by Debbie Burke
Today’s true crime case is a real head scratcher. It involves a missing father and son and burial records that disappeared from a cemetery in my hometown of Kalispell, Montana.
Founded in 1903, Conrad Cemetery is the final resting place for early settlers in the Flathead Valley and continues to serve the area to the present day. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Greek Revival-style monuments rest on 104 acres of rolling hillsides that overlook the city of Kalispell. Orange lichen adds patina to granite and marble headstones from the early 1900s.
The cemetery has more than 18,000 burial sites. Every Memorial Day and Veterans Day, flags decorate the lush green grounds. Ceremonies commemorate sacrifices by members of the armed services. A number of my veteran friends are buried there including Fred Salter.
For decades, a sextant named James “Jim” Korn, now in his 90s, has overseen management of all records and groundskeeping. Many families whom he assisted consider him a trusted friend. He is a walking encyclopedia of history, names, dates, legends, and lore.
Jim lived on the cemetery grounds in a quaint yellow cottage with records stored on the lower level. When he began to have medical problems, his son Kevin was hired to assist with the job until a replacement sextant could be found.
Then, keys went missing. The only keys were traced to Jim and Kevin. The keys were returned but the cemetery board of directors became suspicious.
In June 2025, a board member and maintenance workers discovered the cemetery office had been ransacked.
Jim and Kevin were nowhere to be found.
Also missing were computers, phones, printers, backup thumb drives, and boxes of index cards that recorded gravesite purchases. Their value exceeds $2500.
The last contact was an email later in June purportedly from Jim, saying he would respond to the board’s questions after talking with his attorney.
According to the Daily Inter Lake newspaper, in August the cemetery board filed a civil lawsuit against the Korns for taking the records and demanded their return.
The whereabouts of the Korns remains unknown. The records are still missing.
With no way of knowing which gravesites had already been sold, the cemetery can’t sell new sites, which stymies ongoing operations. Worse, mourning families have had to delay funerals or find other cemeteries.
Hundreds of local residents have come forward, offering their personal family records to help recreate the missing documents.
The strange incident raises two big questions:
- Where are Jim and Kevin Korn?
- Why steal records that have no value except for cemetery operations?
Given Jim’s good reputation, people are concerned for the wellbeing of the man in his 90s. Is he alive?
What motivation is behind the theft? Did the thief plan to hold records hostage hoping to extort money for their return? Is there a personal grudge involved?
Until the Korns are located, or the records are returned, the crime remains unsolved and speculation will continue.
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TKZers: What do you make of this mysterious crime? Can you think of other possible motives?
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The Villain’s Journey-How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate covers many unusual motives for crimes. Check out strange motives and stranger villains at:
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