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30+ Years After Girl Was Sexually Assaulted And Murdered, Her Alleged Killer's Been Found
11-year-old Kathleen Flynn went missing after school one day in 1986.
A Maine man has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting and murdering an 11-year-old girl in 1986, marking a potential resolution of a decades-old cold case.
Authorities arrested Marc Karun as he was leaving his home on Wednesday for the decades-old murder of Kathleen Flynn, the Norwalk, Connecticut police department announced Thursday. Maine State police officers worked with members of the Norwalk police department to make the arrest.
Kathlynn Fynn’s mother reported her missing on September 23, 1986, when she failed to return home from school by her usual time of 3:15 p.m., NBC Connecticut reports. Police say that Flynn’s friends recalled seeing her walking near a path by the tennis courts after school that day; her body was later found in a wooded area around 100 feet from that same path, the outlet reports.
Police reached out to the public 30 years later, in 2016, in pursuit of any potential leads in the case, in the hopes that current technology could potentially lead them toward a resolution, according to NBC Connecticut.
While details regarding how police came to view Karun as a suspect and his eventual capture have not yet been released, authorities have said that a press conference on the matter will be held in Norwalk some time in the near future.
Karun is currently in custody at the Penobscot County Jail, where he will remain until authorities determine the terms of his extradition, police said Thursday.
He is a registered sex offender, with a 1989 conviction of sexual assault to his name, CNN reports. That crime was committed in Connecticut, but he is also a lifetime registrant on Maine’s online sex offender registry, according to the outlet.
Flynn’s family reacted to news of Karun’s arrest via a statement issued by Norwalk police Thursday.
“We wish to thank the Norwalk Police Department for bringing Kathleen’s murderer to justice,” it reads. “This continues to be a very difficult time for us and we do not wish to make any further comments. We ask the media to please respect our privacy."
