Missing Person

 AUBURN PD SEARCH 

• On Monday, Sep. 13th, Auburn PD issued its first public appeal for information five days after Janet’s disappearance on the 8th, and four days after Sgt. Butts took the missing person report on the morning of the 9th.

• Janet did not appear at Sierra College for the first day of classes.

• APD obtained copies of the Kovacich long distance phone records, credit cards, and bank account information; checked nearby women’s shelters, motels, travel agencies, buses, taxis, car rentals, airlines, and trains—all “with negative results.” 

• The Kovacichs had their accounts at Crocker Bank (also at Rock Creek Plaza), and the first ATM machine had opened there a few months earlier. Auburn PD failed to ask the bank and credit card issuers to report any unsuccessful attempts to use the cards (only completed purchases), so that information remains unknown.

 LACK OF CANVASS 

FOREST COURT—ONLY THREE HOMES CONTACTED

• There are sixteen total residences on Forest Court, and according to APD reports, witness statements, and trial exhibits/testimony: residents of only three homes were contacted—the two immediate next door neighbors, and the other carpool driver at the far end of the court.

 • September 12, 1982, at 9:00 pm, Auburn PD Chief Willick interviewed Elaine Cunningham at #329. (NOTE: Following the voluntary consent search of Kovacich residence)

• September 13, 1982, at 5:30 pm, Willick interviewed Terry & Daniel Rubio at #252.

(NOTE: Dan Rubio had previously been an officer with Auburn PD, who was fired in 1975 for misconduct).

• September 16, 1982, at 10:24 am, APD Boon interviewed Frances Myres at #243. Nobody in law enforcement spoke to Mrs. Myres, Janet Kovacich's closet neighbor and friend on Forest Court, until eight days after she disappeared.

• The neighbors at 240 and 250 Katherine Way, whose homes looked down into the Kovacich rear yard, were never interviewed.

• The Sisters of Mercy property was an obvious point of access to the Kovacich back yard, yet staff and residents there were never interviewed, and the CalDOJ forensic team conducted no search of the area. 

• In 1982, the only way to reach Forest Court was from Carolyn Street—either off Katherine or Ginger. Katherine was blocked off to the south (the fight over opening that connector lasted more than a decade), so the total number of homes for a complete canvass was 75-100. 

• Not only did Auburn PD refuse to knock on doors, or make phone calls, they didn't even leave missing person flyers asking for information. They didn’t make any review of police reports for prior issues with prowlers, burglaries, thefts, unwanted phone calls, or strange vehicles parked in the area. Nobody in the neighborhood knew exactly when Janet was last seen, or what they should be reporting to the police—so nobody reported anything. 

LACK OF INVESTIGATION

FAILURE TO CHECK ALIBI

•Paul never changed any of the details or timing of his stated activities on the morning he last saw Janet. His first stop after he left the house was Rock Creek Plaza, about 15 minutes north of Forest Court. The Kovacichs shopped there often because it was close to PCSO, other county offices, and the gym used by members of law enforcement and their families. Paul explain his activities to APD Butts on the morning on the 9th, to APD Boon on the 12th, and again to Boon and PCSO Smith on the 15th:

• Paul did not know it, but Boon and Smith had already decided that Paul was lying about his entire alibi, starting with his claim that he had seen Valvoline and STP on sale in the paper that morning. Paul described that he thought it was at Payless, but then couldn’t find it when he got there. 

• Rather than simply look at the newspaper to confirm Paul’s story, or even tell him that they didn't believe him so he could provide the ad, Boon and Smith called him a liar in their files. This carried over all the way through the trial, and into closing arguments where the prosecutor told the jury that it was an “alib-lie.” 

• The ad was right on page 5 of the Auburn Journal—Paul simply glanced and thought the Raley’s ad was for Payless. 

The two hours between 10:00 am and Noon

•The timeframe that needed checking by Auburn PD for Paul’s alibi was from 10:00 am, when Entz last talked to Janet on the phone, to 12:00 pm when Paul was confirmed to have spoken to other deputies at the Sheriff’s office. The first location to be checked was K-Mart, speaking to all employees at work from 10:00 am-12:00 pm, and asking to view any surveillance footage. 

•Next Boon and Smith needed to check the same for Payless, and any video that covered the common parking lot where Paul said that he parked and walked between stores at Rock Creek Plaza. 

•The third stop should have been at the sheriff's station accounting office with Beverly Brunkhorst. 

•Nobody from Auburn PD, Placer County Sheriff's Office, Placer DA’s Office, CalDOJ, or the FBI ever made any contact with those first three witnesses/locations. Nothing—no attempt of any kind ever. They didn’t check because they didn't want to find any evidence that contradicted their theory that Paul had killed Janet during that time frame. 

•In 2009—after Paul had been convicted and sent to prison, Beverly Brunkhorst was finally questioned. She confirmed that she received timesheets from Paul in 1982, and that she had never been asked about the morning of September 8th:

• Investigators first contact with employees at the gym (the fourth stop in Paul’s alibi) was on Friday, September 17th—nine days after Janet disappeared. Paul said that he arrived in his workout clothes so he didn't sign out a locker key and towel. Employee Cindy Shaver said that she saw Paul in the weight room, and asked after Janet—who had taken a class from her. Cindy remembered the time being sometime between 9:00-10:00 am, but she couldn’t be sure of the exact time so long after the fact.

•APD Boon and PCSO Smith made no attempt to find or interview other gym users who had signed in, or recorded their weight room statistics on the 8th. When Paul sat for an interview with Boon, and Smith on Wednesday the 15th, he was shocked to discover that the investigators had not talked to anyone who could verify his morning activities, saying: “If you don’t get me out of the way, then you’re never going to find the person who did this.”

•There were customers at the K-Mart/Payless shopping center, people working out at the gym, and numerous county employees around the Sheriff’s Office, and no member of law enforcement made the slightest attempt to contact any of them. There were several articles in the Auburn Journal pleading for leads in Janet’s case, and Auburn PD never told the public that they were looking for alibi witnesses, or even the locations where someone may have encountered Paul. There was no way for anyone to know that they may have seen something important, or had valuable information about the case. 

•Paul was told by Sheriff Nunes, in writing, that if he made public pleas for information it would be considered witness tampering, obstruction, and interference with the investigation, and would lead to discipline and termination from PCSO. Paul, Kristi, and John were left hoping that Auburn PD and PCSO investigators were doing their job, and would bring Janet home safely.