Sheriff finds name of girl, 16, who vanished in 1976 hidden within crossword BTK serial killer mailed to media

An Oklahoma sheriff says he has finally linked a decades-old cold case to the infamous BTK serial killer. 

Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden, who launched a task force last summer aimed at tying notorious killer Dennis Rader to cold cases, revealed that a taunting crossword sent by BTK may prove he killed Cynthia Dawn Kinney in 1976. 

Kinney was one of two women Rader had become a prime suspect over since the task force was launched, along with Shawna Beth Garber, whose remains were found in Missouri in 1990. 

BTK was known to mock the media and police by sending letters and cyphers, and Virden said that when he re-investigated a crossword Rader sent to a local newspaper, he told KFOR-TV that he found evidence that was 'hard to get around.'  

Notorious serial killer Dennis Rader, also known as BTK, was convicted over the murders of 10 people - with investigators now tying him to at least two more cold cases 

Cynthia Dawn Kinney, who disappeared in 1976 from a laundromat, is now believed to have been murdered by BTK during his reign of terror 

Investigators poured over BTK's twisted letters and cyphers as part of a task force launched last year, and now say a crossword (pictured) he sent included Kinney's name and the laundromat she vanished from 

Dennis Rader - who gave himself the moniker BTK for his M.O., 'bind, torture, kill' - was convicted in 2005 over the murders of 10 people, with investigators fearing his true number of victims was far higher. 

His reign of terror stretched from 1974 to 1991, and went quiet for decades before re-appearing with more letters and cyphers that led to his arrest over a decade later. 

In one of those latter communications, Rader mailed a crossword puzzle that spelled out the names of his 10 known victims, which Virden now says may also contain Kinney's name. 

'It’s more than just a simple crossword-type puzzle,' he said. 'It’s more in-depth.' 

The sheriff first named Rader as the prime suspect over the slaying in August 2023, as evidence at the time also included journal writings from the serial killer. 

Kinney vanished from a laundromat in 1976, at the same time Rader was working as a security alarm installer for ADT, and may have been installing alarms in a bank across the street from the laundromat. 

Virden said that Rader's journal from that same time included an entry about a 'bad laundry day', and the investigation into him 'spiraled out from there.' 

Speaking of the new crossword clue, he said it's 'pretty hard to get around the fact that Cindy Kinney's name is in there, that Osage Laundromat is in there, that Pawhuska is in there.' 

He continued: 'In the past, he has played games, cat and mouse with law enforcement and has toyed with them, but he did not come clean with any admission until there was solid proof on what had happened.' 

Rader (seen in his mugshot) was known to taunt the media and police with sickening letters and cyphers, which ultimately led to his arrest in 2005, decades after his last known kill 

Rader is also the prime suspect in the murders of Shawna Garber (left, and seen in a computer generated picture of what she would have looked like grown up), whose remains were found near Pineville, MO, in December 1990

Sickening drawings from BTK also emerged during the investigation, which investigators said are possible proof that he killed women in barns in the Osage area decades ago

BTK's ten victims: (L-R) January 15, 1974: #1 Julie Otero (aged 33) Strangled with a rope; #2 Joseph Otero (aged 38) Suffocated with a plastic bag; #3 Josephine Otero (aged 11) Hanged with a rope; #4 Joseph Otero, Jr. (aged 9) Suffocated with a plastic bag; April 4, 1974: #5 Kathryn Bright (aged 21) Stabbed 3 times in abdomen with a knife

(L-R) March 17, 1977: #6 Shirley Vian (aged 24) Strangled with a rope; December 8, 1977: #7 Nancy Fox (aged 25) Strangled with a belt; April 27, 1985: #8 Marine Hedge (aged 53) Strangled with hands; September 16, 1986: #9 Vicki Wegerle (aged 28) Strangled with Nylon stocking; January 19, 1991: #10 Dolores E. Davis (aged 62) Strangled with pantyhose

Twisted, never-before-seen drawings made by BTK also emerged last summer amid the investigation, showing unidentified women tied up in barns. 

Virden said this week that this may also indicate that he was active in Osage at the time of Kinney's murder, as investigators 'found carvings marking in barns, things we believe are 100% proof he has operated within our area.' 

Kerri Rawson, the daughter of Dennis Rader, told DailyMail.com she has assisted in the investigations into her father

Rader is also the prime suspect over the murder of Garber, whose remains were found in 1990. While Rader has denied the killings, he did reportedly admit he 'enjoyed' his interrogation over Garber's disappearance. 

Rader's daughter Kerri Rawson, who was previously volunteering to help the task force, told DailyMail.com after it was launched that she stepped in after learning of Garber's case. 

She told of her father's shock after she showed up at his prison for the first time since his arrest, as she tried to interrogate him over the unsolved crimes. 

While he is known to relish in his infamy, Rader has a reputation for frustrating police, and it was hoped his daughter could help break him down and reveal further details of his gruesome crimes.

'I hadn't had contact with him for 18 years, besides letters,' she said. 'To sit across from him was quite staggering.'

At the same time, investigators searched her childhood home and found 'possible trophies' from victims, including 'binding type items' from the killings. 

Rader is pictured with his daughter, Kerri Rawson, who volunteered to help crack a series of cold cases linked to her notorious father 

Last year, investigators searched Rader's former home, and said they found 'possible trophies' from victims as they attempt to tie him to unsolved cold cases 

Rader, also known as BTK, is pictured in August 2005 after his arrest 

Kerri said investigators zeroed in on the site of a metal shed in the backyard of her childhood home in Park City, Kansas, where it is believed Rader may have hidden tokens stolen from his victims such as driver's licenses.

'He was known to hide things in our house,' she revealed. 

'He built a false bottom in our hallway where he hid evidence like driver's licenses before... We also had two dogs die, and he buried one of them in the backyard in the 90s. I've always theorized that he might have buried stuff in there too.'

Rader is currently serving ten consecutive life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas.