February 21, 2012
On July 11, 1982, 12-year-old Katie Worsky went to a friend's house for a sleepover and was never seen again. The next day, the home became a crime scene and a then 24-year-old former football standout, Glenn Barker, became a suspect.
"He was on the scene, because there wasn't any doubt that he had been there that night," said John "Dek" Bowen, a former police chief. "He was visiting the family Katie was staying with."
Barker tells police he bought beer for the two underage girls, drank with them and then left. But he eventually changed from person of interest to suspect. Police found blood-stained men's clothing after searching Barker's Hessian Hills Apartment. Then, a second search revealed a key piece of evidence.
"They found in one of his rolled-up socks in his bureau drawer a pair of panties, a little girl's panties," said Bowen.
It took one year to convict Barker of murder. Prosecutors used what is called a "rope" of circumstantial evidence to tie him to Worsky, making the case only the second murder conviction in Virginia without a body.
"We kept thinking that was gonna happen, and we were going to find Katie," said Bowen. But 30 years later, Worsky's body still has never been found. Rumors circulated that her body was under the Hardees on Pantops, or in the Ivy Landfill.
Barker served nine years in prison, but still denies any involvement with the child's disappearance. When contacted by CBS19 for this story, Barker said, "You don't need to write a story about Katie. From what little I knew about her, she seemed like a nice kid."
But Bowen says he is not fooled, he thinks Barker knows where the body is.
"It's out there some place. If Glenn Barker sees this or hears about it and wants to do the right thing, there are some parents that would certainly like to hear from him and help them with closure," he said.
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