The year was 1996, in January a blizzard hit the Eastern US killing 50 people. Britain was alarmed by an outbreak of mad cow disease. In happier news Rent opened off Broadway but would become a very successful Broadway play and movie. Bill Clinton was re-elected president, and kids everywhere were doing the Macarena. Lunchables were what you craved and ER was what was on the tv. Heading out to a backyard baseball game and then a super soaker war with your friends. The 90’s were a great time to be alive and a child, the endless fun until the street lights came on and then you headed home tired, happy and so excited to get up and do it all over again. For one family tragedy would hit their small neighborhood of Elder Circle, (near Austin,Texas) changing their lives forever.
Katherine with Jon Bon Jovi.
Katherine Erin Korzilius was born October 5, 1989 to Paul and Nancy, she had one older brother Christopher who went by Chris. Kathering was a happy six year old. Her father Paul was a manager for the rock star, Jon Bon Jovi. The family lived in the Elder Circle neighborhood, near Austin, Texas, there were only 40 homes in this very affluent neighborhood. Katherine grew up in a two million dollar home. Next to her home was a vacant lot. (NOTE: Today there is a multi-million dollar home built in this lot.) On August 7, 1996, around 4 pm Nancy, Chris and Katherine were returning from a day of shopping, Paul’s birthday was coming up and they were buying him new golf clubs. The trio made their daily stop at the mailbox where little Katherine happily jumped out and retrieved the mail as she had done so many times before, handed the mail to her mother and asked if she could walk back home alone. Nancy would say yes, as this was not the first time Katherine had walked back from the mailboxes, it was just a short distance away (NOTE: Some articles state it was only 4 houses away from the mailbox) and by all accounts would beat her mom and brother home, she would usually be sitting on the porch waiting for them. This time when Nancy pulled down the long drive her daughter was nowhere to be seen, not thinking much of it, she went inside with her son. After some time had passed, maybe ten fifteen minutes, Chris tells his mom Katherine still isn’t back. The way Nancy took home from the mailboxes that day is considered the long way around to her home, located at 809 Elder Circle. Katherine would have taken the short way home when she left the mailbox that day. In fact her mother would later tell police as she drove off she saw her daughter walking in the direction of their home. What had happened in that short period of time? Nancy, sent her son to look for his sister, he walked the route she would have taken home and saw no signs of Katherine. He headed back home and told his mom that she wasn’t down there. The pair get in the family’s Suburban and head to look for her, maybe she stopped to play or took the long way around, that is the thoughts Nancy was having, she had no idea the horror she was about to find.
As they pull out of the driveway and start looking for Katherine they find her quickly, she is on the long way home side? Did she turn around and decide to try and catch up to her mother because she no longer wanted to walk home. Her thumb was in a splint on her left hand, she possibly was in pain from this and did not want to walk anymore. When Nancy came upon her child lying helpless in the street partially breathing and very bloody, she picked her up and placed her in the car. The time was 4:15 pm. (NOTE: Katherine was found in the 1100 block of Elder Circle.) Nancy would drive for 25 minutes before reaching the hospital. Six year old Katherine would never recover, she passed away from a skull fracture. Police were investigating this as a hit and run case. However when the medical examiners report came back he said her injuries were inconsistent with a hit and run and more consistent with being thrown from or falling off of a moving vehicle. The question now was it an accident? If so, why did no one call an ambulance for this precious little girl? Three days later police would bring in tracking dogs, they tracked Katherine’s scent from the mailbox to the vacant lot and then the scent was lost. Is it possible someone had hit Katherine, then placed her in their vehicle before placing her where she was found. It is possible but why? When Nancy found her daughter she said it looked like someone had placed her there and not thrown her out of a car. Her hair was smoothed down, her clothes did not have any wrinkles and her shoes were still on. It does not state who the vacant lot belonged to at the time, perhaps someone was backing out and hit her, then feeling bad they took her and placed her where she was found, staging a scene. Nancy believed this until she hired a private investigator then she believed that her daughter was abducted from the vacant lot.
The police would question all the neighbors, no one heard or saw anything that day. It is unclear if the police checked every car in the neighborhood for evidence of a hit and run. This was something that did not happen in this area ever. The medical examiner would state Katherine had scrapes on her hands, elbows, knees and back area. (NOTE: Some report she had scraps on her shoulders as well.) There is one theory that is pretty much what many believe happened on that doomed day, people think once Katherine started to take the short way she turned around and climbed on the back of the Suburban grabbing onto the back handle and while trying to hold on with a splint on wasn’t easy she lost her grip as her mom rounded the corner and it slung Katherine from the bumper to the location she was found. The private investigator said she could not have held onto the door handle as if she pulled on it, it would have opened. However if it was locked it would not have. This could have happened, however we do not know if this was something Katherine had done before or if she was even the type of child who would have tried something like this. We also do not know if the mom was driving the speed limit that day or was she maybe she was going a tad faster to try and get home before her daughter did? These are questions there don’t seem to be answers for as there is not a lot on this case. Jon Bon Jovi did immortalize Katherine in a song titled “August 7, 4:15” the date and time of Katherine’s death. Paul and Nancy would be hit once again with tragedy when their son Chris was killed on March 18, 2020. His life was taken in a car crash. Nancy and Paul had now lost both of their children, after Katherine’s death the couple would divorce, both are still alive and still grieving the loss of their children. If you have any information on Katherine’s case please call the number below.
FOR Missing CHILDREN: 1-800-THE LOST (1-800-843-5678)
DISCLAIMER: The Certified Roarikle would like to thank all sites that the information came from and state that in no way is copyright infringement intended.
As always thank you for reading Roarikons, until next blog.
The Roarikle
Sources
The Certified Roarikle 