02/22/12: Kristopher Clarke, 29, New Town, ND

Kristopher Clarke

Kristopher Clarke's murder has been solved.  His remains are still missing.

Kristopher "K.C." David Clarke, 29, has been missing since Feb. 22, 2012.

K.C. left Texas in 2011 with the hopes of earning a little money as an operations manager for Blackstone Trucking in New Town, North Dakota. By February, it was clear the job wasn't working out and K.C. planned to leave to work for another company. He was last seen at Blackstone on February 22, 2012. The last cellphone call he made was in the Mandaree area sometime that same day.

Friends became worried about Kristopher after the stopped hearing from him. The last cellphone call he made was from the Mandaree area on the day he was last seen. And just a little over a month later, on April 1, his white 2007 Chevrolet diesel engine extended cab (license plate AC63117) turned up abandoned in Williston, ND. The landlord for a rental house he had been paying for in Texas also stopped receiving checks.

"My son K.C. Clarke has been missing for a little over a year now. I have learned a lot on this terrible journey of searching for my son, including the awareness of the immense number of people missing around the world and the terrible toll it takes on their friends and family members. My journey has been filled with uncertainties, frustration, sadness, a frantic need to get the word out that my son is missing, searching for help and just plain not knowing what to do." (Jill Williams, Facebook, March 19, 2013)

K.C.'s mother, Jill Williams, began to believe that K.C. was killed because he was leaving. She said her son told friends that he carried a gun constantly because he felt he was in danger. "He was trying to get away. He didn't want to be around those kinds of people," she said. "So, he tried to leave. And that's when they killed him." Williams was later told by federal authorities that her suspicions were correct. The owner of Blackstone Trucking, James Henrikson, had hired someone to have K.C. killed. (Donovan, 2014).

In 2015, Timothy Suckow, plead guilty to killing K.C., along with a Spokane businessman, Doug Carlile, who was shot in his home on Dec. 15, 2013. Suckow then testified in the 2016 murder-for-hire case against Henrikson, claiming that he lured K.C. into the shop of the business where he had him look at a motorcycle. While his back was turned, Suckow bludgeoned him to death with an aluminum jack handle. He then teamed up with Henrikson and a man named George Dennis to get rid of K.C.'s truck, bury his body and burn his clothes and other items. Investigators were able to recover some of the burned items to present in court, including K.C.'s money clip and part of his boot. (Spokesman Review, 2016.)

Henrikson was ultimately convicted on 11 counts of criminal enterprise that included intimidating competitors, selling illegal pills and soliciting hit men to kill K.C. Clarke and Doug Carlile. (Spokesman Review, 2016.)

K.C.'s remains are still missing.

Case Details
Kristopher D. Clarke (nickname K.C.), 29
Physical description: 5'9", 140 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes. Clarke has scars from a motorcycle accident on both his lower legs, left wrist, stomach, and over his left ribs. He also has pins and plates and walks with a slight limp. He was last seen wearing a gray jogging suit.
Last seen: 2/22/12, Brownstone Trucking, New Town, ND
Investigating Agency Contacts:
Officer Ryan Zimmerman, Williston Police Department, 701-577-1212, police@ci.williston.nd.us or Crime Stoppers, 701-572-8477


Sources
Henrikson found guilty in murder-for-hire-case (2016, Feb. 25). The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/feb/25/henrikson-found-xxxxxx-in-murder-for-hire-killings/

Nadrich, Lindsay (2016, Feb 1). Murder-for-hire hitman breaks down on the stand. KREM-TV. Retrieved January 17, 2019. https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-county/murder-for-hire-hitman-breaks-down-on-the-stand/293-29133654

Donovan, Lauren (2014, Sept 19). Murder charge with no body for evidence. Bismarck Tribune. Retrieved January 17, 2019
from https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/murder-charge-with-no-body-for-evidence/article_3931f9f8-428e-11e4-8fdf-ef1b2d944036.html

Howell, Jase (2012, June 12). Man is reported missing. Williston Herald.  Retrieved March 27, 2013 from http://www.willistonherald.com/news/man-is-reported-missing/article_f7348f7e-b4b0-11e1-86a3-0019bb2963f4.html

Leija, Amanda (2012, September 6). Funds raised for family of missing man. Brownwood Bulletin. Retrieved March 27, 2013 from http://www.brownwoodtx.com/news/loca...9bb2963f4.html

Ebersole, Jenna (2012, October 1). Search continues for missing man. Williston Herald. Retrieved March 27, 2013 from http://www.willistonherald.com/news/search-continues-for-man/article_a3cdbb88-0be2-11e2-b141-001a4bcf887a.html