Summary
Highlights
Jonelle Matthews, born February 9th, 1972, was adopted by Jim and Gloria Matthews in Greeley, Colorado. On December 20th, 1984, 12-year-old Jonelle attended a school choir concert. Despite having a cold, she was excited to participate and later got a ride home with her friend Deanna Ross and Deanna's father, Russell. After being dropped off around 8:15 PM, Jonelle entered her home and flashed the lights as a sign of being safe. At 8:30 PM, she answered a phone call, taking a message for her father. This was the last time anyone heard from her. When her father, Jim, returned home around 9:30 PM, he found the house empty, with Jonelle's belongings, like her shawl and shoes, left behind, but no sign of her.
Jim Matthews immediately called the police after finding Jonelle missing. Police arrived within 15 minutes but found no signs of forced entry or struggle. Initially, authorities suspected Jonelle had run away, despite it being a cold December night and her leaving without shoes or a jacket. Jim insisted Jonelle wouldn't run away due to upcoming plans, including a sleepover and a church Christmas presentation. The discovery of large footprints in the snow outside the living room window, too big for Jonelle, suggested foul play. Despite this, the runaway theory persisted until days passed without Jonelle's return.
As the runaway theory dissolved, police investigated Jonelle's biological mother, Terri Vierra-Martinez, as a person of interest, but later found no connection. Jonelle's disappearance garnered national attention. In March 1985, President Ronald Reagan even mentioned Jonelle by name during a speech, highlighting the alarming number of missing children in the U.S. Despite these efforts, Jonelle's case went cold. A potential lead in May 1985 involving human remains was disproven, as the DNA did not match Jonelle's.
After 10 years with no leads, Jim and Gloria Matthews had Jonelle declared legally deceased in 1994, seeking closure. They eventually moved to Costa Rica, and their other daughter, Jennifer, moved to Washington. In July 2019, 35 years after her disappearance, human remains were discovered by construction workers in a rural area of Greeley, 15 miles southeast of Jonelle's home. DNA testing confirmed these were Jonelle's remains. The discovery revealed a clear bullet hole in her skull, confirming she had been murdered. Her parents returned to Greeley to lay her to rest.
On September 13th, 2019, investigators announced a person of interest in Jonelle's case: Steve Pankey. Pankey, a former Greeley resident who had run for political office in Idaho, lived two miles from the Matthews' home at the time of Jonelle's disappearance. He was also a youth pastor at the Matthews' church, contradicting his initial claims of not knowing the family. Pankey had inserted himself into the investigation over the years, claiming to have knowledge but demanding immunity. He notably mentioned that footprints in the snow outside Jonelle's house were covered with a rake, a detail not publicly released, raising police suspicions.
Angela Hicks, Pankey's ex-wife, contradicted his alibi for the night of Jonelle's disappearance, stating their trip to California started later and was unplanned. She also recalled Pankey's unusual interest in the case, forcing her to read newspaper articles, and his inexplicable digging in their yard. At their son's funeral in 2008, Pankey allegedly said, 'I hope God didn't allow this to happen because of Jonelle Matthews.' Pankey gave a series of erratic and contradictory interviews to the media, often pausing suspiciously and accidentally referring to Jonelle's disappearance as a 'murder' before it was publicly known. He frequently used his 'gay background' to dismiss any interest in young girls. On October 13th, 2020, Steve Pankey was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping. He is currently held without bail, awaiting extradition to Colorado. It was also discovered he was a Patreon patron of true crime podcasts, including one that covered Jonelle's case.