The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 17

Sunday April 1990 The Kansas City Star A-l 7 deaths ruled homicides after parents push for facts It's a theory the parents believe too Curtis Henry said it appeared to him that were involved people who would know how to cover up a crime "They took too long to go to the trouble of putting them on the tracks" Henry said did it knew what they were doing and knew that a train would destroy almost all the Through all the ups and downs including heart bypass surgery for Curtis Henry neither family was willing to give up and they still aren't "Give up? Larry Ives said you wonder if you're ever going to get anything done but you never a green tarp? Definitely No quitting Garrett and Harmon the prosecutors who handled the grand jury investigation think the drug trade was involved They point to the violent deaths of at least six Saline County residents who were subpoenaed by the grand jury or were discussed during its investigation One man stabbed 134 times told the lawyers two weeks before his death that he was afraid for his life The most recent killing occurred early this year after a woman informed police of her former boyfriend's drug dealings She was found with her throat slashed The lawyers believe Kevin and Don may have stumbled onto a drug deal or saw something they have If it is worth selling Star Classified ads will sell it fast To place your adjust dial 234-4000 TWO WEEKS ONLY! Continued from A-1 train approached? The grand jury special prosecutors some investigators and the boys' families contend Kevin and Don were dead before the train ever hit them They believe it was murder Last month an Arkansas judge agreed and changed the official cause of death from accidental to homicide A victory for the families it came only after the parents sued the state "I think very Linda Ives said of the ruling you ever have an arrest (in the case) how can you go into court with a death certificate that says But the ruling meant much more than that Finally their names had been cleared Any link to drug overdoses and the connotations that go with it was erased from the record Their battle though is not over Whoever killed Kevin Ives and Don Henry remains free And until the families know who murdered their sons and why they will continue to fight Good kids Kevin was Linda and Larry only son the second of two children He was the type of kid who made parents proud Neighborhood youngsters gathered around when Kevin 17 washed his car or challenged one of them to a video game And the girls far behind either just was personality Linda Ives remembered perfect by any means but he was real He was a good student liked by teachers and classmates a youth who looked forward to life after high school Don Henry 16 much different Don a fnend of for about six months could carry on a conversation with just about anyone his family says sit and talk to an 80-year-old person just as soon as he would a person his own father Curtis Henry said liked people" The two teen-agers spent the summer of 1987 doing what most soon-to-be high school seniors did They cruised they hung out and they partied some Friends said both teens shared a marijuana cigarette now and then and sometimes drank alcohol They however considered Curtis Henry remembered talking to his son just hours before the boy was found dead act Henry recalled he did made me detect anything was The boys ready to go to sleep so they decided to do some late night deer hunting It was about 4:30 am when the Union Pacific train passed into Saline County Ark and headed toward the crossing at Alexander doing 50 mph The crew spotted something on the tracks Two figures were on their backs side by side their heads inside one rail their legs hanging over the other Their hands were folded A rifle was between them It looked like a green tarp covered them from the waist down The engineer threw on the emergency brakes and sounded the horn and whistle The boys never moved The remains were assembled at the state medical examiner's office in nearby Little Rock There Dr Fahmy Malak ruled the boys each had smoked 20 marijuana cigarettes and had fallen into a deep sleep the psychedelic of the drug Former Sheriff James Steed said he and still think homicide was a strong possibility was admittedly a strange accident" Steed said in an interview we found nothing that showed conclusively that it was a Public pressure Days after their boys were buried Linda and Larry Ives and Curtis and Marvelle Henry started a campaign to find some answers we wanted was a second opinion" Linda Ives said the more we persisted the worse it got" Their prime target has been Malak state medical examiner The families contend that had Malak cooperated with them in the weeks after the deaths the killers could be in jail now made it clear that his ruling was it and there any chance for it being a mistake" Larry Ives said wanted to send a message out to all the children of Arkansas that drugs will kill you And he would say anything to make it look his The families were not only upset that the deaths were ruled accidental but that Malak included references to drug use on the death certificates After five months of facing brick walls and spending thousands of dollars on a private investigator among other things the families turned to the media The public pressure worked Just days after the families held a news conference pleading for official help the assistant prosecutor and a former prosecutor called was a great Linda Ives said someone was going to sit and listen and look at the case It was hard enough to deal with the loss without having to fight being told that just a hysterical parent you know what talking A inquiry much like a inquest was held There were enough unanswered questions that Assistant Prosecutor Richard Garrett and Special Prosecutor Dan Harmon were allowed to have a grand jury investigate In what may have been the biggest break the prosecutors enlisted the help of Dr Joe Burton an Atlanta medical examiner who investigated the Atlanta child murders that took place between 1979 and 1981 and cases against serial killer Ted Bundy Burton performed an autopsy in early April 1988 He determined the boys had smoked no more than two or three marijuana cigarettes in the hours before they died boys could not have been unconscious or would not have been unconscious from smoking marijuana with the amount that was found in their blood" Burton said in a telephone interview Burton found evidence that Malak had overlooked Congestion in the boys' lungs indicated that they had been hurt before being hit by the train He also discovered an imprint on Kevin face the size and shape of the butt of their rifle He said a blow could have knocked out Kevin or even killed him And Burton found what appeared to be a 5-inch deep stab wound in Don back The wound was consistent with a cut made in shirt The grand jury heard testimony and 125 other witnesses during eight months before disbanding without returning an indictment without answering who killed the boys and why But the jury members did hand the teen-agers' families what they had been seeking: a ruling that "the deaths of Don Henry and Kevin Ives were definitely the result of foul Frustration turned to tears go through life believing that when something like this happens the authorities step in and take care of Larry Ives said we realized that if you push for something it happen It was a good feeling to know we were finally getting what we had wanted all Regardless of the grand finding though Malak stood by his ruling A spokesman in his Little Rock office said the doctor had no comment Malak has not discussed case publicly since 1 988 But boss said the State Crime Laboratory would not consider the deaths homicides is our contention that still an accident death" said Jim Clark executive director of the crime lab If investigators presented new evidence that proved homicide "then Dr Malak does not have any problem in changing the way he would testify" And without the state medical examiner changing his mind the county Sheriff Department see any reason to investigate But 1988 was an election year and the families made the deaths a political fireball The Iveses went door-to-door in support of Sheriff opponent They posted signs passed out handbills and worked the polling places Steed lost the election Voters elected Larry Davis the first Republican sheriff in Saline ounty After he won the sheriff office Davis called for a new investigation 1 took office the Sheriff Department was not doing anything" Davis said just dropped it" Davis and Danny Allen the chief investigator said they believed all along the deaths were murder boy maybe an Allen said "But two lying side by side covered up with Save On Your Favorite Perm Directives Exothermic Perm SALE 53150 Reg 5600 Give your hair newfound freedom and softness with this uplifting perm! Includes haircut and styling Selected stylists Long hair and spiral perms priced by consultation Oak Park 492 0692 Ward Parkway: 361-8618 Independence: 795-0266 Dillards PLAZA TOPEKA ANTIOCH METR0N0RTH INDIAN SPRINGS INDEPENDENCE OAK PARK BANNISTER MISSION WARD PARKWAY A GIFT FROM LAU FINAL WEEK "New Beauty Strategies" Yours with any $1250 Estee Lauder Purchase Beautiful Perfumed Body Creme Skin Perfecting Creme Firming Nourisher Luscious Creme Mascara All-Day Lipstick Instant Action Rinse-Off Cleanser Eyelash Comb POfl COWVENtENCE We accept Amsncsr Express Visa Master Card Discover ftnr DuD your Dard card Dillards SHOP TODAY N30N 6 I DISCOfER THE DIFFERENCE AT DILLARD'S I IN IE GRIM QUALITY COURTESY JVALUE STYLE.