A woman is shot and left to die on an entrance ramp to I-29 south
On the evening of February 4, 2017, Christina Lenai 'Chrissy' Cunningham, a 23-year-old African American woman, was traveling in the Kansas City, Missouri area when her journey met a tragic and mysterious end. A graduate of Washington High School where she had been a dedicated ROTC student and commander, Christina was known by her loved ones as a quiet, hardworking young woman who was currently employed at a hotel near the Kansas Speedway. On this particular Saturday night, she had told her parents she was meeting a friend north of the river and planned to visit their home afterward to dye her hair, but she never arrived.
Around 10:00 p.m., a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper patrolling Interstate 29 near Northwest 56th Street noticed a vehicle stopped on the south entrance ramp. Believing he was approaching a stranded motorist, the trooper pulled over to offer assistance. The car appeared abandoned with no one inside, but upon inspecting the surrounding area, the trooper discovered Christina's body sprawled in a nearby ditch. She had sustained a gunshot wound but was still alive when found. Emergency responders transported her to a local hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead.
Investigators determined that Christina was likely inside the vehicle when she was shot, possibly by a passenger riding with her, before being left on the roadside. Despite the discovery of the car and the specific timeline of her movements, the circumstances leading up to the shooting remained unclear. Detectives struggled to identify who she was with that night, as her parents were unfamiliar with all of her acquaintances. As of the last available reports, no arrests have been made in connection with her death, and the case remains an unsolved homicide with the Kansas City Police Department continuing to seek leads from the public.
