For Phoenix New Times, Stephen Lemons unravels an intriguing true-crime mystery. Nineteen years ago, 46-year-old Keith King vanished from the small town of Seligman, Arizona. According to one account, he took off for a hike on May 7, 2006—and was never seen again. “It was as if he’d been beamed up by one of the extraterrestrials he believed in and sometimes believed himself to be. A missing person’s case was opened and inquiries were made, but the mystery of King’s disappearance has remained unsolved,” writes Lemons. Now, with the help of a private investigator, one of King’s adult daughters, Lindsey King, believes she knows who killed her father, and where the remains of his body can be found.
Holes also began to form in Wells’ account. She told deputies she’d retrieved King’s wallet from his truck, only to later claim that he left his wallet, cell phone and checkbook in his RV. Wells, who had done two years in prison in the early 2000s for multiple drug violations, also claimed others had seen Keith since he vanished. Those sightings never panned out.
Not long after Keith disappeared, a helicopter search was conducted. It turned up nothing. Later, a search and rescue team scoured Seligman and beyond with cadaver-sniffing dogs. No body was found. According to the police report and relatives, the King family tirelessly drove up to Seligman to paper the town with posters and even employed psychics to aid in the search.
These efforts proved futile. In 2009, three years after anyone had laid eyes on Keith King, the sheriff’s office declared the case closed. Closed it has remained, gathering dust in the files of the county sheriff’s Cold Case Unit.
Then, 12 years later, a private investigator began frequenting The Main Ingredient.
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