Kiplyn gets justice at last

Last week, a federal jury found Timmy Brent Olsen guilty of 15 counts of perjury for lying to a grand jury in connection with the May 2, 1995 disappearance of 15-year-old Kiplyn Davis. The Spanish Fork teen has not been recovered and she is presumed dead.

The verdict was vindication for the Davis family, which has agonized for more than a decade over Kiplyn's disappearance. As an emotional Richard Davis exclaimed after hearing the verdict, "She won! She won! My daughter won!" Olsen could be sentenced up to 75 years in prison.

It was Richard Davis who persuaded federal prosecutors to give his daughter her due. After watching the U.S. Attorney's Office convene a federal grand jury in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case, Davis pressed for a federal grand jury investigation of Kiplyn's disappearance. Former U.S. Attorney Paul Warner, his office and local FBI agents worked diligently to secure charges against Olsen and five other men. Three trials are pending and plea agreements have been reached with two defendants who testified against Olsen. Olsen also faces state murder charges, which were vastly supported by transcripts of the federal grand jury proceedings.

As much as this court victory must mean to Kiplyn's family, they continue to live day to day not knowing the location of their daughter's body. They erected a headstone for her in 1999 and they leave the front porch light on as it has been since Kiplyn's disappearance. Recovering Kiplyn's remains would give the family the peace it richly deserves.

But that will require those who know of Kiplyn's fate to end this senseless conspiracy of silence.

The state prosecution of Olsen needs to run its course. If Olsen would only guide officials to Kiplyn's burial site and come clean about what happened, it could conceivably work to his advantage in negotiating a plea agreement. This is pure speculation on our part, but there comes a time that justice transcends evidence and case law. It's about easing the pain of a family that has lost a child and lives each day with the agony of not knowing where she is.