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. Just a little housekeeping right at the top. Next week is Christmas. I believe Christmas Eve is next Thursday, if I'm not mistaken. So we
will be off next week. Eli and I are traveling for the holidays, seeing our family and our friends. So we will be busy doing that. I just know myself and we will not have time to get an episode up. So we'll be off next week, but we'll be back for 2026 on January 1st. And moving right back into this episode, we are on episode 151 this week. That's right. And we are on a missing person case. All right, let's get into it. Today, we are talking about the missing person case of
Kelly Dove. in Harrisonburg, Virginia. But first, a little bit about Kelly. Kelly Dove is just 20 years old in 1982. Kelly is a young wife and a mother to a four -year -old daughter and a sister, one of four sisters who all work together at the same place. Kelly was married to Dale Dove, who was 25 years old and worked in construction, and together they were building a life in Harrisonburg. Kelly worked at the Imperial Gas Station located at 2141 South Main Street. And this job was very
familiar to her, as I previously mentioned. Her other sisters worked there too, so it was a comfortable place. Night shifts were common for her. And like many women working alone on the overnight shifts in the early 1980s, Kelly was used to some uncomfortable situations, unwanted attention or obscene phone calls. According to her sisters, these were common occurrences at the gas station. Kelly's 21st birthday was just weeks away. She would have turned 21 on August 30, 1982. And
now, a timeline of events. Thursday, June 17, 1982. On Thursday night, Kelly reported to work for the third shift at the Imperial Gas Station. Her husband, Dale, dropped her off around 10 o 'clock at night and stayed with her for about an hour before leaving. He was there just hanging out with her and chatting. According to him, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. As the night stretched on, Kelly was alone behind the counter. We know that she passed the time by reading magazines
from the newsstand. And slowly, the hours and minutes creeped by. And Thursday night became Friday morning, June 18, 1982. Police say that they're able to account for Kelly's night, minute for minute, up until about 2 .15 a .m. What we do know is at 2 .27 a .m., Kelly picked up the phone and called the Harrisonburg Police Department. And police have actually released this 911 call, so we're going to play it here. Um, I'm working the third shift at the Imperial Gas Station.
I just had an obscene phone call. And this guy came in earlier, and he was kind of dressed improperly, but I kind of ignored him. I think it was that guy, because he just drove through the parking lot a few seconds before I got the call. Could, you know, you have somebody kind of keep an eye out on me? Okay, this is on... Main Street. South Main? Uh -huh. So as you guys heard in this 911 call, Kelly doesn't sound panicked in the 911
call. It's pretty matter -of -fact and solid, but she is asking for someone to keep an eye out on her. She's cautious, but calm. But just two minutes later, at 2 .29 a .m., Kelly calls 911 again. This time, her voice is faster, more urgent, and the tape skips, according to those that have heard it. She told the dispatcher that the man was back in the parking lot. When the dispatcher asked what kind of car he was driving, Kelly answered, quote, a silver -colored Ford.
The dispatcher said officers would be notified. Kelly thanked them and hung up. According to Kelly's sister, Rose, who has listened to the second 911 phone call, she says that you can hear a shuffle and then the phone abruptly snaps at the end. This 911 call is the last confirmed contact anyone has with Kelly Dove. However, police arrive just minutes later. Her last 911 call was at 229. And according to police reports, they pull up to the gas station at 2 .31 a .m.,
so minutes later. However, Kelly is nowhere to be found. Inside the store, everything looked almost untouched. There were no signs of robbery. In some reports, it's said that money was left on the counter and all the cash remained in the cash register. The keys to the safe was still in the office, and there were no signs of struggle anywhere. Kelly's purse was left behind along
with her cigarettes and money. The magazine she had been reading sat on the counter, folded open as if she had just stepped away for a moment. One of the officers working the case said that it looked like somebody had just stepped into the bathroom and would be back at any minute. At first, there's a panic and some confusion. Officers wonder if Kelly had been abducted in her own vehicle because there were no cars at
the gas station at all. But when they spoke to her husband, Dale, they learned that Dale had dropped her off at 10 p .m., so there was no missing car. Really, the only thing missing from the gas station was Kelly. That night, as Dale learned that his wife was missing, he spent the entire evening just riding around the roads looking for any sign of Kelly. He said, quote, I know it's a wild goose chase, but it's better than
just sitting around. The next day, Saturday, June 19, 1982, so Kelly has been missing for one day, police announced that they were looking for a man seen at another convenience store about 30 minutes before Kelly vanished. The man was described as around 25 years old, about 5 '10", weighing roughly 150 pounds, with shoulder -length blonde hair. He was driving a late -modeled, silver -colored car, possibly a Ford. Since Kelly had mentioned the silver Ford, this is why police
think they're connected. But in addition, the clerk at the other store reported seeing a two -tone silver car driving slowly around 2 a .m., circling the area several times. The clerk told police that about two weeks earlier, a man driving a similar car had exposed himself to a woman working the night shift. Despite this description, police don't really get any solid leads here, but they do think that these two events are connected.
On Wednesday, June 23rd, so it's been five days since Kelly vanished, and police admit that they have no solid leads. Kelly's sister Debbie spoke to the media, explaining that obscene phone calls and sexual harassment were common when women worked the night shift. She said, quote, we get those all the time. Kelly's family searched constantly, scanning parking lots, watching for silver cars, looking for any man who matched the description. However, no real solid leads or suspects pop
up. Really, the only thing that anybody has at this moment is hope that they'll find Kelly. On Thursday, July 29th, so it's been 41 days that Kelly has been missing. With each day, police privately worried that Kelly would not be found alive. Her family, however, held on to hope that she would come home. Investigators believed that the abduction happened in seconds, considering how tight the timeline is between that last phone call and when police say they arrived at the
scene. The phone Kelly had used to call police was just 10 feet from the front door. They theorized that a man pulled directly up to the entrance, got out, and forced Kelly into the car. and they believe the attacker was armed. Police say, quote, During the last month of investigation, investigators focused heavily on men with prior sex crime convictions. Given the obscene phone calls and the sexual harassment of the encounter, police believed
that the crime could be sexually motivated. Police noted that since Kelly's disappearance, The gas station had only received one obscene phone call since she disappeared. Police say that they're scrutinizing every detail, going back over Kelly's 911 calls, even questioning what Kelly could have seen. Quote, When Kelly Dove called, did she see a silver -colored Ford? Was it silver? Dark gray? She wore glasses, was looking through tinted glass into a light. So police are really
questioning. everything about the statement, trying to find a lead. However, police are determined, quote, we're not about to throw the towel in. Sooner or later, we're going to get a break on it. However, months begin to go by. In January of 1983, so over six months now that Kelly has been missing, police acknowledge what her family has feared, that they believe Kelly is dead at
this point. Investigators even theorize that they believe that she's buried within 50 miles of the gas station, but really don't have any proof to hang this on. The FBI has joined the case as advisors, but still there's real no breakthrough in the case. In 1989, so it's been seven years since Kelly vanished, and she's legally declared dead. And still... No leads in the case, no suspects are named, and the case continues to get colder
and colder. In 1993, so it's been over 11 years at this point, and Kelly's family publicly criticized the original investigation. Her mother said she believed police bungled the case from the beginning. She claimed that on the night Kelly was taken, the gas station was never properly secured, that customers were still walking in and out thinking the place was open. Kelly's sister, Elaine, said, quote, There was no police tape up. They weren't doing fingerprints. Customers still thought it
was open. She said that she was told fingerprints weren't taken because there would have been too many at the scene. She says, quote, That same year, in 1993, The newspaper article suggested a possible connection between Kelly's disappearance and the murder of Paula Jean Chandler and the abduction and murder of 12 -year -old Katie Warsky. All three crimes happened within weeks of each other. Kelly vanished June 18th, Paula vanished June 19th, and her body was found just days later.
And then Katie Warsky went missing just under a month later on July 12th. The article named a man who had never been interviewed in Kelly's case, Glenn Barker. Barker had been convicted of the murder of Katie Worski, whose body has never been recovered, so he was tried without a body. But at the time in 1982, when Kelly vanished, Barker drove a silver to dark gray, both colors have been described, 1965 Ford Falcon. However, after Kelly's disappearance, he painted the car
blue. Furthermore, Barker had previously been charged in 1981, so two years before Kelly's disappearance, with assaulting an 18 -year -old girl at knife point, so he has a history of violent crime against women. Police say in 1993 that Barker had never been interviewed by Harrisburg police regarding Kelly's disappearance, despite... him driving a similar car to what Kelly described
and what the other gas station clerk said. And Barker fit the description of the man seen about 30 minutes before Kelly vanished at the other convenience store. During March of 1993, Barker was arrested again during a traffic stop. Police found a pellet gun resembling a pistol in his car, which he wasn't allowed to have. And underneath his car seat, they found a pair of handcuffs.
After the newspaper publishes this article that Barker could be connected to Kelly's disappearance, police announce that they're reopening the investigation and they intend to look into this connection. However, I couldn't find any updates, so I do assume that police had talked to Barker at that point in 1993 or shortly thereafter, but there's never any updates. or if police officially were able to rule him out of the investigation, or
if he's still considered a suspect. However, whatever information that they learn in 1993 or thereafter doesn't really seem to make any big commotion in the case. The case goes cold and really falls out of the media after that. The next big update comes in 2020 when police announce that they're reopening the investigation again. So they're going to look into Kelly's disappearance again. And over the next few years,
there are some periodic updates. So in June of 2022, investigators announced that they had narrowed down their suspect list from four people to just one. However, almost like in the same breath as saying they have this one suspect, they acknowledge the possibility that Kelly's case could be part of a larger pattern and they could be dealing with an outside serial killer. So it might not even be the suspect that they're looking at. So they're pretty vague and they don't name the
suspect in the case. In 2023, Kelly's sister Elaine spoke about the weight of waiting. She says, quote, you have to have hope. There's nothing else you can do. Investigators say that the biggest challenge now is evidence, degraded DNA specifically. Police need to be careful with what evidence they do send away because it's been over 40 years since Kelly's disappearance. So a lot of the DNA could have just been destroyed over the years. just won't be a good sample. So that is a challenge
that they're facing. But it does sound like there could be some DNA in this case, or at least potentially some things that could be tested for DNA, it sounds like. Police say in 2023 that they are closer than ever. And when they talk about this case, and they're still saying that there's just one suspect in the case, they still declined to name him in 2023, but they talk very confidently about the case. saying things along the line of what they know and what they're able to prove
are two different things. So it sounds like police have a very strong theory of what happened and something that they believe is the truth, but they're not able to prove it at this point with evidence. So it looks like they're still missing something to really bring this case home. So with that, if you have any information about the disappearance of Kelly Dove in 1982 or her whereabouts today, please call the Harrisonburg Police Department at 540 -437 -2650. So that
is the missing person case of Kelly Dove. I feel a bit more comfortable just jumping right into the timeline of Kelly's disappearance because throughout the questions I ask you, I will be talking about both Kelly's character and personality.
More than anything, and I know we got to hear the first 911 call, more than anything, I would love to hear the second one because it sounds like to me and how family spoke about it, that auditorily you maybe would have been able to hear or gain some sense of what was happening with her and around her in those final moments
before the phone cut off. Yeah, I agree. We get to hear the first one, which I think is great information, just hearing how calm she is and kind of matter of fact during that first phone call. But I agree. I would like to hear the second one. And according to the family, you can hear something right at the end, like a scuffle, shuffling, and then the phone kind of snapping off. So I think there is. evidence in that second phone
call for sure. Even if the tape skips and like maybe cuts out a little bit, I think there's strong evidence in that second phone call. Another question I had, which was confirmed in your timeline later, was did you think that someone approached her with a weapon? And what the context clues I used to reach that confirmation was the state. that the store was in that it looked almost like she just stepped away from what she was doing.
So I think, yes, that someone approached her with a weapon because that's the only way she was going to leave. I said I would speak about her character and like someone else confirmed, she sounded really scrappy, like she could handle herself. She was someone who was working this third shift regularly and was no stranger to the pretty regular abhorrent behavior of men during the 3 a .m. shift. And I'm sure some of our listeners are no stranger to that behavior
as well. If you've worked third shift before, I know you are not a stranger to it as my wife. I've been witness to it while, you know, doing exactly what her husband was doing, hanging out with you during your first hour or last hour of a second shift or third shift. And I would witness that behavior. So, yeah, I agree with law enforcement's take on that, that whoever approached her and disappeared her most likely had a weapon. Yeah. You know, Kelly is really
scrappy. And I think, you know, like you mentioned, I've worked overnight shifts where I'm, you know, working at a place at 3 a .m. And my mom also she used to work at a gas station overnight like this exact job. And it just takes like. a scrappier gal to work at. That's always going to be the case, I think, is that a scrappier girl is going to take the job. So I think that's true in Kelly's
case, is that she could handle her own. And so the only way someone was getting her away from the gas station quickly, quietly, and without a fight was with a strong weapon. So I do agree with police here. And yeah, I think that's the right conclusion. Especially considering the state of the store, I think if somebody had just tried to grab her, she would have really fought and there would have been a mess left at the store for the police to find because they're
there just minutes later. So, yeah, I think it's a weapon and I do think it's a gun in this case. Just to pivot quickly to Kelly's husband, I just really feel for him. They were so young and were just really getting their life started. And his reaction is, I think, exactly how I would behave. Like, I would just start looking for you. I wouldn't really wait or listen to anyone, I think. I think my response would be exactly what his was. And I really think he put his all into trying to
find his wife. Yeah, my heart just really goes out to him because I think he married into such a beautiful family and it sounded like they were just beginning to build what the rest of their lives would look like together. Yeah, I think when he says like it's, you know, I know it's a wild goose chase, but it's like better than sitting around. It's loosely what he says. I'm not I don't think I'm quoting verbatim there,
but I think that's it. Like if, you know, someone that you love is missing, like I think it would
feel in. sane to just like sit I like I'd want to jump out of my skin I'd want to just be moving and looking and running my eyes over things just trying to like find the person that I love and you know they have a young daughter too that I know this must have been so confusing for and really difficult to grow up without your mom there so yeah this whole family like my heart just breaks for them because Kelly Seems like such an amazing person, and it's so unfair that
she didn't get to finish what she started, you know, raising her daughter, her marriage. You know, she didn't get to finish those things that she started, and I hate that for her and those that love her. With hearing the first 911 call, I have heard this tone in your voice when you have been dealing with difficult men. I have heard this tone, and in that first phone call, you know, she sounds, she's aware and alert, concerned as to what's happening, but she sounds
over it. To me, she did not sound panicked or super nervous, but it also didn't sound like she knew who the person was. And that's something that I just wanted to... take extra note of was this person wasn't recognizable to her. Not that she got like a full confirmation, but in that 911 call, she didn't give like a full description.
So as far as I'm concerned, I don't think she knew who the person was, but I think that maybe he knew who she was, or at least aware that a woman was guaranteed going to be working at that.
gas station that evening. And that brings me to my next question is, do you think that the person that most likely disappeared her, do you think this was someone that had their eyes on the gas station location and was counting on maybe even Kelly herself being there, but at least for sure that a woman would be working that evening? It's a great question. For me, I think my mind goes to the other convenience
store a little bit, where at around 2 a .m., so roughly a half hour before Kelly starts to do the 911 calls, this guy was seen kind of circling the parking lot, and it matched the description of a guy who had been harassing a woman who was working there a few nights before, maybe a few weeks before, something like that. I almost wonder and like if this guy who did this, if his intent was this other gas station and he like kind of had his like eyes set on a particular person
there. But like they shifted around the work schedules because of this harassment that was happening. So men were working the night shift. And so was he like just going out committed? He was going to do this thing. And then his like a wrench was thrown into his plan. So now he's just driving around trying to find a gas station with a woman working. Or was this just his M .O.? Like he was going to do it at the first gas station that he I don't know. I. I take note
of the fact that after. Kelly's disappearance, there's only like one obscene phone call. I would be curious if police think that's the same person who did this or is it just a random thing? I don't know. You know, it's a very vulnerable position to be working by yourself late at night at a gas station. Like I can only imagine how vulnerable that must feel. So really anyone who pulled up there could have just seen an opportunity and. acted on it. And we have no idea. It's so
random, it feels like. But maybe it was targeted. Maybe somebody was watching. But I don't know. I did read in one report that Kelly might have picked up this shift from somebody else. It might have been one of her sisters. I only read that in one report. I didn't see that repeated a lot. So I'm not sure if that's factual. But if that is the case, then Kelly wasn't even supposed
to be working that night at all. So then that almost leads me more towards like it was somebody who was looking for the opportunity and then found it. I understand that there are many reasons for declaring someone legally deceased after a certain amount of time, especially in cases like this. But this was a moment where my stomach just sank. And the fire under me to find answers became that much more raging because it seemed so soon that the declaration of her being deceased
happened, even though it wasn't. It was multiple years, seven years, I think you said. But I want answers. I want answers so badly for this family. But in that part of the timeline, it's really where I started to lose a little bit of hope. But hearing that they're still working in 2023 gave me so much. It was a small breath of fresh air in the wake of something that's truly horrific. Yeah, I love to see that there is energy behind
it. In the last five years, in the last six years, we're really seeing some energy, resources, money put towards Kelly's case because I do think it's solvable. It seems like police are right there. They're right on the cusp of making an arrest, but they just need those little missing pieces, whatever that is. If it's DNA, I hope we get that DNA. If it's just like confirmation of like, oh, I, you know, 40 years ago, I said this person was with me, but they actually weren't. You know,
I lied about their alibi. Like, you know, something like that, that last little piece of information that's just needed to close this case and get this family answers. I mean, they have been holding out and hoping for answers. And yeah, I mean, it's always. I totally understand what you mean when like somebody is declared legally dead in these cases where they've been missing for so long because and families speak about this, too.
It's like they're not giving up hope. They still desperately have hope that their loved one is out there. But most of the time it's like they need to do this to move things forward, whether that be like, you know, estate stuff, social security benefits for children. So sometimes it's like legally it's just like the next thing
that has to happen. But it's so I can't even imagine that feeling that the family must wrestle with to do it and to make that declaration, because I'm sure so many would love to have like a caveat on it. It's like, yes, we're doing this, but we hope she's still alive. I feel like that's what every family is saying when they do this.
Now, I do want to bring up Barker. And I guess this is more speculation on our end, but the moment you brought him up, he seemed like a very probable suspect to me, especially the detail
about painting the car. I wanted to know. what your take was and if you think in at least as far as you know as recent as 2023 goes do you think that he's maybe someone who is um on that list of probable suspects yeah i think I think Barker is really suspicious and like specifically to what you point to, like the painting of the car, because for the murder that he was convicted in, if I'm not mistaken, he paints the car before that murder. So it's like, why are you doing
that if you haven't murdered somebody yet? I believe that's right in the timeline, but. If police have been able to rule him out, I feel like they should come out and say like we've ruled him out, especially when like the paper is kind of publicly calling it out and like making these connections between these three cases. It just seems like the responsible thing to do would be if you 100 percent ruled it out, then like just say not considered a suspect for X,
Y, Z reason. But because they haven't done that and they've never really mentioned him again after, you know, the newspaper kind of calls him out, I wonder if he's still on that list and they're trying to kind of protect the investigation a little bit. They say they limited the suspect pool from four to one. I don't know if he's included in that four, the one. I'm not sure. But we don't have any of the names of it. But hopefully in
this case, we do get answers. Kelly's family gets the answers that they're looking for, and they're able to bring Kelly home ultimately and give her a proper resting place, which the family so desperately wants to do. So again, if you have any information about the disappearance of Kelly Dove in 1982 or her whereabouts today, please call the Harrisonburg Police Department at 540 -437 -2650. And we will have pictures of Kelly on our Instagram at coldandmissing.
We'll also have that suspect sketch of the man seen at the convenience store. 30 minutes beforehand, but police think is connected. We will have that suspect sketch as well on our Instagram at coldandmissing. You can follow us there where you'll get all the updates into 2026 and beyond. So please follow us if you're not already. It's a great resource for current missing person cases, current cold cases, all that. So you can find us at coldandmissing.
Also on our website, www .coldandmissing .com, if you or a loved one is hard of hearing, we have our official transcripts there where everything is spelled out correctly. So please, if you need them, you can find them there along with the rest of our old episodes. And you can contact us there if you'd like to reach out to us. And if you have the time today, if you could leave us a five -star review, it really goes a long way in getting this podcast in front of other
folks. who might be interested in it. So please, if you could do that, if you've never heard of Kelly's case, give us a five -star review for cases you've never heard about. So give us that review and that gets Kelly's case out there. Bing bang boom, you are doing advocacy work for missing person cases, cold cases. So thank you so much for doing that. Appreciate you so much. And the kind words whenever you write one, oh, makes my heart sore. So thank you so much. They
really do mean so much to us. especially to Allie. She works so incredibly hard on this podcast week after week. And when she comes into whatever room I'm in in our house, tinkering with something and shows me a review, it brings me so much joy and tells me that the mission that we have here with Cold and Missing is coming to full fruition. You guys are doing exactly what we want you to do as listeners, which is... amplify these cases and share them with the rest of the world. So
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.