The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Solkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Solkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome
back, everyone. I know we had to take the week
off. You know, it was just so hard around here
with the 4th of July. There were bangs, booms,
parties. It was very hard to get clean audio,
so we decided to take the week off. I think we
took the week off the year before, too, on the
4th of July, so maybe that will just be something
going forward until we can get into a proper
studio. As long as we're home recording, the
bangs and the booms were too much for me. But
we are back this week and we are on episode 135.
If you are new here, I encourage you to go back
and take a listen to our backlog. We have tons
of episodes that are always worth having a new
listen to. So please go back and listen to what's
in our backlog. But I think we should just go
ahead and get into this week's episode. I believe
we are covering a cold case this week, right?
That's right. All right, let's get into it. Today,
we are covering the cold case of Keysone Khounpanya ,
and this takes place in January of 2000 in Hurst,
Texas. But first, a little bit about Keysone.
Keysone Khounpanya was 49 years old in 2000. She
was divorced with three grown children and a
few grandchildren she adored. Kaysone was originally
from Laos, but she had come to the United States
in 1976 with a dream. A dream to pursue music
and build a better life. She lived in Massachusetts
for years, working hard to build her future.
And in 1996, she became a U .S. citizen. In 1997,
she moved to Texas, settling into the Oak Tree
Village Apartments in Hearst. She lived alone
in a modest second -floor apartment and worked
at a product identification company called Willet
America in nearby Holtham City. She was a dedicated
employee for nearly two years until she was laid
off in late 1990. The company still thought highly
of her, and she seemed to think highly of the
company. She even attended the company holiday
party just weeks after she was laid off. Kaysone’s
true love, though, was music. Friends and family
say she loved to sing. She even recorded her
own demo tape and performed 1950s Americana music
at nightclubs, weddings, and sometimes even at
local country clubs. An ex -boyfriend said that
she was, quote, a sweet woman, and others remember
her as a caring and hardworking person. The kind
of person who never raised her voice, and several
people in her life commented at what a good cook
she was. But 1999 had been hard for Kaysone. She'd
had surgery for health issues, including a hysterectomy
and even an amputation of a middle finger due
to an old snake bite that didn't heal correctly.
She was also worried about her finances since
she was losing her steady job. Right before a
timeline picks up, Kaysone had recently asked
her boyfriend, Khumphou, to move out of her apartment.
He said, quote, I didn't have a problem with
that, so I moved. I still kept helping her. And
now, a timeline of events. Tuesday, January 11,
2000. Kason's ex -boyfriend, Kung Fu, started
to get concerned. He hadn't heard from her in
about a week, and he had taken her car to get
it repaired. He said, quote, I had her car trying
to get it repaired, and I was trying to reach
her to give it back. I couldn't find her. So
the morning of Tuesday, he calls 911 and asks
for a welfare check. Around 9 .30 that morning,
the apartment manager led police to her second
-floor unit. The door was unlocked. Police entered
the apartment and find a living room full of
blood. They start searching the apartment and
quickly locate Keysone in her bedroom. She was
lying on her bedroom floor, dressed in a sweatshirt
and pants. Her hands were tied behind her back.
Investigators believe the attack began in the
living room. They found bloodstains there and
a kitchen knife, which police say was used in
the initial attack of her. Police theorize that
Keysone was stabbed in the neck and cut during
a struggle. Despite her injuries, she may have
fought to free herself from the binds for some
time before the killer placed a pillow against
the back of her head. pressed a gun to it, and
fired a single fatal shot. Police did not recover
a gun at the scene. The scene was violent but
strange. Nothing obvious seemed stolen, but boxes
in her bedroom closet were scattered and an empty
jewelry box sat on the kitchen toaster oven.
Her jewelry was missing, but nothing expensive.
Police began going door to door to talk to neighbors.
Several neighbors reported seeing her in the
complex the weekend before. One neighbor told
police they saw and heard her as recently as
Sunday afternoon, January 9th. They said they
heard her playing her demo tape and singing just
after the Dallas Cowboys' playoff game had started.
In the following days, police and detectives
interview neighbors and members of the local
Laotian community. They learned more about Keysone’s
weekend performances and her presence in the
Laotian American music scene. Detectives were
told that the community was open to helping them,
and the news of Keysone’s murder spread quickly,
but no tips ever came in to police. Weeks passed
by. By February, six weeks after Keysone’s murder,
police are still searching for leads. including
trying to identify the new boyfriend that she
had told her ex about. Investigators believe
it's likely that Kaysone let her killer into the
apartment herself, since there was no sign of
forced entry. Her ex -boyfriend told reporters
at the time, quote, But after this update, after
six weeks, The case goes cold. Police don't ever
update and the case falls out of the media. So
that is truly all we know about Keysone’s murder.
So if you have any information about the murder
of Keysone Khounpanya , please contact the Hurst
Police Department at 817 -788 -7180. So that
is the cold case of Keysone Khounpanya. Just to immediately
jump into Kayson's character, and I mean just
her character qualities, her personality, I think
it speaks volumes about a person who is willing
to attend their company Christmas party, even
post being laid off. I think it says that she
not only really loved where she worked, but loved
the community of people. That she was working
with, because I think that's really where most
jobs keep their people is that they're working
in a good environment amongst good people. And
it seems like that's exactly what she was like
to work with as well. Yeah. And, you know, that
detail to me kind of spoke to like how hopeful
she could be to like, oh, you know, maybe if
I show up to the party and, you know. People
remember how great I am. Like, I'll get hired
back quickly. Like, I think it was also, like,
a smart move just, like, career -wise. Like,
you know, almost like a networking event. Like,
she was working hard and hustling, and I just
really admire that. Yeah, and what she was going
through at the time prior to her murder, I remember...
My mom was actually around the same age when
she had her hysterectomy. And again, it was in
the 90s. And I know from what I remember of that
time period, it's a very difficult recovery and
can be a huge hormone imbalance and very hard
on the body, like any surgery. So just the place
that she was in and knowing how hard she was
working, she just sounded like one hell of a
person. For sure. And, you know, her music career
was really where her passion lied. And it seems
like every weekend she was out singing at a club,
at a nightclub, at a wedding. Like she loved
to sing. Her ex -boyfriend, who we talked about
in the timeline, would play keyboards like she
had a whole band behind her. Just really incredible.
I wish I could have found like. you know, a sample
of her singing or like a video of it. But I don't
know that there's one on the internet, quite
frankly. Yeah. And that was another thing I wanted
to dive into about her, her commitment to her
artistry. It was beautifully relentless. And
that's how I navigate my own art career. In all
of my artistry, I create because I must, because
I have to. I will create regardless of if anyone
sees my art or not. That's paintings, acting,
singing, performing. And I think she was very
much in the same vein. So to know a person like
that was taken so violently is deeply unfair.
And I'm really interested to dive into this timeline
and what happened here and hopefully her name.
is spoken more now that we've covered this case.
Yeah, when I found this case, I couldn't really
find a lot of information on it. I had, you know,
some news articles to go off of. And in those,
you know, there was like a wealth of information
about her. But as far as details about the investigation,
I do have some, obviously. But yeah, there was
very little updates on this throughout the years.
We've gone back and forth. about this on the
podcast about how important it is to cover not
only the cases but the people themselves and
who they were and what they were doing and you
know that's the same that's the same thing here
I think it's worth talking about people's personalities
and characteristics and what they looked like
because it may drum up some information and because
there is so little here I'm hoping that talking
about her very specific personality and her name
will drum up that same thing. For sure. And,
you know, K -Zone and everyone we cover here
on Cold and Missing, they deserve to be talked
about and spoken about fondly and remembered
fondly for who they were, not just how their
life ended. So, yeah. You know, with all that
said, though, do you have any questions about
the timeline? Just what time it was, the time
of day and how much time had passed between her
ex -boyfriend worrying and when law enforcement
entered the apartment. Yeah, so from my understanding.
Khumphou, Keysone’s ex -boyfriend who she had
lived with for most of 1999, but just a few weeks
before the timeline picks up, she asks him to
move out. He had taken her car because it had
broken down. And I believe he had it for like
a week trying to get it fixed for her. And then
he was trying to get in contact with her to return
the car and she wasn't picking up her phone.
I don't know. Did he try to go over there? Did
he knock on the door? I don't know any of those
details, but I do know that he tried to contact
her several times, and when he wasn't getting
an answer, he called police. Yeah, I think that,
to me, I'm interested in what that, if it's days
or hours, what that timeline looks like, because
this is a time of... I mean, yes, there were
cell phones, but not a lot of people had them,
and I don't think that they were involved in
this case. I think it really does matter when
she was last seen down to when she was found.
And I know that that information might not be
there, but I think it's a key placeholder in
this case. So here's a few more specifics. I
went back into the notes I take whenever I'm
researching. So Khumphou said that it had been
at least since January 4th since he had spoken
to her. And our timeline picks up on Tuesday,
January 11th. So, yeah, about a week there. And
then we know neighbors are sure that. There are
several neighbors, in fact, that say they saw
her in the complex that weekend. I believe someone
saw her in the parking lot. And then a neighbor
to her building says that he heard her singing
just after the kickoff of the football game on
Sunday. So he heard her singing in her apartment.
He also mentioned that her demo CD was playing,
like people heard that as well. So I am curious,
like. Did they hear her singing or did they just
hear her demo tape? Because that's a question
I have about that Sunday. But people say they
heard her. Yeah, that was my next big question.
Was that music playing or was it actually her?
Because if it had been playing, you know, if
it had been playing 24 -7 for a day or two, I
don't... The beginning of that timeline to me,
I just, I really wish we had more information
on because I think it would, I mean, this is
obvious, it would fill in the timeline. And I'm
just racking my brain. I would give anything
to go to that moment and zero in to know what
happened. Yeah. And like I said, I'd love to
know to what extent her ex -boyfriend had gone
through to try to contact her. Like, had he gone
over there and knocked on the door and didn't
hear anything? When did he go over there? Did
he try to open the door and, you know, it was
locked? We know when police arrive, the door
is unlocked. So, you know, like details like
that, I think I hope police have them. But I
think, you know, those are things that I would
want to know. Some specifics that I wanted to
get into and ask you about was about what law
enforcement found when they went into Keysone’s
apartment. More specifically, I guess I wanted
to know what you thought about the pillow on
her head. My first question is, was it intended
to muffle? That's my thought when I read about
that, is that whoever the murderer was was using
the pillow as kind of a silencer and was trying
to dampen the noise of the gun. I know we've
covered cases like Kayson's before, and to me
this reads as she was either being watched or
she did know the perpetrator. And I guess I wanted
to know what you thought about that. Yeah, so
police believe that she knew the murderer because
there was no sign of forced entry. But I know
we've talked about this before, and it's like
there's a lot of ways to get someone to open
their door and kind of force your way inside
without necessarily kicking in a door, breaking
a window, those obvious signs of forced entry.
So that's something I've started to not jump
to so quickly. You know, we hear it a lot in
true crime, but, you know, stabbing someone is
very personal. And that's how this attack started
was it seemed to be, according to police, that,
you know, she was attacked first with a knife.
So that leads me to think that, yeah, maybe it
was somebody who had, you know, a grievance against
her, was mad at her for some reason. And also
the way that nothing of real value was stolen.
But the place was kind of ransacked. Sometimes,
you know, we've seen this in other cases where
someone's just trying to stage like a robbery.
So I do think that's what happened here, that
someone was trying to stage a robbery at least,
since nothing of true value was stolen. We know
her jewelry was taken, but nothing that was expensive.
So I don't know if there was expensive jewelry
left at the apartment or if maybe she just didn't
own any really fine jewelry. And I guess with
that, there's always the possibility that whoever
was committing the crime thought that there was
something more in the apartment. Maybe she said
something in passing and that person heard of
it and thought it was something more than it
actually was. But moving on from that, what's
with the new boyfriend that we don't really hear
anything about? I guess I want to know your take
on him and, you know, if any of her love interests
had been questioned in this case. Yeah, great
question. And it's one that I have as well. I
would assume that police investigated her ex
-boyfriend. We know that he called the police
to, you know, do the initial welfare check on
her. So I would assume police checked out his
alibi, were able to rule him out. He's never
been named as a suspect. But the timing of it
all is very suspicious for me. So, you know,
if I was able to sit down and read everything
in the police file, I think the first place I
would actually go is an interview with her ex
-boyfriend. And just to really understand how
this person has been ruled out, because everything
else is kind of suspicious. Like there's this.
She's asked him to move out. You know, he says
he's fine with it. He doesn't have any hard feelings.
She found a new man. That's fine. He continues
to help her. He had her car. And, you know, he
was getting it fixed. But it's just all like
the timing of it just seems suspicious. And then
police, to the best of my knowledge, were never
able to find the identity of the new boyfriend,
the new lover. I would be curious to see. If
any witnesses had seen somebody new coming around
the apartment, you know, we have witnesses seeing
her in the complex. Did they see a man with her
coming and going, somebody they didn't recognize
even? So those are all questions I have. It just,
it seems like Keysone was very... in her community
you know she was singing she was in the Laotian
community and it was a pretty tight -knit group
so it just seems strange to me that nobody would
know who the new boyfriend is at all but that
is somebody who I also suspect you know if that
is a real person he would be on my suspect list
yeah I'm also curious to know if it was reported
or if there was any sort of Yeah, and I think
this is a crime scene where, you know, there
really could have been some evidence. You know,
it seemed like there was a fight, a struggle.
Her hands were bound behind her back. I mean,
we see duct tape being a place. where evidence
can live for years. You know, they did find the
knife that they believe was used in the attack.
A lot of times, you know, an attacker will slip
and cut themselves. So is their DNA there? You
know, did they swab, collect swabs at the time?
DNA was still, you know, kind of at the beginnings
of, you know. law enforcement and solving crime,
but what evidence was kept in this case that
possibly could be retested today? Even the pillow,
I'm thinking of contact DNA, holding it. Do we
have any evidence of what kind of gun was used
from the pillow? There's just, I think there's
a lot of evidence there and I would be curious
what has been tested since 2000. Yeah, exactly.
Because there is a crime scene here. I'm so curious
to know what, if there was anything found, because
again, key details would be in that evidence
and again, fill in the timeline. Either way,
I'm so grateful to know Keysone’s name and case
and that you brought it here today. Yeah, this
is a case that, you know, I saw Keysone’s picture
first and as I started researching it and finding
details about her case and about her, It just
felt really important to bring, you know, not
only to you, but to all our listeners as well,
because I think. This is an important case. And
I really feel like this is a case that is solvable.
I think all our cases are solvable because someone
knows something. But I think this is something
where if police went back and looked at it, if
they get pressure, if they get questions, if
people start talking about case on, then like
maybe they'll bring it out and use some of their
resources to retest evidence. Technology has
come so far in the last 25 years that I really
believe there would be some DNA available. to
have as a profile at least. Yeah, I mean, revisiting
the case, revisiting the evidence also brings
new eyes to the case, which is a great thing
for cold cases like this that have been quiet
for what is a long time, but still recent enough
that there could be evidence tested, scientific
findings there that match DNA to a possible someone.
And I think it's recent enough, too, that, you
know, some of the players, the suspects even,
could still be alive and, you know, people could
still remember things from this time. So I really
believe that this is a case that could be solved
if enough resources are put towards it. And I
think Keysone is so deserving of those resources.
So again, if you know anything about the murder
of Keysone Campana in January of 2000, please
contact the Hearst Police Department at 817 -788
-7180. We will, of course, have a picture of
Kaysone on our Instagram, so please follow us
there at Cold and Missing. And I know this has
been a summer where we've had to take... a few
weeks off here and there but it's summertime
that's what summer is for it's for taking a break
so if we do need to take a break or skip a week
in an episode for x y or z reason we'll always
post on there we'll let you know what's going
on so please follow us at cold and missing we
also post about other missing person cases and
updates in the true crime community so it's just
a good resource and something to have in your
feed You can also listen to all our old episodes
on our website, www .coldandmissing .com. They're
in your podcast player too, but if you want to
search or look at the official transcripts, if
you or someone you love is hard of hearing, you
can find those on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com. While you queue up your next podcast, figure
out what you're listening to. If you could give
us a quick five stars, a rating, a review, Spotify,
leave us a comment. All of that really helps
boost the algorithm and just get other people
listening. So if Kason's case is something that
you hadn't heard before, maybe leave us a rating,
a review, share it on your stories, share it
on your feed. Let's get her. picture out there.
Let's get her name out there. And let's put some
pressure on the police to just look at this again,
spend some time on it, spend some resources,
because Kayson is so deserving of that. Yeah,
with our graphics, especially on Instagram, it's
so easy to like, share, save. And those are...
Besides engaging with the post itself and commenting,
those are some excellent things you can do to
push these cases around. Again, like Allie said,
all of our cases that we cover are worthy of
time spent on them. So please, please like, share,
and save the graphics. Thank you so much. But
that is all I have for you this week. Thank you
so much for listening to Cold and Missing. I'm
your host, Allie. And I'm your co -host, Eli.
Have a good week and stay safe, y 'all. Stay
safe y 'all.