Is There a Connection Between Abducted Iowa Girl Kathylnn Shepard and Evansdale Case?

As a search for an abducted Iowa girls stretches into its third day, authorities said they are looking for any connection to the still-unsolved murder and kidnapping cases of Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins of Evansdale.

. Their bodies were discovered in the Seven Bridges Wilderness Area of Bremer County in December, and the hunt for their killer is ongoing.

Authorities said Michael J. Klunder, 42, the suspect in Monday's abduction of Kathlynn Shepard, 15, and another girl in Webster County, was found dead of self-inflicted wounds Monday night at a rural property northeast of Dayton.

Evansdale Police Chief Kent Smock told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier authorities are looking into Klunder's whearabouts on the day the Evansdale cousins were snatched while riding their bikes near Meyer's Lake:

“We are working closely with local investigators over there, and we are in constant contact,” Smock said. “It’s something we are looking at.”

Klunder was on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry and had been convicted of the 1991 kidnapping of two 3-year-old girls in Charles City. The girls were found alive in a Dumpster. Klunder was also convicted of assaulting a woman and forcing her into his car in 1991. He was sentenced to 41 years in prison but received work release in 2010, which he completed in 2011.

Black Hawk County Sheriff's Department Captain Rick Abben told the Des Moines Register that Klunder's DNA can be compared with evidence gathered during the Evansdale investigation.

Meanwhile, Shepard remains missing. She is 5'6" and 160 pounds. She has blond hair and blue eyes, as well as braces. She was last seen wearing jeans, a grey hooded sweatshirt and a Cubs baseball cap.

Authorities released an additional photo of Shepard today, taken as she exited her school bus moments before being abducted. Investigators said they have also discovered her backpack.

The other girl who was abducted, age 12, was able to escape. Her name has not been released, and she was treated at a local hospital and released.

Anyone with any information on Shepard's disappearance or who may have come in contact with Klunder between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday is asked to contact law enforcement immediately at 515-573-1410.

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