Truck Driver Arrested in Death of Girl Whose Body Was Found in Kiln

Police on Wednesday arrested a truck driver in connection with the death of an 11-year-old girl whose body was found stuffed inside a kiln in a playmate’s backyard.

Kevin Duane Galik, 36, was booked into the Kings County Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned today at Lemoore Municipal Court.

Police identified Galik as the son of the home’s owner. He had been living on the property and was questioned shortly after the girl’s Feb. 25 disappearance.

Galik was arrested based on physical evidence, witness statements and the results of forensic tests, police said.

Traci Rene Conrad vanished after she told her parents she was going to visit the suspect’s son a few blocks from her home. Police and volunteers searched the area, including the Galik house and yard, but found no signs of the girl.

The sixth-grader’s body was found March 21 when the homeowner’s other son reported a foul odor coming from a portable ceramic kiln. The girl’s body was fully clothed, gagged and bound at the feet and hands. Preliminary autopsy reports released Wednesday indicated that Rene was suffocated.