I was reading the thread about cases that happened near where you lived and the murder of Kari Lynn Nixon occured not too far from where I live. Last year as you may be aware of marked the 20th anniversary of Nixon's death (today is the 21st anniversary believe it or not) and there was an article published on her murder:

Some new things I learned about the case include

- Kari's murderer Robert Jones only confessed to her murder to in an effort to get his wife, Theresa, a lighter sentence for driving the getaway car from one local bank heist, with their two children riding inside.

- Jones is up for parole in 2011

- It seems from reading the article that Kari's parent are now divorced as her father apparently lives in Florida.

http://www.pressrepublican.com/0100_news/local_story_172234546.html?start:int=0

Interesting. It also appears that the gir; who played kari in the UM segment was none other than her sister. her sister is a dead ringer for the actress who portrayed kari.

It dioes seem that she wa sportrayed by her sister, which would help explain the smoothness of teh bowling alley scene (The parents have achemistry with the girl portraying Kari that is lacking in some UM re-enactments). BTW, I love the older UM re-enactments. For some reason, UM always appealed to me more when they were on a tighter budget (in the early seasons i.e. 88 - 92 or so)

Interesting. It also appears that the gir; who played kari in the UM segment was none other than her sister. her sister is a dead ringer for the actress who portrayed kari.

She was Keri's real sister? Wow, that's interesting, I never knew that.

Glad to see this has been solved and the murderer convicted.

But what about the NKOTB concert and the other sightings? How can they be explained? Unless it was a dead ringer and/or someone calling herself Kari.

Glad to see this has been solved and the murderer convicted.

But what about the NKOTB concert and the other sightings? How can they be explained? Unless it was a dead ringer and/or someone calling herself Kari.

I think the NKOTB concert was just a case of "wishful thinking"/"mistaken identity". You have to put yourself in the Nixons' shoes at the time of that sighting on the music video. Their daughter had been missing for five years at that point and they were quite possibly clinging to any hope that she might still be alive. They had already been given some information that might have led them to believe she was a runaway so when this girl who looked a lot like her appeared in this NKOTB music video I think both they and the local authorities jumped to conclusions that it had to be her when they really didn't have any solid proof that the girl in the video was indeed Kari.*

As far as the Eutawville, SC sighting by Shirley Kannaapel: While I believe Ms. Kannapel was sincere in her belief that she had spotted Kari, it is obvious that she didn't. What likely happened is that she was the victim of a cruel prank staged by local teenagers who may have also seen the missing persons flyers posted around town and decided to stage a prank around the missing girl. I've always took the fact that when police interviewed the girl seen with the teenager resembling Kari, that she claimed to have a memory lapse surrounding the event as proof that this whole thing was a prank from the start. The memory lapse being a convenient ruse of not having to admit guilt in staging the prank in the first place.

What I've always wondered about was who sent the letters to the Au Sable Forks police department and UM in the first place alleging Kari was in Eutawville? Was it the same teens who conned Shirley Kannapel or other individuals entirely? It seems like an elaborate process for someone to go through just to stage a cruel prank but who knows what some people's motives are in doing such things?
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*I'm aware that police cited the earrings (specifically the placement of the earrings) that the girl in the music video was wearing as proof that the girl could have been Kari. But the fact is a lot of teenage girls wore earrings in that fashion back then and I'm surprised they took that as far as they did.

I think the NKOTB concert was just a case of "wishful thinking"/"mistaken identity". You have to put yourself in the Nixons' shoes at the time of that sighting on the music video. Their daughter had been missing for five years at that point and they were quite possibly clinging to any hope that she might still be alive. They had already been given some information that might have led them to believe she was a runaway so when this girl who looked a lot like her appeared in this NKOTB music video I think both they and the local authorities jumped to conclusions that it had to be her when they really didn't have any solid proof that the girl in the video was indeed Kari.*

As far as the Eutawville, SC sighting by Shirley Kannaapel: While I believe Ms. Kannapel was sincere in her belief that she had spotted Kari, it is obvious that she didn't. What likely happened is that she was the victim of a cruel prank staged by local teenagers who may have also seen the missing persons flyers posted around town and decided to stage a prank around the missing girl. I've always took the fact that when police interviewed the girl seen with the teenager resembling Kari, that she claimed to have a memory lapse surrounding the event as proof that this whole thing was a prank from the start. The memory lapse being a convenient ruse of not having to admit guilt in staging the prank in the first place.

What I've always wondered about was who sent the letters to the Au Sable Forks police department and UM in the first place alleging Kari was in Eutawville? Was it the same teens who conned Shirley Kannapel or other individuals entirely? It seems like an elaborate process for someone to go through just to stage a cruel prank but who knows what some people's motives are in doing such things?
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*I'm aware that police cited the earrings (specifically the placement of the earrings) that the girl in the music video was wearing as proof that the girl could have been Kari. But the fact is a lot of teenage girls wore earrings in that fashion back then and I'm surprised they took that as far as they did.

Also, weren't the letters postmarked in Flint, MI? Another strange aspect of the letters surrounding the Eutawville "sighting".

Also, weren't the letters postmarked in Flint, MI? Another strange aspect of the letters surrounding the Eutawville "sighting".

You are correct which would lead me to believe that we are dealing with two different sets of pranksters. It's interesting but ultimately frustrating as they were toying with the emotions of two emotionally-drained parents desperate to find their daughter. Sad.

I remember this from when I was a kid, because it happened close to where I live. I'm only about a half hour away from where she lived. I also remember Kari being talked about a lot when Sara Anne Wood was abducted, in 1993. I don't remember seeing the UM with Kari until probably 94-95, in a re-run.

Does anyone know if Robert Jones has already had his parole hearing that was set for this year?

I hope that POS never gets out.

I'm not sure if this has been posted but Keri's brother did die from ALS back in late 2007. Here is an article about it:

http://pressrepublican.com/obituaries_archive_url/x155204893/John-Nixon-loses-battle-with-ALS

I see he named his daughter Kari Lynn. That's really sweet and sad at the same time.

This family has had to deal with a lot. I really feel for them.

Does anyone here know the answer to my question above? I really want to know whether he is free or not (hopefully not).

I was "googling" this case on the internet because I knew he (Bobby Jones) came up for parole this year and I came across this site.

I did not know Kari Lynn but I lived in AuSable Forks when the bank robberies and the eventual finding out of Bobby jones came to light. I remember all the news coming to town to interview everyone. I knew alot of the family and felt like I knew her through them.

He only gave up what he did to save his wife. He does not deserve parole, he deserves to rot. He took her because she bumped in to him in the store and didn't say sorry to his satisfaction. He was pissed followed her and took her, raped her and killed her.

This was a wonderful family and from all accounts a sweet girl.

I believe, but my memory may not be completely accurate that there was an aunt in the family that was estranged who lived near the site where she was reported as being seen. That was why the family and police were so hopeful. I remembe hearing about a sighting of a trans am and that was what the aunt drove. But in any case, that was not what happened. This sicko took her and killed her.

I wish there was a way to look up where he is or what is going on with the parole. I know kari's dad and many of the family were prison guards and received letters from inmates saying they would make sure he suffered. I hope they did.

I was "googling" this case on the internet because I knew he (Bobby Jones) came up for parole this year and I came across this site.

I did not know Kari Lynn but I lived in AuSable Forks when the bank robberies and the eventual finding out of Bobby jones came to light. I remember all the news coming to town to interview everyone. I knew alot of the family and felt like I knew her through them.

He only gave up what he did to save his wife. He does not deserve parole, he deserves to rot. He took her because she bumped in to him in the store and didn't say sorry to his satisfaction. He was pissed followed her and took her, raped her and killed her.

This was a wonderful family and from all accounts a sweet girl.

I believe, but my memory may not be completely accurate that there was an aunt in the family that was estranged who lived near the site where she was reported as being seen. That was why the family and police were so hopeful. I remembe hearing about a sighting of a trans am and that was what the aunt drove. But in any case, that was not what happened. This sicko took her and killed her.

I wish there was a way to look up where he is or what is going on with the parole. I know kari's dad and many of the family were prison guards and received letters from inmates saying they would make sure he suffered. I hope they did.

Wow, I didn't know that detail about her bumping into him at the store. He was probably set on doing what he did regardless, that was probably just his pathetic cop-out of an excuse.

I know it's wrong to want pain and suffering for others, but if your prison guard and inmate bit is true, I hope they've made sure that he's had some exceptionally bad days while in prison.

Thanks for sharing your info.