Charlotte June Kinsey & Cinda Leann Pallet- Missing 32 Years

 Cinda Pallet (L) and Charlotte Kinsey (R)

ON September 26, 1981, 13 year old Charlotte June Kinsey and 13 year old Cinda Jean Pallet attended the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City, OK. Both girls were accompanied by their boyfriends. Charlotte called her family and told her that she and Cinda were offered a job by a carnie to help unload plush toys from a truck at the fair. It was then that all four left with the unknown man, sporting a yellow badge. He took them to a truck stop off of I-40, but the truck was nowhere to be found. He gave the boys $10.00 and told them to wait while he went to get the truck with Charlotte and Cinda. He drove away with the girls and they were never seen again.

Cinda Pallet was 13 years old when she vanished with her friend, Charlotte Kinsey.

At the time of her disappearance, Cinda Pallet was 5'0" and 88 lbs. She is part Caucasian, part Hispanic, and had brown hair and brown eyes. Cinda has a small scar below the corner of her left eyebrow. Her collar bone was previously broken, but healed at the time she vanished. At the time of her disappearance, she wore a dental retainer behind her lower front teeth. She was last seen wearing jeans, a white t-shirt jersey with dark blue sleeves and the words "ZZ Top" on front and 88 on the back. She was also wearing Nike sneakers.She was into basketball and softball at the time she vanished, and was looking forward to seeing the Van Halen concert that took place a week after she vanished.

Charlotte Kinsey's family still searches for her to this day.

At the time of Charlotte's disappearance, she was 5'0"-5'1" tall and weighed 100-105 lbs. She had blond hair and blue/grey eyes. She has a small, dot shaped scar below her left eye caused by pencil lead. Charlotte has silver caps on her lower front teeth and pierced ears. She also has a triangular shaped birthmark on her lower back near the waistline. She was last seen wearing a white blouse with maroon stripes, blue jeans and sneakers. Charlotte was into rollerskating and poetry at the time of her disappearance. She left behind a baby sister who was just 5 months old at the time.

Almost immediately, the main suspect in the girls' disappearance was Royal Russell Long, who was a part time haul truck driver and a carnie at the time. Authorities were able to locate the Pontiac Grand Prix Royal Long had rented during September 1981, when he was employed as a carnie in Oklahoma. Not only did the make and model match a witness's description for a vehicle they had seen the girls in that day, but it would also go on to revealing convincing evidence that would play a big part in the second ever "bodiless" trial in Oklahoma. Hairs found in the trunk of the car were tested to be Cinda Pallet's. Animal hairs found in the trunk also were matched to animals that Cinda had access to the day she vanished. Forensic tests also revealed that the mat in the trunk of the car held not only a bloody boot print, but two bodies outlined in blood.

 Sharon Baldeagle, along with a friend, was abducted by Royal Long. Sharon's friend was able to escape and get help, but Sharon has never been seen again. Photo Credit: CharleyProject.org

Authorities also searched Long's home in Wyoming and found a lock of blond hair possibly belonging to Charlotte. Long was also identified by the girls' boyfriends as the man they had met up with that day with the promise of a job. He also has a history of sexual violence towards girls, including molesting his own daughter for years. His daughter also witnessed him trying to lure girls into his vehicle by using a puppy or stuffed toys.
Despite all the compelling evidence, he was dismissed of all charges, perhaps because remains of the girls were never recovered. In 1984, he would plead guilty to the abduction of Sharon Baldeagle and was sentenced to two terms of life in prison. In his 1985 trial for Cinda and Charlotte, he taunted the families, saying he was the only one who would ever know what happened. He died of a heart attack in prison in 1993.
Investigators focused on the tip from an inmate that Long claimed he had "put them in a rat hole" (http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/151987395.html) . It is also not believed that he took the girls out of state. Many believe they are not that far from where they were taken.

In the summer of 1974, Rawlins, Wyoming, would suffer the loss of four girls, with two of them turning up deceased, and two still missing.

Now, Royal Long has always been the prime suspect in these girls' disappearance. I think he is the right guy-if he was given a trial nowadays, I feel he would haven been convicted 1981, even if remains were never found. I feel it was important to post this case not only because the family needs closure, but because this guy could have been responsible for many other missing girls or UIDs we do not know about.
 And since he was a carnie AND a truck driver, this means he would have been traveling all over the country. He had the opportunity to entice and harm kids all over the place, and not get caught for it because he was constantly moving, and apparently good at covering his tracks because many of the girls he is thought to have killed have never been found. If girls went missing at the same time there was a state or county fair present, I'd say he is a viable suspect. I wonder if his truck route has ever been traced to see if any young girls "mysteriously" vanished while he was in the area.
I have also noticed in majority of the disappearances he was accused of, he took two girls at a time, which is odd in my eyes because it is daring. And it was this moved that got him convicted for the 1984 abduction of Sharon Baldeagle. He originally abducted 12 year old Sharon's friend along with Sharon when they were hitch hiking. He took the girls to his home in Evansville, WY and tied them up, beat and sexually assaulted them. Sharon's friend escaped and went to go get help. By the time police arrived, Sharon and Long where nowhere to be found. Sharon is still missing to this day.

Deborah Meyer and Carlene Brown vanished weeks apart in Rawlins, WY.

Long is also suspected in the disappearance of Carlene Brown and her friend Christi Gross. The girls vanished coming back from a rodeo in Rawlins, WY in 1974. In 1983, 9 years later, the remains of Christi were recovered (she had suffered many blows to her head), but Carlene has never been found. Two other girls from that area also vanished, Deborah Meyer and Jayleen Banker. Jayleen's remains were recovered, but Deborah remains missing. Although Long was suspected in the abduction/murder of these four girls, he was never charged.

Barbara Louise Cotton, missing since April 11, 1981.

I have always wondered if Long was responsible for the disappearance of 15 year-old Barbara Cotton from Williston, ND. She vanished on her way home from a dinner with her boyfriend and friends on April 11, 1981 . If it was not the boyfriend who did it, I believe Long is a whole new alley.

Sandra Butler, missing from Reno Rodeo Carnival, and a possible victim of Royal Long.

Sandra Kaye Butler, missing from Sparks, Nevada in 1978, is a girl who I also think Long may have taken, just because the circumstances fit, and she was last seen at a Reno Rodeo carnival. (Was Long employed at that carnival at the time?)
Between 1974-1984, the nation was shaken by the killings of Ted Bundy. I think Russell Long's killings were over shadowed by Ted Bundy's. Ted Bundy was even looked at for many of the girls Russel Long may have taken. I believe this is a factor that helped him stay under the radar. Many people never even considered him a serial killer, which he was. I think he is responsible for more disappearances than anyone may ever know, or even be able to link to him. Investigators believe he is responsible for hundreds of disappearances.

I read in a news article that Charlotte's mother never moved anything in her room-she kept it the same all these years in hopes her daughter would come home. Presently, her family continues searching, looking through all UIDs in hopes to find Charlotte and Cinda. (The image I have in my head of them pouring over hundreds of UIDs looking for their daughter/sister is just hear breaking!) I believe the best gift all these families can get is finding their loved ones. Royal Long may be long gone, but it will never bring as much closure to them as knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones. (This is a very active case!) So this holiday season, I want everyone to be thankful for all their loved ones, and also pray for those who are missing someone they love. Please keep in mind Cinda and Charlotte, along with all the other girls that are still missing to this day. And remember, there is a lot of evil out there, but if we get involved, we can curb it! All evil needs to prevail is for good people to do nothing! Please read the articles, A Father's Quest, posted below the sources of information for more details on this case and the family's search.

If you have ANY information about the disappearance of Cinda Pallet or Charlotte Kinsey (or any of the other girls mentioned), please contact:

Oklahoma City Police Department

1-405-297-1288

OR

1-800-THE-LOST

Sources:
Father's Quest: Part I
http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/A_Fathers_Quest_part__150112105.html
Father's Quest: Part II
http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/A_Fathers_Quest-Part_2_151060855.html
Carlene's Case
http://www.rawlinstimes.com/news/article_37a4cd82-fef1-11e1-80de-001a4bcf887a.html
Cinda Pallet Charley Project
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/pallett_cinda.html
Charlotte Kinsey Charley Project
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kinsey_charlotte.html
Charley Project Sharon Baldeagle
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/baldeagle_sharon.html
Charley Project: Barbara Cotton
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cotton_barbara.html
Charley Project: Sandra Butler
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/butler_sandra.html