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A 17-year-old boy vanishes after a party, then his body is found five days later in a ravine 500 yards from where the party was held.  Kurt Sova  Kurt’s body was found in a ravine CASE DETAILS On October 28, 1981, three young boys in Newburgh Heights, Ohio, made a frightening discovery in a ravine: a dead body. Other than some scratches and bruises, the body showed no obvious sign of injury. One tennis shoe was found in a nearby pile of rocks. The other shoe was missing. Several hours later, the body was identified as 17-year-old Kurt Sova.  Kurt went to a party that Friday night An autopsy revealed that Kurt had died no more than a day and a half before his body was found. Yet his parents had reported him missing five days earlier. Where was Kurt Sova during the five days he was missing? How did he die and where was he killed? Kurt lived with his parents in a quiet neighborhood. He was the youngest of four boys, and the closest to his parents. Dorothy Sova is Kurt’s mother:
Kurt left home for the last time late on a Friday afternoon. One block from his house, he met up with a friend who was on his way to a party. When Kurt didn’t come home that night, his mother knew something was wrong:
 The cause of death was unknown When Kurt wasn’t home by Saturday morning, his parents began calling his friends. Kurt’s father, Ken, searched for him around the neighborhood. There was no sign of Kurt. On Sunday, the Sovas registered Kurt as a missing person with the police. Meanwhile, his mother, Dorothy, covered the neighborhood with missing flyers:
On Sunday afternoon, Dorothy learned that Kurt had been at a party on Friday night at a duplex less than two miles from where the Sovas lived. According to Dorothy, the party was given by a girl named Susan:
But a pizza delivery man contradicted Susan. He stated that there had been a party at the duplex on Friday night. Dorothy contacted Susan again, and this time she admitted Kurt had been there. Susan also said that more than a dozen people had dropped by. Some of them were older than Kurt and most of them were people he had never met. Susan also told Dorothy that Kurt had been drinking heavily. But those who knew him say that Kurt was not much of a drinker. Dorothy talked to one of Kurt’s friends:
Five days after the party, Kurt’s body was found in a ravine just 500 yards from Susan’s duplex. Lt. Robert Carras of the Newburgh Heights Police:
The police searched the area for clues. They found Kurt’s left shoe wedged in some nearby rocks. But, they never found his right shoe. Kurt’s body was taken to the coroner’s office for an autopsy. It was determined that he had died only 24 to 36 hours before his body was found, which meant that he had been alive for at least three days after he left the party. However, Chief Deputy Coroner Dr. Lester Adelson couldn’t determine the exact cause of death:
Dorothy Sova wasn’t buying it:
Dorothy began to piece together a series of strange events that occurred during the five days her son was missing. A friend of Kurt’s named David Trusnik claimed that he saw Kurt three days after he disappeared. Kurt and another boy were walking along a busy street less than a mile from the Sova home. According to David Trusnik:
That same day, a stranger who had been seen around the Sovas’ neighborhood noticed Kurt’s missing poster in the window of a local record store. He apparently told the store manager he might as well take down the poster because the person on it would be found dead in two days. The manager was skeptical; however, she soon had a reason to be afraid:
Police briefly questioned the man, who seemed to be mentally unstable. But there was no evidence he’d committed a crime, and he was released. By the time Kurt was found dead, the man had disappeared. But there would be another lead. On the very day Kurt’s body was found, Dorothy got an early morning phone call from Susan, the woman who had the party:
Kurt’s father, Ken, went to Susan’s house:
Dorothy thinks she knows what happened:
Dorothy and Ken are certain of one thing; 24 hours before his body was found, Kurt was not in the ravine. Ken says that he had carefully searched there and found nothing:
Three months after Kurt died, the mystery of his death intensified. The body of Eugene Kvet, a boy Kurt used to know, was found in another ravine on the same street, just two-and-a-half miles from where Kurt’s body was discovered. Both boys had been missing for a few days before they died, and Eugene’s right shoe was never found. This case is still open and classified as a “probable accident.” New investigators assigned to the case are hopeful they can determine how Kurt died. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season one with Robert Stack and season five with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. |
Anonymous
Alcohol is the only drug that can kill you even if you quit using it. I believe that is what caused his death. Now his other shoe was later accounted for. But if you watched the news or heard the rumors it looked like he had a stolen shoe. You have to keep that in mind when looking at the second case. I believe that the 2nd case was a possible suicide.
Jacob
That is what I think. Withdrawal from alcohol can kill you. It’s even possible that he was withdrawing, had DTs and someone tried to give him alcohol to stave off the DTs, which would explain his BAC at death. Or maybe he had a REALLY high BAC at the party and the drop caused withdrawal.
But if I look at the case, alcohol withdrawal and DTs makes the most sense to me.
Stan
He was a non-drinker. He could have had all kinds of bad responses to alcohol, but withdrawal is NOT one of them.
Patrick
I think alcohol played a part, he may have died in the basement of the house planning to sleep it off. The group got scared and dumped him. After so many days maybe nothing showed up in the lab, not sure how all that works. He may have taken his shoes off if he planned to crash at the party from being drunk. Once he was found dead they threw Kurt and his belongings (shoes) into the ravine rather than put them back on him. The girl at the party knows something. They probably feared being blamed for Kurt’s death. Just my theory.
NotYou
From the Cleaveland Plain Dealer, “On Monday, an eerie occurrence at a Slavic Village record shop foreshadowed the discovery of Kurt’s body. An apparently homeless man had been hanging around the shop for a couple of weeks and had bragged of having access to bodies flown into Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. He had bragged of removing shoes from the bodies.
On this day, the man showed up and pointed to a flier of Kurt taped to the window. [Dorothy and Ken had handed out fliers to businesses.]
“He says: ‘They’re gonna find him and they’re gonna find him in two days and they’re not gonna know what happened to him,’ said Judy Oros, who was manager of the store. “He was right.” *Was the autopsy conducted by an actual ME or a coroner? Because I’m reading coroner, who are usually elected officials and don’t necessarily have medical training. Either way I think the TOD is off. Cold temps and he was allegedly submerged in the water from the shoulders down. *Allegedly his coat was found at the party house. *Allegedly his BAC was .11. Everclear is no joke and illegal in many states, if he drank a bottle to himself….I think he wandered off, and wandered, tripped,fell for long enough his alcohol level came down but died from the elements. Interestingly, his middle name was Eugene, which is the first name of the other kid found. Officer Carrasco was later convicted of 76 counts drug trafficking and chief Lukas was banned from police work for I don’t know why.
Joseph Crussiah
When a person is highly intoxicated they crash down wherever they were drinking. Kurt would not have been able to walk 500 yards. Even if he had been drinking at the ravine, if his bac came way down, then he wasn’t intoxicated to the level of being unable to just walk away, and not succumb to the elements. And you still have to deal with the witness claim of him being alive after 3 days, which also matches the coroner’s report, and that of searchers who didn’t see him there.
DDD
I just watch a repeat of that on repeat of unsolved mysteries, and everything you said sounds like about the most sensible thing that I’ve heard so far I’m surprised they didn’t question that girl that had the party that live there at that place that lad
Milly
I hope they get answers that they deserve so they can have peace
Jason
I think about this story now and then. I beloeve there was mention that Kurt had a heart murmur? Im wondering if he had a few drinks, gave into peer pressure and tried something or, had too much to drink for his body to handle. Maybe the kid’s party house grew or sold drugs (remember, this was 1981, there weren’t dispensaries or anything on every corner) and didnt want ANY att’n drawn to their house and after Kurt passed, they just “got rid of him?” They’ve just been living with this guilt for all these years and the pain they’ve caused for Kurt’s family/loved ones.
Rich
I always figured he likely died of alcohol poisoning as theorized in that girls basement. He may have been there for a while then left on his own accord then succumbed to the elements. But the missing shoe which happened to another younger kid is alarming.
Never thought this was straight up murder over accidental death but the shoe aspect and how long he was gone before reappearing only dead little over a day is telling of some strange occurrences. Like Kivet the missing shoe does lead to a MO by someone but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that it was accidental and people acted stupidly. Still, the shoe..
Jenny from the Block
To the Tiffani person who claims to know Kurt and his family so well. You said that Kurt liked to smoke pot, wasn’t likely to ingest a “spiked” beverage, and wouldn’t hang out with people he didn’t know. Well, obviously he hang out with people he didn’t know, because the Susan person who hosted the party Kurt attended said that most of the party attendees were “people [Kurt] didn’t know.” Strike one. Marijuana lowers a person’s inhibitions, which can get them to be more agreeable to or participate in activities they might not normally be so openly inclined to take part in (which means people who claim to know that person so well might not actually be quite as knowledgeable as they think, especially when it comes to what someone might do when under the influence of drugs they are used to, let alone drugs they aren’t used to). Strike two. And lastly, no one is likely to ingest a spiked beverage, so your comment is generalized to the point of being banal. The entire point of a spiked beverage is to get someone to ingest something without that person knowing they are ingested a spiked substance. Strike three.
A plausible scenario is that Kurt became extremely inebriated and wandered off from the party, fell into the ravine, and subsequently died from exposure over the next couple of days. The missing shoe? People always claim they searched EVERY INCH of somewhere, and that’s often proven untrue. The body that wasn’t in the ravine when the ravine was searched by Kurt’s dad? Grief and trauma and just plain geography can make you think you’ve been everywhere searching with a fine-toothed comb, and that’s often not the case.
The case is sad, certainly, but trying to create a murder where nothing more than a tragic accident exists is just pouring salt on a wound.
lisa Faye Widner
Tiffani i am sorry about Kurt. I know i must difficult to have lost him in such a disturbing manner. i agree the speculations, while for the most part well meant, they can make the pain of his family and friends worse. I think about this case often and i hope answers are found. The just not knowing is the worst. The cause of death was listed as probable accident. if there is someone who has information that will help by all means they need to speak up they can do so anonymously. the speculations need to stop. I was wondering about the “crazy from detroit” who mentioned the Kurt’s poster to the record shop clerk. Why didn’t unsolve mysteries show a pic of him so he could have been questioned again.( assuming he hasn’t.) Again i am sorry for your loss. hopefully you’ll get the answers you need soon. I like to think he and his parents are together how and he can tell them what happened.
Tiffani
Ok, I would like to first say that I know the family personally. I call Kurt’s brother my uncle and I knew his parents well. I don’t want to offend anyone when I say this, but assuming things, going on he said / she said stuff, and all else above her, isn’t going to help solve this case. Kurt didn’t deserve to die like this and his family is almost all gone now and they deserve to be able to know the truth. Kurt’s parents are now both deceased as well, and I hope they are with him now in Heaven. His brother is working with cold case people to try and solve this already. So. I ask if anyone knows anything at all, please stop being a coward and do the right thing. If it were your son, your brother, your nephew, your cousin, etc. wouldnt you want to know the truth too? Don’t make this family wait until it’s too late for anyone to know the truth then. As for some comments above, Kurt was a typical teen…not perfect but not a trouble maker. He did things like weed here and there, and didn’t get into hard drugs. From what I know about him, he was a good kid and wouldn’t hurt anyone. He enjoyed hanging with his friends, wasn’t Jewish, and wasn’t a stupid kid who would hangout with people he didn’t know. So, chances of him having a “spiked” anything are slim. He wasn’t a dumb kid. As for other comments about why was his mom doing the foot work…that’s simple, shes a mother. Any good mother would be out door to door asking questions a lot. His father did the same thing as well. They both never stopped looking for the truth about their son right up until both of their deaths. No parent deserves to die without knowing the truth about how their child has died. Same on anyone who knew information and didn’t say anything. Kurt’s death and his deceased family’s broken hearts are as much on you as the real killer then. I beg someone to please come forward and tell my uncle the truth already about how his wonderful brother really died, and everyone needs to please stop with speculation and start only speaking truth here. Speculation only makes matters worse.
Mr. T
“He enjoyed hanging with his friends, wasn’t Jewish, and wasn’t a stupid kid who would hangout with people he didn’t know…”
Wtf does him being Jewish or not make any difference at all in this case? There is always bound to be a bit of stupidity from the armchair crime solving crowd but that made for a good laugh. So if he was Jewish, would your inner Scooby Doo crime solving instincts have a better idea what happened?
Lexi
I agree. Where did that “wasn’t Jewish” comment even come from? Maybe it’s a typo and she meant to put “was” Jewish. Either way religion doesn’t help to solve the case.
Bill Blaski
Susan knows what happened to Kurt. Why did the cops not put a full court press on her. Why was the van that Frankie was driving not investigated? How did that medical examiner have a job? Toxicology should have told them something. Just so many mistakes that were made. I hope Kurt has justice
Owl
Jeff, I cannot find Debbie Sams on Facebook. Could you link her profile? I think that it would be worth talking with her, but I don’t know if she would respond.
Also, in some of the reports it mentions that Kurt had a girlfriend. Has anyone been able to track her down and talk to her?
MAVİKUŞ
CLAYTON SAMS 6 HAZİRAN 2014
Anonymous
They said he wasn’t drunk enough to perish from alcohol so my best guess is that the person who killed him used a drug that could be undetectable after death. They said he also had bruises and scratches. But did they check for puncture wounds? He went willingly with that person in the white van so they might have gave him the drug then dumped his body and took the shoe as a trophy or hid it because the substance was on it. It could of been a tranquilizer or sedative that they gave him.
Jason
Pretty sad that both of his parents are gone now. I wonder if they could exhume his body and do a new autopsy by a “better” Medical Examiner? I feel like since it’s been 30+/- years, they may be able to come up with something better than what Sherlock Holmes said in a book. Sorry, but, I’m sure there’s better technology today and a highly-skilled (Dr. Cyril Wecht, Michael Boden, etc). It’d be great to know.
I think “Jeff” that remarked on here has the best idea. I’m sure he died at the party and they’re too afraid to come forward. I think people know and his parents went to the grave no knowing what happened to their son.
Joey
Any update
William Alardice
Just watched this episode,very troubling.I was think possible hypothermia? Because he was gone supposedly before he was given his jacket.This other murder 3 months afterwards indicates a serial killer because same mo, one shoe missing on a body dumped same street in a ravine.You can bet this is a cover-up by local authorities about these cases.
James L
This story haunts me. For now, three questions :
1.) How long did it take to run upstairs and grab a jacket? I ask this because I wonder just how far an intoxicated teen could wander in that particular time frame.
2.) Could someone point me to where “Franco” has his name revealed? (Still beginning to seriously poke into this case, forgive me.)
3.) an odd one : what were the “weather conditions” like in the surrounding areas at the time? By this I don’t mean actual weather, per se, but rather if there were any other “unusual” incidents. in the neighboring areas around the same time. By analogy, until recently, one didn’t go looking for black holes, one looked for surrounding phenomena around where one thought a black hole is. Just curious if the same principle could be applied here.
Will ponder some more, may have future questions. This case puts a funny feeling in my gut, almost as though the answer is right in front of us, and we simply do not see it.
anon
ok so i’ve done just a little research and there’s a few things i cannot find but feel like are important to know like 1. did the police or anyone talk to Craig H Franko before his death shortly after Kurts death? 2. what was Franko like? and did he go to the same high school as Kurt? 3. how did susan explain why she called Kurt’s dad and said Kurt was on her couch but when he got there, no one was there? 4. how could the police interview the homeless man who predicted he would turn up dead AND left a threatening note and still let him go so easily? 5. knowing who the boy kurt was walking with is SO important, did they not do a police sketch? 6. I’ve seen conflicting reports but were Susan’s roomates, Debbie and Claytion Sams, at the duplex with her during the party? if not, where were they? 7. how did Craig H Franko (who i am assuming is “Franco”) die? I could not find it online
Kat
I’m inclined to go along with Phil’s assessment in March 2020.
Sounds like the party-goers thought Kurt could sleep-off whatever it was, drugs or alcohol, and they were all doing the same. They may not have even known he was down there the first day or two if they were all recovering, groggy, or still high. By the time they realized he was dead they disposed of his body and coordinated stories to direct attention away from the house and party.
~ Susan later called the parents because she knew too many people knew Kurt had been “asleep” in the basement by then, and someone would eventually talk. She distanced herself by saying she was barely aware of it, so if the truth came out she could pretend to be shocked, and insist it made no sense that she would have told the parents if she was involved.
~ Whatever Kurt drank or took would have left his system after a couple of days or at least to the point that standard tests couldn’t detect it back then.
~ Coupled with a corrupt police department at that time (see ROBERT CARRAS who was on this episode and later imprisoned for over 4 years for aggravated drug trafficking, and brutality) and an ineffective coroner and it isn’t difficult to see why this wasn’t resolved at the time.
~ Susan & company likely feel blameless because they didn’t actually kill him since (in their minds) he did it to himself.
~ David, the 17 year-old witness, couldn’t have seen Kurt get into Craig Franko’s van on Monday because that would mean that for three days Kurt was capable but chose not to go home or contact his parents even once, which by all accounts wasn’t his style. Kurt (and Craig) would also have been aware Kurt’s parents were looking for him (17 years old, for goshsakes, and this was during the school year). They had been calling all his friends over and over, and had already filed a missing person’s report.
~ Adding to the unlikeliness of David’s story, is that not one other person in this small town of 2,000 people reported seeing Kurt anywhere during that time, yet he was openly walking down the street in broad daylight when (only) David supposedly saw him.
~ Because Susan admitted Kurt was sleeping in her basement at some point it’s not feasible he left her house on Friday, walked around aimlessly for three days undetected, wide-awake, and alert, and then returned to sleep in the basement of someone’s house he just met, when he could have just gone home. It makes more sense that he never left the party-house and David (who came forward only after Kurt was found) was either mistaken — or was also at the party and;
a) knew about it;
b) was involved in taking Kurt’s body to the ravine; or,
c) was covering for his buddies by claiming Kurt was alive and walking around with a mysterious stranger (convenient).
Between David’s story and the obviously made-up one about Kurt disappearing while a friend retrieved his coat, it just smacks of a group of underage kids covering for each other to avoid being busted for drugs and alcohol.
~ The young record store girl was likely part of the group too. Her claim that a wise, mystical bum stared at Kurt’s photo and could see into the future, and randomly stated he “will be found dead in two days,” (or knew something top secret and just wanted to share randomly) is pure theater. And she said he then dramatically put flowers and a card at the store door with an irrational threat, “they found him dead and they’ll find you too,” in boogie-man fashion. It all sounds made-up by a teenager. Coincidentally she reported this around the exact same time Kurt would have been discovered dying or dead at the party-house, based on the coroner’s timeline estimate.
~ Lastly, probably not a coincidence that Craig Franko was shot to death while working at a gas station just over a month after David pointed a finger at him. A $10K award was offered by Craig’s employer to find the assailant with no result.
I’m glad to see a cold case team has taken this on as of January 2020 and I sincerely hope the police cooperate fully so they can get to the bottom of it. To me, this looks like a sadly simple drug-death cover up in a small corrupt town. Kurt was young and sounds a bit naïve. He may have experimented with something to his detriment, or a drink was spiked, cigarette laced, or other.
Jeff
This is such a fascinating case. I live in Cleveland and am very close to Newburgh Hts. I drove by there everyday on my way to work. I am so tempted to go down there and raid the police station. Ha! My opinion about what happened is simple. Kurt was drinking all day. Not only that but he was drinking Everclear. Ouch! He stepped up his level of drinking when he went to the house party. He got reeling drunk. The residents of the house…Debbie Sams and Clayton Sams dealt with the situation of Kurt being sick by having him sleep it off in the basement. Kurt wasn’t getting better. After a few days of covering for Kurt in the hope he would rebound and then head back home…he perished. I am thinking he lasted about 3 days. The residents freaked. They came up with a plan to ditch the body. They didn’t want to get into trouble. Done. And so sad. I have researched this case and located Debbie Sams and her brother Clayton on Facebook. That’s right. Both of them are on Facebook. It’s incredible. Debbie’s last name is now Seymour.
There are even a few photos posted by Clayton on one of his pages that are from the early 80’s. You see a young Debbie and Clayton in one of the photos standing in the house where this happened!!! Then in the comment section of the Facebook photo you have Debbie saying this:
“that was a long time ago… man I’m glad we got out of there…lol”
…then Clayton responds: “me too.”
Creepy as hell. Wow.
Does anyone have the guts to reach out to one of them??? I thought about it but didn’t have the courage. Chances are that even if you did reach out to them there is no way they would respond. That is my opinion.
Trace Sherrill
I visitied their pages, but so no such photo. Did you save it, or take a screen shot? Can you post here?
Phil
Odds are that some of the ‘guests’ were dealing in drugs. Possibly the guy had his drink spiked to get him hooked as a way to gain another client. He then at some point at the party had an adverse reaction and it went downhill from there. I wouldn’t believe anything anyone said after that, to my mind a lot of smoke & mirrors to divert attention. In the end though this is probably a simple drug o/d unwittingly taken scenario. I would wonder if the Corenor had been threatened by a drug gang into not providing a cause of death. The lady in the shop was threatened so it stands to reason others could have been and stayed silent. Susan for sure told one lie when she told his mother there was no party and he was not there, so I wouldn’t take anything she said as true. She would be one to interogate the most see if she cracks. To my mind all of those that made a statement should have been questioned intensely, who were the guests specifically? were there more locals their than made out? was he really seen on the Monday? etc. Not enough work done on the case in the first place to crack it I think.
curious visitor
What is even creepier is that he added a photo of Misi (the other roommate) with probably Debbie and in there you see a comment by Misi saying “OMG look at my lil half pint jimmy I was killing.that bottle”. It’s so weird that he chose to upload pics from that house specifically. What is sadder is that after all those lies and distracting Kurt’s family by saying that Kurt might sleeping in their cot they managed to move on and built a family of their own. Kurt was never given that chance.
Sarah
And is that Kurt in the photo with the yellow top, it sure looks like it
Dave
Certain aspects make me think murder, but others make me think some sort of accident and people panicked. Really weird case.
thinkingoutloud
I think Kurt probably drank something laced at that party and that’s why he got sick. If he wasn’t home for five days but seen alive, maybe he had drugs or a laced drink in his system died because of it and those who were around him were too scared to go to police so they waited a few days and then put his body in the ravine. I don’t think anyone intentionally killed him, maybe just a party gone wrong. Susan kept lying cause she was scared. Either Kurt was already dead and she kept him in her basement or he came back later and died in that bed. But Susan covered it up because she didn’t want his death to come back to her. I’m sure the death wasn’t intentional but it’s sad because no one will speak up and give justice because they are afraid of the consequences. It is hard to explain the similar death of Eugene, whether act of serial killer not. OR maybe same thing happened to him like Kurt and someone just recreated it
CD
Anonymous from May 18, 2017 comment…….Your comments are not true….2 officers weren’t fired for corruption & the 3 other officers were off duty, out partying, the driver was intoxicated & hit a telephone poll in Cuyahoga Heights, two perished in the accident, one survived,,,but years later he died of Cancer. Why lie about stuff like that
Donavan S.Delvecchio
C.D project astral posted a link down below .I also read
Somewhere that Carras may have been involved.
Anonymous
December 6, 1981 …. Craig H. Franko was killed Thursday as he worked at a downtown service station.
That is most likely the “Franco” Kurt got int the van with. There are more apparent connections to Kurt and Eugene’s deaths around the same time period, not to mention that 2 of the Newburgh Heights investigating officers were fired for corruption, and 3 others were killed in a car crash while the driver, another officer survived but jumped bond and disappeared. 35 years have passed, and while I was only involved after the fact (I am one of the three boys that found Kurt) I still think about the case and all the loose ends that no one ever followed up on, even though much was reported in 81, then again during the filming of the UM segment.
DONAVAN
Yes I just posted and read the police may have been in on it aswell.The cover up and all such a shame.How did u know Franko was killed if you don’t mind me asking?
ProjectAstral
Anon did his/her research. I dug a little and found out some more. You’re free to contact me Anon if you feel like you have more important details… everything you’ve stated has checked-out so far.
https://projectastral.net/2017/06/09/kurt-sova-unsolved-mysteries-franko-revealed-update-4/
Donavan S.Delvecchio
Hi there this is Donavan !Project Astral great work on you’re research for Kurt.
project astral
Thanks for checking it out. Hopefully, we will have new information soon.
Anonymous
Franko’s killer’s were found though. His murderers were convicted in 1986. His obituary did list him as having a brother and a sister.
GH
I’d say perhaps drunk and fell into the shallow water and drowned, except there was those days missing before finding deceased.
RR
This is one of those cases where some waterboarding should have been employed, specifically on “Susan”. The BS about “well he may be down in my basement” would/should have been enough justification to have employed some extreme tactics to get answers and the truth.
chanel
hoping for answers for his loved ones and friends. just saw this episode for the first time.
projectastral
If anyone here is connected to the case and would like to anonymously contact me… I’m an investigative journalist. My email address is projectastral@outlook.com
Anonymous
Taking into consuderation that tgis was 35 years ago, and I was a 15 year old kid at the time, I’ll say what I can. At first, we though he was a discarded CPR dummy, until we got close. When we realized that Kurt was human, one of my freinds checked him for a wrist pulse, and said he was cold and clammy. Kurt was lying from about shoulders down in water, head to the “shore” th water wasn’t deeo enough to cover him and we all felt from the beginning he had been posed. One of the first Newburgh Heights officers to show up also checked Kurt for any signs of life, and stated “yeah, he’s stiff”. I suppose, becuase of his age and that he appeared posed, we thought he had been murdered, but there was no marks or other physical evidence of that, just the circumstances that we knew at the time. Keep in mind, non of us knew Kurt personally, nor did we know there was a missing kid in the area. Kurt’s dad had searched the exact area the day or evening before, and kurt wasn’t there. The M.E.’s findings agree, assuming they took into account Kurt’s body lying in cold water. It would seem that his body had been placed there between 12 – 24 hours before we found him. I hope it sheds a little light, and while I’m not 100% confortable posting my name even today, I suppose that most of the people that lived in the area wouldn’t be too hard pressed to figure out who I am.
cdr369
Anonymous –
Do you recall the condition of his body when it was found? What was your assumption at that time on the manner of his death (natural, homicide, OD, etc.) ? There are some theories as you know about his body being placed in that location. I have always wondered if his body was just placed there a few hours before it was discovered (absent any rigor mortis), or if he was there for a long period of time.
Black Bieber
Such a shame what happened to Kurt Sova & that other boy Eugene Kvet. Even though the way their bodies were found & how some of the grownups were acting (such as the Hostess who kept lying & the “mentally disturbed” stranger) would raise suspicions, if the boys really were murdered, look like the evidence (of murder) would’ve showed up on the autopsy. Authorities should’ve questioned & followed up on The Hostess, as she seemed to have had something to do with the disappearance of the 2 boys. Hopefully, New Investigators can question The Hostess, if she is still alive & well.
project astral
case archived
https://projectastral.net/2016/10/12/fantasy-of-the-flesh/
PA
Kurt Sova investigation
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/231921377/fantasy-of-the-flesh
Someone
If new theories and an investigation developed, wild you all support it?
Shy Girl
I am an avid viewer of Unsolved Mysteries; this story always makes me cry. My heart really hurts for that dear mother. Kurt was such a sweet looking boy too. I pray this case gets solved….yes, get some new blood on the case. Somebody knows something; no doubt about it.
Moon
Someone has to know something all these years
joey
Is this solved yet
R L
Of all the episodes I have seen over many, many years this is the one that has returned to my thoughts over and over. Heartbreaking that his parents got no answers! There seems to be so many screw-ups in the investigation and follow-up. There were so many people who were “players” in the case (meaning: the people at the party, especially the woman who lied about so many things, the man who saw him and a friend 2 days after he was missing get into the white van with “Franco”- that story seemed suspicious to me!). I would love to see the ladies from Cold Case get ahold of some of these people!
R L
My comment from earlier today should have said: “the ladies from Cold Justice!”
Dorthy Tuck
I know what happened
unsolved
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Allen
I like to know what happen this is his brother
Roger
Allen,
Do you know if this Susan is still around? Just curious if you have a theory on what may have happened as well?
Kevin Sova
Who’s brother are you?
Kevin Sova
Dorothy, why don’t you tell me what happened to my brother Kurt? Kevin Sova
scott
Dorothy, why won’t you tell kurts brothers what happened to him? how about telling me then and i can inform his brothers.
joey
Any updates on this
DONAVAN
I read somewhere that they have questioned one of the detective’s on the case by the name of R.Carras.I don’t know if he had something to do with it though.Stuff like that make’s you wonder.I was trying to Google the crazy guy’s name but I don’t know it.Can’t they exhume the body to find out what killed Kurt.
Nancy Miller
Would it be possible this is the act of a serial killer? The fact that the right shoe is missing for both boys would seem probable a trophy was taken. Has law enforcement’s searched nationwide data base to see if there are similar crimes where a young boy was missing for 5 days then was found with the shoe missing? Was the other boy missing for the same length of time? My thoughts go out to the family.
Anonymous
new information/theories will be coming out next month about this… watch out for them.
cdr
I haven’t heard any new theories?
Are there any new developments?
Anonymous
The first thought after watching this segment was thinking why was the mother doing the foot work in the investigation. Where were the police and detectives. The police just plainly didn’t do a good job. The best leads was Susan and the guy at the record store. There’s other cases with less leads that get solved because of the police being persistent. I also wouldn’t be surprise if the autopsy report was wrong due to negligence like in the case with two boys that got ran over by the train and it was automatically ruled an accident because marijuana was found in their system, after the family hired their own investigators they put pressure on the city, they had to do another autopsy and they ruled it a definite homicide.
Anonymous
The note sounds suspicious even that guy too wonder if he has something to do with it
Marie
This needs to be solved: new detectives need to take a look at this case.
Beka H
Is nobody else freaked out that the medical examiner coukd not find a cause of death? Does this sort of thing happen sometimes?
Anonymous
for 3 and 3-4s of the day he was ware you found him, he was struck on the head with a rock, relation to the other death, a blond hair jock, and 2 friends, they have killed 5 disabled Boys. it is a thrill for them when they do it, I Get
Kyle schlip
This case has a lot of unanswered questions. I’m surprised there hasn’t been any developments as of recent in this case. I watch this show every day and for some reason this case struck me harder than others in the past. This needs to be solved I hope he still has family searching for answers I will pray for a miracle in this case this can’t go unsolved forever. Also I think the guy who said Sova would be found in two days dead, was just acting like he was mentally disturbed hoping to stop any further investigation into how he knew what he knew I hope they still have his name on file.
Mandy
Brad Kramer are you a medium? You say you are told to say this? Who is telling you? Very interesting case. Somebody from that party knows something. I really hope this case gets solved.
Samantha York
This case stuck with me for years its hard to imagine something like this can happen..Here it is 2015 And no new clues have surfaced.Yet no one has been caught.They should start from scratch with a new team of investigators and such this case can be solved…And the lady that had the party yea she no something..
Anonymous
I told you before last time I’ll say he told me his shoe is near a playground may be covered with weeds buy now, wants me to say he had a pack of spearmint gum in his pocket when they found him… so you will believe me if I’m wrong I’m very sorry
Ciara
Who told you that? The deceased? Are you a psychic or how do u know this?
KK
considering this was over 40 years ago – I doubt this elusive ‘shoe’ is even in existence anymore. Most likely either disintegrated and/or bulldozed to landfill during the last 4 decades due to city sprawl or park upgrades… if that park still exists too.
Cris
Were Kurt Sova and Eugene Kvet of Jewish faith? Was there religious hate crime in Newburgh Heights OH during that time? Kvet/Sova last name origins when I looked them up on the internet indicate Jewish faith. Kurt may have been wasted with alcohol but the fact that he was incapacitated just gave a Jewish hater (if indeed both kids were Jewish) a cover to kill both of them. The missing one shoe on both kids is a message from the killer. I would probably look up hate groups in that area during that time. The teen who told the liquor store worker that Sova’s body would be found is very suspicious. I am surprised police did not put a trace on that guy. They obviously know his name ’cause they interrogated him. Maybe one of you with investigative skill can look up this guy and the females/all attendees at the party. Are they in prison? Have the killed? Are they willing to talk now? Have there been other cases in the country of killings of young boys (maybe if they are Jewish) and one shoe is missing and body dumped? Did that guy/party attendees have relatives working in the police department; possibly a cover up? Were the two boys molested? If so, look up pedophiles in that area? This is a very sad case indeed!
Bradley Jonathan kramer
hi my names Brad Kramer I have something you may not believe in what I was told is his shoe is near a playground somewhere near his home as told to say he had pack of spearmint gum in his pocket and they found him, if I’m wrong I am very sorry sometimes it gets fuzzy but the second time I heard this so if you’re a family member or friend please tell the police I submit to unsolved mysteries no reply
Sam
Where did you get this information?
Sam
No. Kurt was not Jewish
Sandy
I love this show by far this one was so sad because his parents never got a answer I know for sure that whoever the man was that said he would be found dead and no cause of death had something to do with it and police let him go? Awful
Candice
Susan is the key to solving Kurt Sova’s murder. Her phone should have been tapped, she should have been interrogated,etc. If she is still living, she needs to be questioned and investigated – put some pressure on her. All of the individuals at the party should be questioned and get a fresh pair of eyes on the medical evidence. As far as Eugene Kvet, there does not seem to be a lot of information out there about his murder. It is clear, though, that there is a connection between the Sova and Kvet murders.
Maureen
Keep this open! Never let it go unsolved! Question those teens who are now adults!
barbara smith
Did David see Kurt with or without his jacket?
Anonymous
Dude that’s a really good question.
Tiehl mroczka
I lived in this house when was about 4 to 5 yrs old. Gonna do a time line to see if when my fam was there. Scary to think my brothers and I had played in the basement at one time.
Stephen
Really how old are you now?
Aaron
This entire story has so many holes in it. Obviously this “Susan” woman had something to do with it. Did the police even question her?? Why would she lie to begin with, let alone multiple times?
Anyone who lies about something like that is guilty, why lie at all unless you’re trying to hide something.
barbara
I agree she knows but she’s scared. it was obviously the older men who did it. Engene kvet is a copy cat murder.