MISSING PERSON
CASE #: 2006-57
Liehnia May Chapin
Status:
Open
Date of Last Contact:
Date of Last Contact:
Jurisdiction:
Missing From:
Steelville, Missouri
Summary:
Liehnia May Chapin, a 20-year-old mother of one, disappeared on Valentine's Day 2006 from her apartment near Steelville, Missouri. Her mother, Sandra Klemp, stated Chapin had gone to Florida with another man in a black 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier, but she has never been heard from again. In the years since, there haven't been any major developments in Lena's case.
Vital Statistics
Circumstances of Disappearance:
Chapin was last seen at her apartment outside of Steelville in Dent County, Missouri on February 14, 2006. Her fiance stated they said goodbye when he left that morning, and when he returned in the evening, Chapin was gone and her mother was cleaning out her apartment. Chapin's mother, Sandra Klemp, stated Chapin had gone to Florida with another man in a black 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier. Chapin's fiance moved out of the apartment about a month after her disappearance. When cleaning out the unit, the apartment building's owner noted that a window was broken and there was a large dark-colored stain on the carpet that couldn't be shampooed out.
Additional Details:
She wasn't reported missing until November 2008, and the Dent County Sheriff's Office didn't actually begin investigating her case until 2012, six years after she was last seen. Her mother has never cooperated with the investigation into her daughter's disappearance. Chapin's stepfather, Gary McCullough, disappeared in 1999, when she was thirteen years old. In 2003, Chapin went to Gary's brother Albert and told him her Sandra had shot Gary three times in the head and then made her help clean up the crime scene. Chapin said she and Sandra cleaned up the blood, pulled up the carpets and bleached the floor, and they wrapped Gary's body in plastic and burned it in a brush fire until only bone fragments remained. Albert recorded Chapin's statement without her knowledge and took the tape to the authorities. In 2012, his two daughters filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Chapin, Sandra and Kristopher. The lawsuit alleged Sandra and Kristopher conspired to kill Gary. Although a summons was issued for Chapin to testify in the civil trial, it was never delivered. The tape-recorded statement she made was not played before the jury, although Chapin's sister testified that Chapin had made a similar statement to her. In the summer of 2013, the civil jury unanimously awarded $7 million in damages to Gary's daughters in connection with his wrongful death. There has been no activity on Chapin's Social Security number since her disappearance, and she left all her belongings behind. Liehnia "Lena" Chapin is still listed as a missing person by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Kristopher and Sandra divorced in 2014 and Sandra has since married her fifth husband and lives in Mount Vernon, Missouri.
Case Last Updated:
Timeline of Events
In the summer of 2013, the civil jury unanimously awarded $7 million in damages to Gary's daughters in connection with his wrongful death.
The Dent County Sheriff's Office opened a file on Lena's disappearance in March of 2012. Authorities learned that six years prior she was living with her fiancé Jason Bryant in an apartment outside of Steelville. Bryant told detectives he left Lena behind the morning of Valentine's Day, 2006, with a kiss and a promise to return.
She wasn't reported missing until November 2008
Chapin last seen at her apartment outside of Steelville in Dent County, Missouri. Her fiance said goodbye when he left in the morning, and when he returned in the evening, Chapin was gone and her mother was cleaning out her apartment.
Associated Persons
Albert M. (Person of Interest) - Living
Kristopher K. (Stepfather figure) - Living
Gary M. (Stepfather) - Deceased
Sandra K. (Mother) - Living
Jason B. (Fiance) - Living
Family Tree
Why is this important?Missing person
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Maternal Grandfather's Father
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Missing Person
Missing Person
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