Polly Klaas

**Polly Hannah Klaas** (January 3, 1981 - October 1, 1993) was a 12 year-old girl who was kidnapped during a sleepover in October 1993. Her case garnered world-wide attention due to her case being one of the first to be spread around on the early internet.

## Background

On the night of October 1, 1993, Polly was having a sleepover with 2 friends. Polly's mother told them to quiet down, and took sleeping pills to sleep easier and block out the noise. The 3 friends were trying on costumes because Halloween was coming up in a few weeks, and Polly wanted to get out of the room and get something, when she was greeted with a man standing infront of her door, holding a knife taken from the kitchen.

The man was Richard Allen Davis. He advised the young 3 girls to stay quiet, and that he was only there to steal money. Davis tied the 3 girls, and put pillow-cases on their heads. He took Polly with him, and he told her friends to count to a 1.000, and by then, Polly would be back. The friends were able to untie themselves, and ran to wake up Polly's mother, screaming that she was kidnapped. The mother soon called the police.

## Investigation

30 minutes after the kidnapping, Polly's kidnapping was immediately being broadcast around. Over the next weeks, over 4,000 people went out looking for Polly. TV channels such as *20/20* and *America's Most Wanted* covered the case, and bulletin boards were put up about Polly, asking people to come forward if they have any information. Just a mere hours after the kidnapping, a woman noticed that there was a car stuck in the ditch on one of her employers yards, and she was suspicious over the car and the man driving it. She called the property owner, telling her about the situation, and the owner along with her young daughter left the house and called police about the man. Police who arrived weren’t informed that Polly was reported missing a few hours prior, and didn’t think to look for any suspicious person in the immediate area. The police identified the man as Richard Allen Davis, and they observed that he was sweaty and smelled of beer. He explained that his car got stuck on the property and tried to get it out. The owner refused to let police arrest Davis, and he was let go, but police made him fill out an FI card.

Nearly 2 months later, on November 28, 1993, the property owner was looking through her yard after loggers cleared out some trees, and discovered items that made her think were connected to Polly’s kidnapping, such as a pair of torn ballet leggings, which police confirmed were missing from the night of the kidnapping. Police investigated, and they found out a pair of calls that were made on Polly’s kidnapping all linked to Davis, who had filled out the FI card. They also matched a palm print that was found in Polly’s bedroom to him. Police launched an investigation to survey Davis, and they tried to observe anything suspicious, but couldn’t find anything out of ordinary, but he was eventually arrested for Polly’s kidnapping.

Davis was interviewed by police about that night, while others launched a search party for Polly’s remains on December 3, 1993, with over 500 people and 24 agencies involved. They couldn’t find anything, but on December 4, Davis finally confessed to kidnapping Polly and murdering her the night of the kidnapping. He explained how he was intoxicated, and he couldn’t remember much, but he remembered that Polly was sitting on the passenger seat of his vehicle, bound and crying. He later killed her to avoid letting her tell anyone about what had happened. Her body was later found in a shallow grade on Highway 101, near Cloverdale, California. He was convicted of the murder 3 years later, in June 1996. He was sentenced to death, but no execution date has been set, and he remains incarcerated.

## Aftermath

After Polly’s remains were found, she was cremated her ashes were spread through the Pacific Ocean by her friends and family. Polly’s father later became an advocate for children, and established the KlaasKids Foundation, in honor of his daughter. In 1998, a performing arts center in Petaluma was named in Polly’s honor, but was closed in 2000. In 2022, the building was expected to be renovated and completed by the end of the year, leaving the possibility of it reopening.