Tip to police leads to arrest of three men in 1989 rape and murder in Missouri

For more than thirty years, Pam Workman suspected who killed her sister, Kelle Ann Workman, who went missing on June 30, 1989, and whose body was found eight days later in a forest in rural Missouri.

Despite her suspicions, police had failed to arrest anyone in the case until this week.

Recently, someone came forward with information about the crime, which led to the arrest of three men in connection with the kidnapping, rape and murder of Ms. Workman, 24, authorities said at a meeting. news conference on Wednesday in Douglas County, Mo.

The men – Bobby Lee Banks, 65, of Seymour, Missouri; Leonard Banks, 64, of Gainesville, Missouri; and Wiley Belt, 64, of Ava, Mo. – were each charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and forcible rape, authorities said.

In an interview Friday, Pam Workman said she had long believed that Bobby Lee Banks and Leonard Banks, brothers, were involved in the crime.

“They were always on my radar,” she said. “I have dealt with them for the past 35 years, and not always well.”

Ms. Workman said she once encountered Leonard Banks while grocery shopping, and he “tried to start an altercation with her.”

“He’s not a nice guy,” she said.

Ms. Workman said she did not know Mr. Belt personally, but knew his name because she grew up in the area.

Authorities did not say who provided the crucial information they needed to make the arrests.

Douglas County Prosecutor Matthew Weatherman said at the news conference that someone “came forward after keeping this inside for almost 30 years” and that his testimony was “rock solid.”

“It’s as good as a 1989 case can be,” Mr. Weatherman said, calling the testimony “the last piece” authorities needed.

The three men were in custody Friday and being held on $250,000 bond, according to court records. They are scheduled to appear in court on March 5, according to court records.

A lawyer for Mr. Belt did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Court records did not list attorneys for Bobby Lee Banks or Leonard Banks.

Authorities said the three men had been interviewed about the case in the past, but there was never enough evidence or testimony to charge them.

“It was just a sequence of gathering all the facts that everyone could put together as best they could,” Mr. Weatherman said, adding that he planned to file a motion to seek a speedy trial in the case.

“We’re not going to mess with this,” he said. “We’re going to move forward and take this to the jury as quickly as the judge and the courts allow us.”

Kelle Ann Workman disappeared on June 30, 1989. Around dinner time, her parents started to worry because she wasn’t home yet. They reported her missing to police, who began an extensive search for her in and around Douglas County.

Pam Workman said she was 22 at the time and living in Kansas City, Missouri. The day after Kelle Anne went missing, Pam Workman said, her aunt and uncle knocked on her apartment door and told her the news.

“I will never forget that day,” Pam Workman said. “I can close my eyes and see it like it was yesterday. It’s a day I will never forget. That was the longest drive home from Kansas City ever.

The last time Kelle Anne Workman was seen, she was mowing the grass at Dogwood Cemetery in Douglas County, where she worked.

Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase said Wednesday that the killing was “something that has been going on in Douglas County for 35 years.”

“We’re very pleased that we’ve been able to hopefully provide some closure for the family and get Kelle justice,” Sheriff Degase said, standing just a few feet away from the cemetery where Kelle Ann Workman was last seen.

Pam Workman said over the years she sometimes felt like her sister’s case had been put on the back burner. Now she hopes the arrests will encourage others whose loved ones have been victims of cold cases not to lose their faith.

“None of this is going to bring Kelle back,” she said. “But above all, there is justice for Kelly.”