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My daughter's murder is still unsolved
Topics: cold case, homicide, Family, Grief
Posted by citizenjournalist Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:50:37 PST
Viewed 2001 times
0 responses 0 comments It's been six years since my daughter Wendy Kyle was brutally murdered. She was stabbed several times and set on fire in her studio apartment in Oildale.

It is now a cold case and I feel like she has been forgotten.

It is hard to really define the horrific trauma not only to my body but to my emotional state of mind. My mind is foggy and my attention span is short. I suffer from post traumatic stress disorder like a war veteran. I am anti-social and reclusive. My once outgoing personality is no more.

I pretend to be happy and laugh, but it is a cover up, especially for my children. I had nightmares for many months and I still have insomnia. I am on anti-depressants. I have had three mental breakdowns and suicide attempts. Thanks to the Lord and a dear friend of mine, Lisa, I am alive. She kept me from giving up on life. She said that Wendy would want me to get on with my life. But how do I do that? It’s easier said then done!

Time can heal some wounds, but not this kind. This wound is still an open sore because my daughter’s murderer has not been found. Even if this case is ever solved, it will not bring her back. But to have justice will bring a lot of relief knowing this monster is off the streets and not harming other young innocent women.

I have so much anxiety thinking about that. Could he be a serial killer? Without a name and face, it seems almost like it never really happened. Just some TV unsolved thriller with actors and not real people. How do I forgive this invisible person? How can I have any sanity with this hanging over my head?

One thing that truly haunts me is the fact that I was not there to protect her as I was when she was a child. I feel guilty with the coulda, shoulda, woulda thinking.

I feel helpless and powerless because our fate is in the hands of the detectives. They say they are overwhelmed with too many homicides that go back 30 or more years. There was no DNA testing back then so now they are trying to catch up. I have great compassion for these people who have waited so long. My six-year wait is nothing according to the detectives.

As more homicides pile up, Wendy’s case becomes less hopeful. Witnesses move away or forget the facts. Worse yet, I fear for the safety of the evidence. What if it gets discarded or forgotten? If they go through the cases quickly, perhaps important clues are overlooked. I have watched cold case files since the death of my child thinking about all the different scenarios of how my child may have died.

During the first two years after the homicide, detectives were great about keeping me informed. It helped to have that support and to know they were trying.

But now it’s a cold case. Perhaps I will never know the truth until I die and ask Wendy myself.

To view a “moving tribute” photo slideshow of Wendy, go to http://wendysjustice.blogsp.... Send e-mails to justice4wendy@aol.com.

If anyone has information about Wendy’s death, please contact the Kern County Sheriff’s Department Secret Witness Hotline at 322-4040.

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Response from Sgt. Ed Komin, Kern County Sheriff’s Department

The Kern County Sheriff's Department maintains a detective division and within that division there are six detectives assigned to the robbery homicide detail. Homicides are given the highest priority of all the crimes that we investigate. 

When our detectives are assigned a homicide, we follow up an all possible leads. The detectives, detective sergeants and command staff collaborate on cases, and all reasonable ideas regarding the solving of each case are implemented.

Most of our homicide cases are solved within the first year. Occasionally, however, even after every conceivable lead is followed up on and all possible investigative tools are employed, cases sometimes remain unsolved for some time.

Even though these cases may be referred to as “cold,” that in no way means that we have given up on the case or stopped investigating leads as they develop. Detectives routinely reexamine old homicide cases and make new attempts to solve them.

The Kern County Sheriff's Department is aware of the trauma and devastation homicide cases create for those loved ones left behind. We remain committed to doing everything within our legal power to solve these cases, bring those guilty before the courts for their just punishment, and provide some measure of solace for those left behind.

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From the Archives

According to the files of The Bakersfield Californian, Wendy Jeanne Kyle was 24 when she was killed and her Oildale apartment set on fire in the early morning of May 29, 2001. She had last been seen at The Mint bar in downtown Bakersfield. Sheriff’s detectives named a suspect in August that year after a secret witness alerted them to a man who had admitted killing Kyle. However, the following month, DNA test results cleared the man from the crime. The detectives were left with no other suspects.

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