Thursday & Friday
Sept 9th & 10th
INITIAL REPORT TO AUBURN POLICE DEPARTMENT SGT. BUTTS
Thursday, September 9, 1982
• At 8:00 am, the carpool picked up Kristi and John for school, and Paul went to work at the PCSO Jail facility in Auburn.
•At 9:20 am, Paul phoned the Auburn Police Department to ask for an officer. APD dispatch sent Sgt. Steven Butts to that location.
•At 10:00 am, Butts made a handwritten report of his conversation with Paul Kovacich.
• During the interview Sgt. Butts asked Paul to call Jean Gregoire at work to ask if Jean had seen Janet, or knew where she was. Jean stated that she had not seen or spoken to Janet since she dropped her off at Forest Court on the evening of September 7th.
• Butts informed both Paul and Jean that, absent evidence of a crime or suicide risk, he could not file a missing person report for 72 hours from the last time she was seen—that time being reported as 10:00 am on Wednesday the 8th.
• Janet had not taken a car, only her purse was missing. There was no public transportation nearby.
SEVENTY-TWO HOUR POLICY • NO STATUTE OR STATE REQUIREMENT
• In 1982, at the time of Janet’s disappearance, there was no California statute that required law enforcement to investigate a missing person report after a specific number of hours or other conditions.
• Prior to 1989 and the enactment of P.C.§13519.1 & P.C.§14210(a), local agencies had broad discretion, and no specific training for missing persons was required under POST.
• The 1989 law required every California law enforcement jurisdiction to file a report, and render assistance to locate the missing person immediately upon receiving the information.
• Rather than “telling no one” that Janet was missing, it is documented that between 3:00 pm on the 8th, and 10:00 am on the 9th, Paul Kovacich told Brenda Krch, Marion Entz (twice), Mrs. Myres, Leo Gregoire (twice), Paul’s parents, Jean Gregoire, another PCSO officer at the jail, and APD Butts that Janet was not home as expected. It was not a secret, and Paul wasn’t hiding the information.
• Butts took the missing person report, but... in accordance with Auburn PD policy, he waited 72 hours to file it. The policy, and Butts’ inaction had nothing to do with Paul.
• APD Chief Willick explained what happened during this period to the Grand Jury during his 2006 testimony:
•Between 1982-2009, both Butts and APD Chief Willick were repeatedly asked about the delay, and they always cited the department’s policy.
• It is documented by multiple investigators, in sworn testimony, and that is exactly what Willick told the Auburn Journal —a few weeks after Janet went missing:
Auburn Journal September 29, 1982
• On August 15, 2006, APD Sgt. Butts explained the 72-hour waiting period in a phone interview with Placer DA Investigator David Koppin:
• At trial, Butts again confirmed the 72 hour waiting period, and his handwritten report as being the only genuine report: “I didn’t type anything,” he told the jury.
Auburn PD Sgt. Stephen Butts' sworn trial testimony, November 10, 2008.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1982
NO NEWS
• Kristi and John Kovacich went to school, and Paul went to work at the jail.
• At 2:05 pm, Paul called Dr. Burke (Janet’s plastic surgeon) to ask if Janet had arrived for her scheduled appointment at 2:00 pm. The staff informed Paul that Janet was not there, and had not called to cancel.
• After school, Paul’s parents helped with the children.
• Janet’s parents had not contacted Auburn PD, filed a missing person report, or called Paul to see if Janet had returned or called home.
Auburn's Gold Country Fair, September 9, 10, 11 & 12, 1982
AUBURN JOURNAL