Family in cold case search sues authorities
By Alicia Ebaugh Journal staff writer | Posted: Saturday, March 03, 2007
A family whose Alcester, S.D., farm was searched during an investigation into the unsolved 1971 disappearance of two teen girls has sued six South Dakota law enforcement agents for the emotional and physical damages they left behind.
The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court by 84-year-old Esther Lykken and her son, Kerwyn, asks for at least $400,000 in reimbursement. The Lykkens named former South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation Director Kevin Thom and current Assistant Director Trevor Jones, as well as a Vermillion, S.D., police detective, among the defendants.
Attorney General Larry Long said he hadn't seen the lawsuit and that the state Office of Risk Management would be dealing with it.
Sherri Miller and Pamella Jackson, both 17 and of Vermillion, were last seen on May 29, 1971, driving on a rural Union County road. In August 2004, a state Cold Case unit began a search at the farm for any remains of the 1960 Studebaker Lark the girls were last seen driving and of the teens themselves. Items of interest that were unearthed included two chrome-plated hubcaps, a red purse, rubber gloves and clothing -- as well as bones which investigators have so far declined to identify as human.
More than two years later, no arrests have been made.
Court documents filed previously state that Esther's son, 52-year-old David Lykken, has been a suspect in the missing-persons case. David Lykken grew up on the property that was searched. In 1990, he began serving a 227-year sentence in the state penitentiary after being convicted of rape and kidnapping on charges unrelated to the missing Vermillion girls.
The lawsuit says that Thom accused Esther and Kerwyn Lykken of hiding information vital to the investigation.
"You and Kerwyn need to get your heads together tonight so you can 'fess up to where those girls and car are buried here," the lawsuit quotes him as telling them.
The Lykkens, through their lawyer, deny they had anything to do with the Vermillion girls' disappearance.
"They had absolutely, positively zero, no chance, nothing to do with the disappearance of these two young women," their Yankton lawyer, David Hosmer, said in an interview with the Argus Leader of Sioux Falls.
"My clients want it to be known that they had nothing to do with this."
In the lawsuit, the Lykkens claim the officials who conducted the search violated their Fourth Amendment rights of privacy and to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
The 16-page complaint goes into minute detail of the Lykken's complaints against the law enforcement agents, including messes left behind by kittens, cows that weren't tended during the search and the "unpermitted" use of their acetylene torch and welder. The settlement the Lykkens have requested includes special damages of more than $60,000 for such items as ruined carpet, time spent replanting the garden and an unpaid bill for portable toilets officials had delivered to the farm during the search.
The defendants are also accused of inflicting "outrageous" emotional distress on Esther and Kerwyn through the ordeal.
"Because of said conduct ... (Esther) constantly thinks about the allegations. She has racing thoughts and cannot concentrate. She is afraid of helicopters and afraid to answer the door," the lawsuit says. "Kerwyn has had many sleepless nights, worries constantly about the defendants returning and making more accusation, and fears talking with others because they believe he actually killed the two girls in question."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Contact Journal reporter Alicia Ebaugh at (712) 293-4219 or aliciaebaugh@siouxcityjournal.com.
The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court by 84-year-old Esther Lykken and her son, Kerwyn, asks for at least $400,000 in reimbursement. The Lykkens named former South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation Director Kevin Thom and current Assistant Director Trevor Jones, as well as a Vermillion, S.D., police detective, among the defendants.
Attorney General Larry Long said he hadn't seen the lawsuit and that the state Office of Risk Management would be dealing with it.
Sherri Miller and Pamella Jackson, both 17 and of Vermillion, were last seen on May 29, 1971, driving on a rural Union County road. In August 2004, a state Cold Case unit began a search at the farm for any remains of the 1960 Studebaker Lark the girls were last seen driving and of the teens themselves. Items of interest that were unearthed included two chrome-plated hubcaps, a red purse, rubber gloves and clothing -- as well as bones which investigators have so far declined to identify as human.
More than two years later, no arrests have been made.
Court documents filed previously state that Esther's son, 52-year-old David Lykken, has been a suspect in the missing-persons case. David Lykken grew up on the property that was searched. In 1990, he began serving a 227-year sentence in the state penitentiary after being convicted of rape and kidnapping on charges unrelated to the missing Vermillion girls.
The lawsuit says that Thom accused Esther and Kerwyn Lykken of hiding information vital to the investigation.
"You and Kerwyn need to get your heads together tonight so you can 'fess up to where those girls and car are buried here," the lawsuit quotes him as telling them.
The Lykkens, through their lawyer, deny they had anything to do with the Vermillion girls' disappearance.
"They had absolutely, positively zero, no chance, nothing to do with the disappearance of these two young women," their Yankton lawyer, David Hosmer, said in an interview with the Argus Leader of Sioux Falls.
"My clients want it to be known that they had nothing to do with this."
In the lawsuit, the Lykkens claim the officials who conducted the search violated their Fourth Amendment rights of privacy and to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
The 16-page complaint goes into minute detail of the Lykken's complaints against the law enforcement agents, including messes left behind by kittens, cows that weren't tended during the search and the "unpermitted" use of their acetylene torch and welder. The settlement the Lykkens have requested includes special damages of more than $60,000 for such items as ruined carpet, time spent replanting the garden and an unpaid bill for portable toilets officials had delivered to the farm during the search.
The defendants are also accused of inflicting "outrageous" emotional distress on Esther and Kerwyn through the ordeal.
"Because of said conduct ... (Esther) constantly thinks about the allegations. She has racing thoughts and cannot concentrate. She is afraid of helicopters and afraid to answer the door," the lawsuit says. "Kerwyn has had many sleepless nights, worries constantly about the defendants returning and making more accusation, and fears talking with others because they believe he actually killed the two girls in question."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Contact Journal reporter Alicia Ebaugh at (712) 293-4219 or aliciaebaugh@siouxcityjournal.com.
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