ruling will depend on the results of the toxicology studies that look for alcohol, drugs and prescription medications.

Stith also said the death does not appear to be weather-related as there was no evidence of exposure.

Kappelman
was a freshman at Ryle High School in Union, Kentucky, which is now
trying to help its students and teachers cope with her unexpected death.

"I
think everyone is shocked and stunned right now. Not quite sure what to
think, what to feel," said Principal Matt Turner, Ryle High School.

"The
students are very quiet right now and just processing the whole
situation. It's just very difficult for everyone to deal with," said
Turner.

After the school's 1,500 students arrived at Ryle High School Monday morning, each class was briefed about Kappelman's death.

The
sheriff's office now indicates Kappelman was not visiting friends
Saturday night, as some earlier reports speculated, but was supposed to
be at home.

When asked about why Kappelman was never reported
missing, Scheben says many teenagers sleep late on weekend mornings and
go unseen by parents who suspect they are still in their bedrooms.

Ryle
High principal Matt Turner says he was seeing a wide variety of
emotional responses to Kappelman's death among her fellow students.

Turner says while some were crying and visibly upset, others showed little sign of being emotionally overcome with the loss.

Turner says Kappelman transferred to Ryle High last October, coming from Alabama.

"She
was a very quiet young lady, very nice, very polite, I think along with
everyone just quiet and trying to get adjusted to a new school," said
Turner.

Boone County detectives spent Monday continuing to talk to family, friends and people who knew the 15-year old.

"I
guess I want to say we know more than we are willing to tell," said
Scheben. "We are keeping a lot closer to the vest right now because we
don't want to jeopardize our case by prematurely releasing information."

WALTON, Ky. -- Funeral arrangements have been planned for the Ryle High School student found dead over the weekend.

A
service will be held for 15-year-old Karen Kappelman on Saturday at the
Union Baptist Church on Mt. Zion Road beginning at 11 a.m.

On
Sunday, a neighbor found Kappelman's body in the snow outside her
parent's apartment at the Legends At Steeplechase in Walton.

Boone County Coroner Doug Stith said there was no trauma to her body and the cold temperatures were not responsible.

Investigators are now waiting for results of toxicology tests which could take several weeks.

Kappelman was a freshman at Ryle High School and recently transferred to the school from Alabama.

Memorials are asked to be made to the Boone County Animal Shelter in Burlington.

A teenager who was found dead in the snow last weekend was laid to rest Saturday.

A
neighbor found 15-year-old Karen Kappelman's body outside The Legends
at Steeplechase apartment complex in Walton Sunday morning.

The coroner says there were no signs of trauma. He's waiting for toxicology results to determine how she died.

The Ryle High School student's funeral was this morning at the Union Baptist Church on Mt. Zion Road.

This story has a whole lot to it that hasn't been told yet, I'm sure of that! Back in 1978, my uncle who had just turned 17, was found hanged behind the Florence Drive-In in Florence, KY. He had a long sleeve shirt on and one of his sleeves was torn off and stuffed in his mouth. Autopsy revealed he had no drugs or alcohol in his system...and yet...his death to this day has been "officially" ruled a suicide...saying that he, himself, tore the sleeve off and stuffed it in his own mouth so no one would hear him scream when he hanged himself! Come on! Anyone with a brain would know this boy did not do this to himself, and yet the "authorities" held true to their statement. I feel the same way about this story. There is no way...if the story as the news puts it...that this girl was found in the snow, no pants, foot prints all around, coming to and leading away from her body and from the 911 call - blood nearby that this girl somehow did this to herself! Come on now! What is being hidden here? This girl did NOT die of natural causes! The family...at the very least...deserves an answer! And not one that says she did this to herself!

I totally agree T-Yoga! That's why I have been scurrying around trying to find an update. If nothing comes about in the next few days I'll start making some inquiries to the local media.

By the way, welcome to the forum T-Yoga. Sorry about your uncle. I hope to see more of your contributions. I've been telling people for a long time that the easiest answer isn't always the truth. There are lots of things about Caylee's case that fall into that category. Stories and connections that will never be told or revealed. Things that were covered up and hushed right from the beginning.

From Karen's MySpace page:

Karen Kappelman


let's see: Coldness, phone's broken, I'm failing
all the classes that start with the letter 'E' for some odd reason. . .
Life is swell.
Mood:
undescribable
Posted at 8:42 PM
Feb 24

From the Funeral Home website:

Name:
KAREN CLARICE KAPPELMAN

Dates:
Birth date: July 11, 1994
Death date: February 28, 2010

Obituary:

Memorials:
Boone
County Animal Shelter
5643 Idlewild Road Burlington, KY 41005
Montgomery County Humane Society
1150 John Overton Drive Montgomery, AL 36110
Charity of Donor's Choice

Visitation:
No
Visitation

Service:
Union Baptist Church 1985
Mt. Zion Road Union, KY 41091
Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 11 AM

Cemetery:
Cremation

I live at Steeplechase and I was wondering has anyone heard anything about Karens death? My prayers goes out to the family........

Welcome Mary! I check for updates regularly. This case is certainly an odd one, at best. If I find anything...you'll find it here!

It's been a little hushed....My 15 year old rode the bus and went to school with Karen. She hasn't heard a word...That has made me wonder what happen...