Missing and Murdered Children

Original Post: June 13, 2006Last Updated: June 22, 2009View Sources

An Amber Alert has been issued for two Indiana brothers alleged to have been abducted at knife point from their home.

The brothers are Monte L. Walker, a 2-year-old white male and Collin J. Walker, a 4-year-old white male. The alleged abductor is their father, Katron Lance Walker, age 32 years.

This from the State of Indiana Amber Plan site:

The Terre Haute P.D. is investigating a report of two (2) abducted children from 1695 South S.R. 46. in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Information on the children is as follows: Collin J. Walker, a 4 year-old white male born Nov. 26, 2001, 3′4″ tall, weighing 43 pounds, with short red hair and blue eyes, with a reddish scar above the right eyebrow, last seen wearing a dark green T-shirt with the word ‘Athletics’ on the front and a white in color numeral ‘6′ on the back. Khaki colored shorts with a stain on the right leg and Navy blue/grey/orange colored tennis shoes.

Also abducted was Monte L. Walker, a 2 year-old white male born Sept. 3, 2003, 3′ tall, weighing 30 pounds, with short red hair, blue eyes and a birthmark in his hair above his right ear, last seen wearing a white zipper shirt with blue collar and red and navy blue stripes around the bottom of the shirt, with white socks and navy blue shoes.

The children were last seen at 1:13 p.m. at 1695 South S.R. 46 in Terre Haute, Indiana and are believed to be in extreme danger.

Terre Haute P.D. says the children were likely abducted by Katron Lance Walker who also goes by the name Ratron Walker who is a white male, 32 years-old, born June 16, 1973 with a tattoo on his head with the letters I – C – E and another unknown tattoo on the left arm, last seen wearing a white T-shirt, jean shorts and a grey ball cap.

Walker allegedly took the children by knife point and was last seen driving a and suspect vehicle is 1990 two tone grey full custom Chevrolet Van with Indiana license 84 H 9897 which was last seen traveling southbound on S.R. 46, just south of Hulman Street in Terre Haute, Indiana.

If you have any information on these children, please contact Terre Haute P.D. at 1-888-58AMBER.¹

I will be covering this story as information becomes available.

Updates 

June 14th, 2006: 12:30 a.m. PDT

WTHR is reporting that the Amber Alert issued for Collin and Monte Walker was called off just before midnight. Police would not give any information other than to say that they were working a crime scene. When asked if the children were alright, they stated they could not give out that information.

Another headline found on the web stated: “Amber Alert Ends Tragically”.

I will keep following this story.

June 15, 2006

Unfortunately the case turned deadly for four-year-old Collin Walker, his father stabbed him to death. In the case of two-year-old Monte Walker, he was also stabbed by his father, but at the time of this writing he is recovering at a Terre Haute, Indiana hospital. Why did this happen? Could this kidnapping have been handled differently by law enforcement? The Amber Alert should have been called earlier based on the gravity of the situation:

Police say Walker took his children at knife point from their grandparents Terre Haute home at around 1:00 pm Tuesday. Teresa Walker recently filed for divorce, calling her husband mentally unstable and threatening.

“He took the kids. They were screaming. They are in danger, severe danger,” said Walker.

The criteria for issuing an Amber Alert in Indiana:

The children involved must be under age 18

Collin Walker was 4-years-old and Monte Walker was 2-years-old

Police must believe they were abducted and in danger.

This is a difficult concept for the public to deal with because it is the police who must believe the child has been abducted and in danger. Police do not operate off of emotion; they only operate on facts.

However, the reporting party, the mother, indicated that Katron had taken the children at knife point, the children were screaming in fear, and taken without permission.

There must be enough descriptive information to believe that a statewide broadcast will help.

Not only was there a good description of the children and her estranged husband provided by the mother of the children; the person who drove Katron to the location was thrown out of the vehicle. Thus, police had an excellent description of the vehicle at their disposal.

The request must come from the law enforcement agency of jurisdiction.

There is no explanation why it took four hours for law enforcement to activate the Amber Alert

Collin and Monte’s Last Day with Their Father

Katron had spent many happy hours at the lake with his family on previous outings so when one of the Anita Smothers, a fellow camper saw him with his boys no alarm bells rang for her. In fact, she said Katron played with the boys, they appeared to be having fun, and even told their dad that they loved him. The Anita hung out with Katron and his boys with her child and cooked hot dogs and the children all took a nap in the afternoon in her tent.

Later in the evening the Anita’s father arrived and immediately noticed the subject van of the Amber Alert. He matched the license plate and called authorities. By this time it was well past 10 p.m. and authorities had to make the approach to apprehend Katron and safely rescue Monte and Collin.

Here is the account of what happened during the attempted rescue of the boys:

Authorities were closing in on Katron Walker early Wednesday morning. Their bloodhounds searched the darkness of a private campground when police say Walker bolted past them.

“Mr. Walker ran out of an abandoned trailer on the east end of the lake. He had both boys under his arms and jumped in the lake,” said Bill Berghem, Terre Haute Police Department…

…Smothers and police dove in after them.

“I shoved the little boy up there and went back to get the other one and the water was so stirred up, I couldn’t see more than a foot in front of my face,” Smothers said.

Running out of air, but desperate, Anita Smothers dove back in the 40 foot depths to find four-year-old Collin.

“I knew I was past my ten-minute mark, but I just wanted him in my hands,” she said. “I went after Katron and said, ‘Tell me where you threw that baby! And he said, ‘Probably at the bottom of the lake by now,’” said Smothers…

It does not appear that law enforcement personnel could have handled this situation any other way. I do believe if the Amber Alert had been issued earlier the abduction could have resulted in a better outcome for the boys.

Apparently Katron Walker also stabbed himself. He is recovering from a punctured lung. He tested positive for both marijuana and methamphetamine. Bloody rags and a bloody steak knife were found in the abandoned trailer.

Authorities state that Katron Walker has not made any formal statements except to say:

“…he can’t believe he killed his children…”

Believe it Katron, you killed one son and nearly killed the other one.

Police say at this point Katron Walker will be charged with murder and attempted murder and more charges could follow.

2008

Katron Walker’s trial date is set to begin on September 22, 2008. I will be covering the trial on my other blog The End of the Story. Check for updates there. ²

Katron’s trial date was moved to February 2, 2009 with a pre-trial conference set for January 20, 2009.

June 22, 2009

There will be no trial for Katron Walker. As part of a plea agreement Walker plead guilty to murder and attempted murder today in Vigo Superior Court. The prosecution dropped the death penalty request. The judge set Walker’s sentencing hearing for date for August 31 August 18. ³.

Sources 

1. State of Indiana AMBER Plan [↩]
2. Katron Walker to be Tried Fall 2008, TribStar.com, Last Accessed: August 3, 2009. [↩]
3. Walker Pleads Guilty to Son’s Stabbing Death, WTHR, Last Accessed: August 3, 2009. [↩]