Cynthia Dawn Kinney

Date of Last Contact: June 23, 1976

Location of Disappearance: Pawhuska, Oklahoma

Physical Characteristics: 5′ 1″ tall, 97 pounds, 16 year old, Caucasian female. Cynthia straight chin length brown hair, brown eyes, and pierced ears. She has no known broken bones, or surgeries.

Last Seen Wearing: Blue jeans and a peach blouse.

Investigating Agency: Osage County Sheriff’s Office

(918) 287-3131

ETA: Dennis Rader is currently being investigated by Osage County in the disappearance of Cynthia. Dennis, who is known to be quite candid about his murders, hasn’t admitted to killing Cynthia but admits he’s been interviewed twice in her case. Currently there is property related to Rader that is being dug up to look for connections in this case. We are aware of the situation and will keep you updated.

Cynthia Dawn Kinney, was 16 when she went missing from Pawhuska, Oklahoma. She disappeared on June 23, 1976.

Her last known location was the Osage Laundromat on Main Street, where she was an employee. The Laundromat was owned by her aunt and uncle. Witnesses reported seeing her leave the premises around 9:30 am, getting into a faded beige Plymouth Belvedere. A half-eaten donut and her purse were left behind.

Different accounts of who else was in the car surfaced, with some stating a man and a woman were present, while others mentioned two women. A bank under construction across the street from the laundromat provided a lead, with one of the workers describing a man and two women leaving with Cynthia. In the early days of her disappearance, there were no credible leads. However, unconfirmed sightings suggested she might have been traveling with a religious group.

In 1991, while investigating the 1960s disappearance of Maxine Beatrice Green, believed to have been murdered by her husband, Hobart Jess “Punch” Green, authorities received a report from a woman who claimed to have seen Hobart Green with Cynthia moments before her disappearance. Hobart Green was already serving a life sentence for killing his 20-month-old son in 1985. Police expressed interest in questioning him about Cynthia, but it’s unclear if that ever took place. Additionally, it remains uncertain whether Green matched the description of the man seen at the laundromat.

In February 2023, Dennis Rader, also known as the BTK killer, revealed in an interview with TMZ that he had been visited by Osage investigators. Rader mentioned that he had been active in Wichita, Kansas, which was approximately two hours away from Pawhuska, Oklahoma, where Kinney went missing. However, he adamantly denied any involvement in Kinney’s disappearance.

Cynthia had a stable home life and was set to become a cheerleader in the upcoming school year. She had previously lived in Liberal, Kansas, before moving to Oklahoma. Despite hiring private investigators, her family was never able to uncover Cynthia’s fate.

Her disappearance remains a haunting mystery. If you have any information about the disappearance of Cynthia Kinney, you are encouraged to contact the Osage County Sheriff’s Department at 918-287-3535.