KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After a rough childhood, a metro woman says her son had turned it all around. Just in time to have him ripped away from his family.
It’s pretty, it’s pretty tough to go on each day knowing that, you know, there has to be some, someone that knows exactly what happened,” Dana Godfrey said.
Godfrey might say that’s the hardest part. Besides her son Christian’s permanent absence. She and her daughter Kirsten Olivarez have no idea what happened to him.
“There’s been multiple stories of what, what, you know, what happened,” Godfrey said. “But at this point, quite honestly, we don’t know, you know, what, what to trust or believe from anybody.”
Five days after Christmas last year, 20-year-old Christian Olivarez kissed his mom and sister goodbye and headed out to drop off a friend.
“And he said, ‘OK, love you guys. I’ll see you later.’ And that’s the last time we seen him,” Godfrey said.
“He was at home, got a phone call, went out to meet some people, and basically about 10:15 that evening he was shot and killed,” Det. Kevin Boehm said, with Crime Stoppers of Greater Kansas City. “We’re still unsure if he was going to go in the home or not. But he did get out of the car.”
Boehm said it was a little cul-de-sac and someone had come up to the car to talk to him for a minute. This is according to the kid that was with them. And then Christian had gotten out
“And then soon as they got out.”
“You have to go on you. I mean, you can’t give up,” Godfrey said. And I know Christian wouldn’t want us to give up, but you know, you still have to support yourself. And you still have to make sure that, that things are taken care of. So we’re forced to do that with the lump in our throat.”
“People need to realize this is permanent. Somebody took him from me and my mom and his niece and his nephews and we will never get him back,” Christian’s sister Kirsten said. “The least they could do is come forward with something.”
Boehm said if somebody is reluctant to speak directly to the police and to the detectives, they’re always the best next option.
“We will keep you anonymous. You can feel confident that you give us the information as much detail as possible. We will act as the intermediary between the department and the tipster.”
She’ll never get her brother back. But knowing who killed him and why holds deep meaning for Kirsten.
“It’ll mean that there are still people who are human, you know, cause you can’t just, I don’t understand why kids his age are just going and killing. What gives you the right to just take somebody’s life and choose when it’s their time? You know, like people think this is a game and they think they’re never going to get caught, or they think, you know, they just don’t care.
Crime Stoppers tell FOX4 they don’t have any tips on this case.
If you have any information on the murder of Christian Olivarez, call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474- TIPS. There is a $25,000 reward in this case.
