Kari Lynn Lenander, a 15-year-old white female from Brentwood, Los Angeles, was found murdered on July 26, 1980. Her body was discovered at approximately 4:30 a.m. in a street gutter in South Los Angeles. She had been strangled, and investigators at the time suspected a possible sexual assault. The case shocked her community and has remained unsolved for decades.
On the night of her death, Kari Lynn Lenander and her best friend, also a 15-year-old student at Palisades High School, had
been hitchhiking at the corner of Wilshire and Barrington. They were picked up by a man who identified himself only as “Ken from Canada,” a white male. He drove the girls to Hollywood, where they stopped to use a restroom. Kari and her friend had reportedly been drinking, and when the friend began to feel unwell, she asked to be taken home. Ken drove them back to Brentwood and dropped the friend off at her house. That was the last time she saw Kari alive.
Detectives later believed that Kari Lynn Lenander, the 15-year-old white female victim, returned to her residence with Ken, where she changed clothes. Her body was later found with foliage in her hair and white rock material near her body—similar to that found across from her home—suggesting she may have been killed by someone familiar with her or her surroundings. Despite these clues, no arrests have ever been made.
The case was reopened in 2002 by the LAPD Cold Case Homicide Unit at the request of Kari's family. Detectives identified “Ken from Canada” as a person of interest, but he has never been located. The Los Angeles City Council and Kari's father offered a combined $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. As of the most recent updates, the murder of 15-year-old white female Kari Lynn Lenander remains unsolved. Her story was later featured in a television program highlighting unsolved crimes, in hopes of generating new leads.
