Family said girl was troubled

April 22, 2005

KATE GOLDEN/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Keep an eye out for 15-year-old Kelly Kelley, last seen at the Donut Hut in Wasilla and now deemed an endangered runaway by Alaska State Troopers.

Kelly was last seen walking away from the restaurant at Pittman Road and the Parks Highway around 8:30 a.m. March 3, according to an Alaska Bureau of Investigation missing persons bulletin.

Her uncle, Bill Kelley, reported her disappearance to Alaska State Troopers that day, when she failed to return home from school.

Trooper Scott Ide said that Kelly called from a blocked phone a few days later to say that she was fine and that she'd run away from home.

"She said she'd be in touch with us in the future," Ide said.

After all the time he's spent investigating, Ide said, "My head's spinning over this case."

In the last week, Ide has followed several leads to residences where her uncle and others thought she might be staying. He found nothing.

Thursday, he said he thought it was likely that Kelly was still in Alaska.

Kelly's aunt in Oklahoma, Jan Kelley-Keyes, has been worrying about her since her arrival in Alaska two years ago.

"She is not someone who just runs off," Kelley-Keyes said.

Relatives suspected trouble at home, but they didn't say what kind.

Kelly Kelley has been living in Alaska for the last two years with her uncle, Billy Kelley. Her father, Richard C. Kelley, is in prison in California. A year and a half ago, her 12-year-old brother, Kevin, died. Relatives said they thought he hung himself, but he was cremated without autopsy.

"Ever since Kevin died, Kelly has been acting really weird," Kelley-Keyes said.

Kelley-Keyes, who lives in Oklahoma, said she holds power of attorney for the girl's father and therefore technically has custody. She said she has been allowed to speak with the girl once in the last year and a half. She has demanded of troopers that Kelly, if found, be turned over not back to Billy Kelley but to a cousin in Anchorage, Jill Tillion.

Ide said that while he was aware of the custody dispute, the aunt has not produced papers proving her guardianship.

After contacting every agency she could think of and passing out flyers to law enforcement, Tillion was at a loss.

"I don't know what to do. I just need to find her," she said.

Anyone who has information about Kelly Kelley's whereabouts should call Ide at 352-5401.

Contact Kate Golden at

352-2284 or kate.golden@

frontiersman.com.