The case of Eugene Kvet

[DarkDante]

Wiseguy and I were discussing the case of Eugene Kvet in the Kurt Sova thread and given that I personally don't believe the cases are related I thought Eugene deserved his own discussion thread:

For those of you who aren't familiar with Eugene Kvet's case, his death is given little more than a postscript in the Kurt Sova segment where UM attempts to tie both cases together by stating that both boys were

a) found in ravines
b) both were missing for sometime before their bodies were discovered
c) both were found with missing shoes
====================
Unfortunately I've been unable to find much independent information on the Kvet case aside from what was mentioned in the UM segment which I believe in relation to the Sova case is nothing other than pure coincidence.

According to UM wiki (admittedly probably not the most reliable source) an autopsy was done on Kvet and showed that his death was actually caused from falling into the ravine unlike that of Kurt Sova who is believed not to have perished in the ravine but was simply placed there after he had expired.

There does however seem to be some question as to whether or not Kvet's death was of an accidental nature or whether or not he was pushed into the ravine.

One thing that has always intrigued me about Kvet is whether or not the photo of him included in the UM segment was a photograph that was current as of the time of his death. The reason this has always interested me is that the age difference between Sova and Kvet always intrigued me as Sova was seventeen when he died and Kvet looks no more than ten years old in the photograph provided to UM.

Also if Kvet was for all intents and purposes a child when he died, it might make the theory of an accidental death more plausible than if he was an adolescent at the time of his death. I stress the word the word "might" because teenagers take dumb risks that could result in injury or death just as much as children tragically fall victim at times to their own curiosity.

One other thing I'd be interested to know getting back to the UM wiki article on Kvet is if there was any evidence at the scene where Kvet's body was found aside from the missing shoe to indicate this was anything other than an accidental death caused by a fall into the ravine. Admittedly that might be something that is hard to prove to begin with but would be interesting to know none the less.

[wiseguy182]

but UM does that all the time though. There isn't a conclusive link between Angela Hammond and Cheryl Kinney, for example, but UM threw them both on there. And like Eugene Kvet, Cheryl Kinney got a few seconds of airtime. I'm just curiuos why you singled out Eugene. Maybe this was a bad section of Cleveland (was that where this was?).

[Steve W.]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

but UM does that all the time though. There isn't a conclusive link between Angela Hammond and Cheryl Kinney, for example, but UM threw them both on there. And like Eugene Kvet, Cheryl Kinney got a few seconds of airtime. I'm just curiuos why you singled out Eugene. Maybe this was a bad section of Cleveland (was that where this was?).

Yes, it was in the Newburgh Heights section of Cleveland.

Kurt was found by schoolchildren in the ravine on Wednesday, October 28th, 1981. In the segment, Robert Stack states that Eugene Kvet was found in the same ravine area approximately three months later (so I would assume that would have been in January 1982).

However, as mentioned before, Eugene was found in a different section of the ravine, and it looked like he either fell or was pushed down a steep decline in the ravine area.

DarkDante, I believe the segment stated that Eugene was about the same age as Kurt when he was found. The photo they used of him was just not up-to-date to how he looked at the time of his death. In fact, I believe the photo they always use of Kurt was his school picture when he was 15, not him at 17 when he died. Apparently, Newburgh Heights didn't have any prolific photographers in that time period.

[Necco]

Even if they were both victims of foul play, I don't think the missing shoe is a signature so much as a product of transportation. If more than one person was carrying a body, chances are, one would have either the arms or hands under the armpits, the other would have the feet. If the 2nd person started losing their grip, a shoe might come off. Anyone who has ever tried to put shoes on an uncooperative toddler knows that shoeing a person who isn't working with you is darn near impossible. Not to mention, he's dead, why bother?

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by Steve W.

DarkDante, I believe the segment stated that Eugene was about the same age as Kurt when he was found. The photo they used of him was just not up-to-date to how he looked at the time of his death. In fact, I believe the photo they always use of Kurt was his school picture when he was 15, not him at 17 when he died. Apparently, Newburgh Heights didn't have any prolific photographers in that time period.

Using old photos in police cases seems to happen pretty often, even today. Last year when the whole Trayvon Martin saga happened in Florida, it seemed no matter what article was linked online about the case or what news affiliate was covering the story, they always used the same old picture of him where he was 12 years old, even though he was 17 when he died.

In regards to Eugene, not only was he around the same age as Kurt but the UM segment said he and Kurt were friends.

There is literally no information that can be found online about Eugene other than the Unsolved wiki page. I've looked and looked and never been able to find anything else.

[DarkDante]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

Using old photos in police cases seems to happen pretty often, even today. Last year when the whole Trayvon Martin saga happened in Florida, it seemed no matter what article was linked online about the case or what news affiliate was covering the story, they always used the same old picture of him where he was 12 years old, even though he was 17 when he died.

In regards to Eugene, not only was he around the same age as Kurt but the UM segment said he and Kurt were friends.

There is literally no information that can be found online about Eugene other than the Unsolved wiki page. I've looked and looked and never been able to find anything else.

Well there is some information on this site here given to crystaldawn by one of Eugene Kvet's friends.

According to what this individual told CD, both he and Eugene used to ditch school quite regularly and head on over to the ravine (or "the falls" as he termed it) and on the occasion of Eugene's death he apparently just fell to his death at this location. This individual mentioned that on the day Eugene Kvet died, he was supposed to accompany him to the ravine but ultimately decided not to go.

He did however, make mention that around the time Eugene Kvet died, both himself and Kvet were being routinely harassed by local gang members. Whether this ties in at all to the death of Eugene Kvet would obviously amount to nothing other than wide speculation.

[Steve W.]

Originally Posted by Necco

Even if they were both victims of foul play, I don't think the missing shoe is a signature so much as a product of transportation. If more than one person was carrying a body, chances are, one would have either the arms or hands under the armpits, the other would have the feet. If the 2nd person started losing their grip, a shoe might come off. Anyone who has ever tried to put shoes on an uncooperative toddler knows that shoeing a person who isn't working with you is darn near impossible. Not to mention, he's dead, why bother?

Well, in Kurt's case, the two guys or the people that lived at the duplex (could be one in the same: the only names I know of people that lived at that duplex then were Clayton and Debbie Sams, not sure if "Susan" was actually Debbie) could have found his shoe and put it back on his foot before they carried him out to the ravine, so that the local police/authorities would have one less reason to go investigating the duplex. As it turns out, they didn't have to worry since the NHPD was apparently inept and indifferent about their job duties back then.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Originally Posted by DarkDante

Well there is some information on this site here given to crystaldawn by one of Eugene Kvet's friends.

According to what this individual told CD, both he and Eugene used to ditch school quite regularly and head on over to the ravine (or "the falls" as he termed it) and on the occasion of Eugene's death he apparently just fell to his death at this location. This individual mentioned that on the day Eugene Kvet died, he was supposed to accompany him to the ravine but ultimately decided not to go.

He did however, make mention that around the time Eugene Kvet died, both himself and Kvet were being routinely harassed by local gang members. Whether this ties in at all to the death of Eugene Kvet would obviously amount to nothing other than wide speculation.

That's some interesting information.

I was always under the impression that if he didn't fall in accidentally that someone involved positioned him in that way (like Kurt Sova) on purpose for some reason. Maybe to throw off authorities? I don't know. It's just an idea.

[TheCars1986]

I've always thought the death of Eugene Kvet was accidental and had nothing to do with Kurt Sova's case. If there were more similarities, UM certainly would have highlighted them during the Sova case.

[Spanish Lotto]

I agree w/ everything you said. I must say that the missing shoe coincidence is really strange though. I wonder if either missing shoe was ever located?

[Spanish Lotto]

Originally Posted by DarkDante

Wiseguy and I were discussing the case of Eugene Kvet in the Kurt Sova thread and given that I personally don't believe the cases are related I thought Eugene deserved his own discussion thread:

For those of you who aren't familiar with Eugene Kvet's case, his death is given little more than a postscript in the Kurt Sova segment where UM attempts to tie both cases together by stating that both boys were

a) found in ravines
b) both were missing for sometime before their bodies were discovered
c) both were found with missing shoes
====================
Unfortunately I've been unable to find much independent information on the Kvet case aside from what was mentioned in the UM segment which I believe in relation to the Sova case is nothing other than pure coincidence.

According to UM wiki (admittedly probably not the most reliable source) an autopsy was done on Kvet and showed that his death was actually caused from falling into the ravine unlike that of Kurt Sova who is believed not to have perished in the ravine but was simply placed there after he had expired.

There does however seem to be some question as to whether or not Kvet's death was of an accidental nature or whether or not he was pushed into the ravine.

One thing that has always intrigued me about Kvet is whether or not the photo of him included in the UM segment was a photograph that was current as of the time of his death. The reason this has always interested me is that the age difference between Sova and Kvet always intrigued me as Sova was seventeen when he died and Kvet looks no more than ten years old in the photograph provided to UM.

Also if Kvet was for all intents and purposes a child when he died, it might make the theory of an accidental death more plausible than if he was an adolescent at the time of his death. I stress the word the word "might" because teenagers take dumb risks that could result in injury or death just as much as children tragically fall victim at times to their own curiosity.

One other thing I'd be interested to know getting back to the UM wiki article on Kvet is if there was any evidence at the scene where Kvet's body was found aside from the missing shoe to indicate this was anything other than an accidental death caused by a fall into the ravine. Admittedly that might be something that is hard to prove to begin with but would be interesting to know none the less.

I agree w/ everything you said. I must say that the missing shoe coincidence is really strange though. I wonder if either missing shoe was ever located?

[ontarioboi]

i would say the fact that the other shoe was not found was huge. I can't think of any way the shoe would have come off naturally if he had drowned.

If he were killed maybe it fell off while he was being carried?

[JC1957]

Originally Posted by DarkDante

Well there is some information on this site here given to crystaldawn by one of Eugene Kvet's friends.

He did however, make mention that around the time Eugene Kvet died, both himself and Kvet were being routinely harassed by local gang members. Whether this ties in at all to the death of Eugene Kvet would obviously amount to nothing other than wide speculation.

I tend to lean more towards this theory.

[coatjones]

I can only find this.

[MagiciansBrick]

Was thinking about this case because of Mike82's UM Red Herrings thread. I definitely don't believe the two cases are related. The similarities given in the UM segment are superficial at best.

They knew each other: Judging from Google Maps, Newburgh Heights isn't a huge place. And the 1980 census had the population at just over 2600 people. It's a weird coincidence that two people who knew each other died so close together in time, but given the population size it's not improbable. Plus Eugene is only described as "a boy Kurt used to know". That doesn't sound to me like they were especially close, otherwise why not say "a friend of Kurt's"? Eugene was also significantly younger than Kurt (all sources I've found describe him as being thirteen when he disappeared).

The ravines they were found in were both on Harvard Ave, and were only two and a half miles apart: Judging by Google maps, Harvard Ave appears to be a major thoroughfare for the area, and two and a half miles is a fairly sizeable distance (Newburgh Heights itself is only 0.58 sq mi). It's not a huge distance, but it's not like the bodies were found mere blocks away from each other or anything.

The bodies were found in different sections of the same ravine: (this isn't a claim made in the UM segment, but it's something I've seen a lot of people repeat online) This doesn't appear to be true at all. It seems like these were two separate ravines. Even so, this wouldn't prove a similarity. Kimberly Pandelios and Linda Sobek were found within five miles of each other in the Angeles National Forest, but had different killers.

Eugene was also missing for several days before he died: The details here are incredibly vague. The narration in the segment simply says "both boys were missing for some time before they died" and the page on unsolved.com says it was "a few days". People being found dead after being missing for a period of time isn't actually that uncommon. What makes Kurt's case mysterious specifically is that he was allegedly seen during the time he was missing, and his cause of death hasn't been conclusively determined. We're given no information about the period of time Eugene was missing, and no information about his cause of death (although it had been determined). It feels like they're avoiding details to make the cases seem more similar than they are.

Both were missing shoes: The fact that neither of their right shoes were ever found seems weird on the surface, but when you look at how their left shoes were found the similarities end. Kurt's left shoe was found wedged in a pile of rocks, while Eugene was still wearing his left shoe (based on the crime scene photos shown in the UM segment).

None of these similarities actually show any tangible link between the two deaths in my opinion. Although admittedly, there isn't a whole lot to go on with Eugene's case.