Almost 30 years later, family still wonders about missing teen
by Ray Kisonas , last modified May 01. 2008 10:53AM
She was a rebellious teenager from Dundee, known to hitchhike and run away.
Kim Larrow, 15, disappeared 27 years ago, and her cousin is determined to make sure the search for her doesn't end until she's found.
Robert Cooper, 46, of Temperance petitioned police recently to reopen the case after he heard that a Texas university has begun a federally funded project using DNA to help identify thousands of unknown deceased people.
Mr. Cooper said he believes his cousin is dead, but it would be important to the family to have the nearly three-decade mystery solved.
"It's been a very long and arduous situation," Mr. Cooper said. "I think clearly we're looking at a death investigation."
It was June, 1981, when Kim left her father's home on Eggert Rd. in Dundee. Her parents divorced and she decided to move to Canton to live with her mother.
Shortly after arriving in Canton, Kim went to a Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors ice cream shop on Ann Arbor Rd. in Plymouth. Canton Police Sgt. Rick Pomorski said Kim's best friend worked at the shop and the two had made plans to meet up later that night at Hines Park.
"She never showed up," Sgt. Pomorski said. "She dropped out of sight."
No one came forward with any information about her whereabouts. Kim simply disappeared.
"It's highly unusual," Sgt. Pomorski said. "We have no direction to go on."
Kim once hitchhiked all the way to Florida. But Mr. Cooper said she would always call home to let her family know she was fine.
But after that summer day, she never called.
Kim had attended school in Dundee and much of her family was from Ida. Her father, Arnold Larrow, passed away in 2005. He owned and operated Arnie's Party Pack in Ida from 1969 to 1979 and ran Arnie's Town and Country Bar & Grill in Dundee from 1980 to 1984.
Connie Nagle of Milan, Mr. Larrow's sister, was close to her niece. She said Kim would stay at her home every weekend and lived with her for a while. She said Kim was a good girl, despite her rebelliousness.
"They weren't major issues," Ms. Nagle said. "She was just going through her teenage years."
Ms. Nagle said she prays that her niece is still alive and supports Mr. Cooper's efforts to keep the case open.
"I think it's great," Ms. Nagle said. "Hopefully we can get some closure."
When Kim disappeared, missing teenagers, especially those who were known as runaways, did not always get priority. That's why Mr. Cooper continues to hound authorities.
"She was part of our family," he said. "She had a lot of friends and family here in Monroe County. When she disappeared, I just feel she never got the opportunity to be looked for like they do now."
Sgt. Pomorski said Canton police never closed the case, which has been especially difficult because Kim did not have a driver's license or social security number. He said police officially do not consider her deceased and it is possible she is living somewhere under an assumed identity.
"We don't know if she's dead or alive," Sgt. Pomorski said. "There is no indication of foul play."
Canton police have collected DNA samples from Kim's relatives and sent them to the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. The samples will be compared to thousands in a database.
"You've got the try everything you can," Sgt. Pomorski said.
Mr. Cooper said he is hoping that his cousin is found, putting an end to almost 30 years of uncertainty.
"There are a lot of people who think about her every day," he said. "She is still remembered."
Sgt. Pomorski can be reached at (734) 394-5423.
On the web:
www.doenetwork.org/cases/1810dfmi.html
http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080501/NEWS01/330267508/-1/rss