Kurt Sova

[queenFrostine278]

i saw the mystery of kurt sova awhile back. i combed the web but was unable to find anything. this case fascinated me and scared the hell out of me...has anyone seen it? does anyone know anything else? it was such an intriguing and sketchy case. so many details that just don't fit. what happened at that party? was it really him on the side of the road? what happened to his sneaker? was he in the ravine the whole time? the shoeless child found dead later...did they decide it was the same killer? also...the coroner couldn't find any trauma to kurt's body. how did he die? there is something specifically terrifying about this story that i can't identify. has anyone seen it or know anything? sorry for bumbling on like a fool.

remembering the images of him leaning up against the fence with that look on his face after the party and in the recap...when he's tossing and turning in the basement bed he supposedly didn't sleep in...oh my god im scaring myself.

[DarkDante]

Well the case is still unsolved to my knowledge at least...

I was discussing this case over email with Crystaldawn last night and we came up with a few theories. First off there are I believe a lot of things said in this case either by Kurt's parents or what they were told by Kurt's friends which I believe are inaccurate or downright false.

Usually on UM when a teenager disappears (Kurt Sova, Kurt McFall, Chad Maurer) the parents do everything they can to "talk up" their deceased child. This is understandable as nobody wants to speak ill of the dead and compounded with the grief they are probably going through, well its MORE than understandable.

The problem is as I think Justin pointed out awhile back is how many parents know 100% what is going on with their kids. So the fact that Kurt's parents said he was a "good kid" doesn't mean he was not experimenting with drugs or alcohol that night.

I think the whole story about leaving him "on the fence" is just that - a story. If Kurt was that intoxicated and was left on the fence are we supposed to believe that he just wandered off while Kurt's friend "went to get his jacket" never to be seen again. The whole thing seems like a story to me - I mean, a bunch of drunk kids at a party and one kid is sober enough to realize its cold outside and that his friend might want a jacket and when he returns he's gone...It's a story plain and simple.

It is also interesting to note that from the start the people at the party paint Kurt out to be a "heavy drinker" already planting the idea in Kurt's parents minds that Kurt's death was the result of something that Kurt brought upon himself. This is also likely another story used to cover up what really happened to Kurt.

Also "the crazy from Detroit" is likely just that "a crazy from Detroit" - My gut feeling is he had nothing to do with Sova's death.

David Trusnick who was Kurt's buddy who saw him hop into a van with "Frankie" - This might be true and if so it casts serious doubt on the theory that what happened to Kurt Sova to lead up to his death occured at the party. But then again Trusnick could have been mistaken.

It is also important to note that the woman who held the part is lying even before the general public knows that Kurt is dead. When Kurt's mother asked her if there was a party at her house the previous Friday the girl denies it. There is really no reason for the denial unless something involving Sova happened at the party.

Kurt's mother already knew about the party from another source and having a wild party in itself is not a crime. There is no reason for her to lie.

My feeling is that there was something illegal going on at that party (possibly to do with drugs) - Kurt was there and had a reaction to something (my guess off hand might be PCP although thats really stretching it) and instead of taking Kurt to a hospital, the people at the party tried to nurse him back to health but were unsuccessful. After he died (several days after the party) they put him down in the ravine.

I don't think anyone at the party intended for Kurt Sova to die. I think at first they didn't want to have any drug activity tied back to them (similar along the lines if someone gets drunk at your house and then dies in a car accident on the way home, you can be sued) and later of course did not want to be responsible for Kurt's death. It's a complete and total "snowball effect".

[queenFrostine278]

wow! you're full of knowledge! thank you for your insight...i never even thought of drugs. it's a very possible. thank you so much for taking the time to respond!!!

[crystaldawn]

This is such a baffling case and so many things don't make sense so I was always a little skeptical of the autopsy. I mean this was back in the late 80's I believe. I can't help but think that if a similar situation were to occur now with all the advancements in forensics, they would be able to at least have a good guess of what killed Kurt.

I don't think Kurt was murdered. Like Dante I think Kurt could have had a bad reaction to some drugs (or even inhalants) he experimented with that night. Maybe he passed out and his friends put him in the basement to sleep it off but something more complicated was brewing inside and he ended up dying. Another possible theory could be whatever he was doing that night caused his heart to stop. You seem to hear so many stories nowadays of seemingly healthy young adults dropping dead due to undiagnosed heart problems. I think there is also the possibility that the estimate that Kurt had been dead only a few days when he was found could be mistaken. It makes more sense to think that than that he lingered there for days and eventually died (of no known cause mind you). This is one of those I don't think we'll ever have the answers to.

[DarkDante]

it was 1981 I believe, the autumn of 81 when Mr. Sova passed on. This is just a case with too much info for its own good. I think the Sovas just threw as much stuff against the wall pertaining to their son's death and ending up complicating the issue.

Kurt's death had something to do with what happened at that party. It likely did not have anything to do with "crazies from Detroit" or Eugene Queit.

I just have a lot of trouble with "the fence" story and also why the woman was lying to Dorothy Sova even before anyone knew that Kurt was dead/in dire straits.

[boechsner]

Well I started recording Unsolved Mysteries cases back at the end of June. Lifetime seems to have now started over airing the cases they were airing back then. As I recall, the Kurt Sova case should most likely be airing sometime this upcoming week. This is just a heads up. Keep in mind though, you never know what Lifetime will do, who knows, the order this time around may be a little different.

[RightOnDude]

I think DarkDante hit the nail on the head. This case screams "kid went to a party, tried some hard drugs, tried too much of said drug, heart stopped, party host panicked, called thug friends who dumped body." Maybe the weirdo from Detroit was at the party. Heck, he may have brought the ice or coke or smack or whatever it was from Detroit. As stated earlier, the fact that the host of the party LIED about even HAVING a party tells me that something went down there. Why else would she lie?

In any case, this segment fascinates me too. I am going to post on some Cleveland local forums and see if anyone has any more info.

[queenFrostine278]

you guys are so damn knowledgeable it blows me away!!
keep up the expert sleuthing! interesting theories you've come up with. i need to improve my detective instincts...*grabs mickey mouse detective set*

thank you for your input to my question

[connieallbright]

I think crystaldawn is probably right about the undiagnosed heart condition.

I haven't seen the episode in a long time but I remember that the coroner couldn't find a cause of death - alcohol and drugs would show up in his system, right? Even though the science of forensics wasn't as high tech as it is now, they'd be looking for drugs and booze as the primary cause of death.

But what about the other shoeless child mentioned in the segment? Maybe there really is a connection.

RightOnDude, did you turn up anything in the Cleveland forums?

[RightOnDude]

Even if they looked for drugs and booze, if he had been stumbling around for 3 days after getting messed up, they may have been out of his system. Marijuana is one of the few drugs that stays in your system for more than 1-3 days. If he had been doing meth or crack that probably wouldn't have shown up in an autopsy unless he OD'ed right after using.

I posted a few messages on cleveland.com but haven't gotten any response. It doesn't look to be heavily used.

[UMfan77]

The drug overdose/heart condition theory is very logical and I wonder if Kurt's parents have ever thought of it. I know it would be difficult for them to come to the realization that maybe their son had experimented with drugs and died because of it.

[connieallbright]

Maybe I'm being dense but I always thought drugs could be detected through hair tests or is that technology too new (post 1981)?

[RightOnDude]

probably not too new, but very expensive (way back then even more so) ... also I don't know if that's standard practice on an autopsy. If I remember right that coroner was "up in years" and may have had no idea what he was looking for (if it was some kind of new illegal drug).

[kane7474]

None of this explains why he was missing one shoe or why this other kid that he knew was later also found dead with only one shoe. I think the reason this case has not been solved is shabby police work plain and simple. I thought it was highly odd when the girl who hosted the party called Kurt's dad a few days after he went missing and said that there was someone in her basement and she thought it might be Kurt. Ok now if there's someone in my basement Im damn sure going to find out who they are for sure or call the cops and have them find out. If she was really covering up and knew he was dead and his body was going to be dumped why did she further involve herself with the phone call to his dad?

[kane7474]

Originally Posted by UMfan77

The drug overdose/heart condition theory is very logical and I wonder if Kurt's parents have ever thought of it. I know it would be difficult for them to come to the realization that maybe their son had experimented with drugs and died because of it.

This theory doens't fly though being that he died 4-5 days after the party