By Palisadian-Post Staff Writers The unsolved 1980 murder case of Palisades High School student Kari Lenander has made its way back into the news in recent months. At her family’s request and due to the unusual circumstances surrounding Lenander’s murder, the case was reopened in early 2002 by the LAPD Cold Case Homicide Unit. Now, a segment on Lenander will appear in the first episode of a new KCBS-TV program called ‘Lost Lives’ on Sunday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m., just prior to ’60 Minutes.’ The show will repeat Saturday, May 22 at 4:30 p.m. Earlier this year, a $50,000 reward offered by Lenander’s father and a $25,000 reward offered by the L.A. City Council were announced during a KCBS newscast in which a two-minute vignette of Lenander’s ‘Lost Lives’ segment aired. Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski introduced the reward as a motion on January 21 after Carl Lenander, Kari’s father, addressed their regular meeting and made the request. The Council has since increased its reward to $50,000. The daughter of Carl J. Lenander III and Joyce Fadden, Kari Lenander was murdered in July 1980, the summer before her junior year at PaliHi. The Brentwood resident’s body was found at 4:30 a.m. on July 26 in a street gutter in south Los Angeles. She would have turned 16 on August 4. The night before, Lenander and best friend Toni Garfield, also a PaliHi junior, had hitchhiked a ride at the corner of Wilshire and Barrington. The man who picked them up, a male Caucasian known only as Ken from Canada, gave the girls a ride first to the Hollywood area, where they stopped to use the bathroom. Lenander and Garfield had been drinking prior to hitching a ride, and when Garfield started to feel dizzy in the bathroom, she told Lenander she had to go home. Ken drove the girls back to Brentwood and dropped Garfield off at her house. It was the last Garfield saw of her friend. The events that followed, leading up to Lenander’s murder, remain unknown. ‘We believe Ken and Kari went to Kari’s residence, where she changed clothes,’ said Detective Tim Marcia, who, along with partner Detective Rick Jackson, has been investigating Lenander’s case for the last two years. Their unit was formed in early 2002 by then police Chief Bernard Parks. Lenander was found strangled and ‘police thought it was a sexual assault,’ Marcia said. Ken, who has never been found, is still considered a suspect. However, the strangulation death of Lenander, along with the foliage in her hair and white rock material found near her body’the same as that of the property across from the Lenander residence’have suggested that her murderer was someone who knew her. Marcia also said there is reason to believe Lenander’s killer knew her because ‘she may have been being stalked at the time.’ The detectives have spoken to one individual who is still considered a suspect, since ‘he was never totally cleared of the homicide.’ Lenander’s best friend, Toni Garfield, did not know anything about the individual in question. While the DNA evidence found on Lenander’s dress the night of the murder has not been matched, Marcia said, ‘Lenander’s death appears to be a sexual assault/murder, [and these] have a high potential to be committed by a repeat offender, so the individual could be identified with DNA.’ Marcia believes the May 16 KCBS program, produced by Mandeville Canyon resident Tom Murray of Kurz/Murray Productions, may help bring forward a witness. ‘Sometimes we just need help finding that witness,’ he said. ‘As time goes by and allegiances change, a person who may not have come forward then may come forward now.’ The detectives are looking for any information, and ‘nothing should be overlooked,’ said Marcia, a graduate of University High School and a contemporary of Kari’s. If the killer was someone who knew her, ‘we’ll have to interview everyone she knew.’ Contact: (213) 847-0970.
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