Do you know who killed 21 year old James Kesch in 1982? On the evening of September 6, 1982, a 21-year-old Caucasian male named James Kesch was working as an attendant at a Chevron service station in Portland, Oregon. At approximately 9:30 p.m., two people driving by the station on N Lombard Street noticed what appeared to be a person lying on the floor inside. Upon stopping to investigate, they made a grim discovery: James Kesch had been shot.
They immediately used the service station's phone to call for emergency services.
Kesch was rushed to a nearby hospital, but tragically, he succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival. Investigators at the scene began to piece together the events of that night, believing the motive was likely a robbery that had gone wrong. However, a peculiar detail emerged that complicated this theory: no money had been taken from the cash register or the safe, despite signs of a struggle. Kesch was known as a well-liked individual with no criminal history, adding to the senselessness of the act.
Witnesses reported seeing an unidentified African-American man at the service station around the time gunshots were heard. This individual became the primary suspect in the case. He was described as being in his late teens to early twenties, standing between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium build and medium complexion. He was reportedly wearing a dark baseball cap, a dark or navy blue service station-style jacket, dark pants, and had shoulder-length hair. Despite this description, no arrests have ever been made in connection with the murder of James Kesch. The case remains an unsolved cold case, with law enforcement and Crime Stoppers of Oregon continuing to appeal to the public for any information that might lead to a breakthrough and bring closure to the decades-old mystery.
