KIRSTEN HATFIELD - 8 yo (1997) - Oklahoma City OK

Oklahoma City OK ---- The Kirsten Hatfield disappearance grabbed headlines in
Oklahoma back in 1997. On May 13th, Hatfield was abducted from her
bedroom in the middle of the night. The crime scene was on Jet Drive in
Midwest City. Detectives knew immediately, Hatfield was not a run-away.
According to Midwest City Police Chief, Brandon Clabes, they called in
FBI investigators within hours of the disappearance.

There were hundreds of leads in the case ranging from Tulsa to the
Mexican border. 1997 was back before the days of the international sex
offender registry. There were allegations of child trafficking that
never panned out. There were also allegations of drug use in the family
and broken relationships. Police never had enough evidence to name a
suspect.

According to the hand-typed case file, Midwest City Police detectives
found the window cracked. There was blood on the window sill. The
victim's clothing was found in the backyard. Family members told police
they suspected Kirsten was snatched from her bedroom through the window.
Investigators tell us that is an unlikely story. Chief Brandon Clabes
says, "The allegation was someone was able to abduct Kirsten, get her
outside and over a six foot tall stockade fence without any struggle
without any screaming. In our neighborhood canvas we didn't have any
reports of anyone hearing anything like that." Clabes says most of the
information pointed to a family member or someone who was very close to
Kirstin. "Initially, we had people who were close to Kirsten who took
polygraphs who were deceptive. But unfortunately we just didn't have
enough to file a charge against anyone."



Kirsten Hatfield would be 21 years old today. A time-progression photo
is still listed on the missing children's registry. However, police are
inclined to think they will more likely find Kirsten's remains.
Kirsten's mother, Shannon Hazen, recently updated the DNA authorities
have on file. They will use it to identify Kirsten's body if they ever
find it.

Chief Clabes says, "It's one of those cases you want to be solved before
you retire because it torments you. If we don't solve these cases we
feel like we failed. In Kirsten's case I feel like not only I but the
agency has failed because we're not able to locate her."

The case is cold but investigators are hopeful someone with a guilty
conscience might come forward and help police find Kirsten's body. If
you have any information, call Midwest City Police.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,165085,00.html

BAIER: Yes. You now believe Duncan is connected to the abduction of an Oklahoma girl named Kirsten Hatfield? Why do you do that?



HUFF: That's right. I was looking for cases that happened when Duncan was a fugitive in 1997, and that would be abductions or unsolved murders of children under the age of 11, generally, and one of them was Kirsten's abduction, and she's never been found, from a Midwest city, Oklahoma, on May 13 or 14 of 1997, almost exactly eight years before the Groene murders. And Kirsten resembled, to my eye, Shasta Groene.



BAIER: I think we have a picture that puts them together. Hold on one second.



HUFF: Sure.



BAIER: A graphic that puts both girls next to each other and you can kind of see they do resemble each other. And that's how you first linked it together?



HUFF: That and Duncan had a sister living in Edin, Oklahoma 100 miles or so to the northwest of Midwest City. And it appears that when he was finally arrested in 1997, he was at his sister's in Kansas City, Missouri, so it appeared to me that he might go to his sister's for support if he is on the lamb. They may not even know he's on the lamb. And if he was in the Oklahoma area, it just seemed pretty logical.



BAIER: And Steve, we should point out, our producers talked to the police in Oklahoma. The police said they are investigating a possible connection. They don't have anything to report at this time.



HUFF: Right.



BAIER: But they wouldn't comment that a link could be ruled out.



HUFF: That's good.



BAIER: Police are looking into it.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,165085,00.html#ixzz1mNPQxeUO

http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-news-kirsten-hatfield-story,0,7307215.story

What happened to Kirsten Hatfield?




Ali Meyer Reporting KFOR
4:42 p.m. CDT, May 21, 2010


We take a closer look at a story that was big news when it first broke, more than a decade ago. Kirsten Hatfield disappeared 13 years ago. Tonight we have an update on the case of the girl who vanished in the night. The story captured the state back in 1997. An 8-year-old girl was abducted from her bed in the middle of the night. Kirsten Hatfield vanished.

Home video was all that was left, that and her family's desperate cries for help.

"Kirsten Renee, baby, this is your Uncle Bubba. You call the number. We're all worried sick about ya. You got your mom here and your papa and your Bubba. We need ya home baby," Bubba said.

Find out the details of this special report tonight at 10.

Full story will be available after it airs.