Search intensifies for killer of teen stabbing victim buried at Sonoma State University
It wasn’t unusual for Kirk Ryan Kimberly to ride past Sonoma State University on his way home, which is not far from the Rohnert Park campus.
But what’s not clear to investigators is if the 18-year-old Cotati teen rode his bicycle through campus last week, when a landscaper found his body buried in a shallow grave in an undeveloped, wooded area near one of the university’s parking lots.
Detectives have been working round the clock to piece together the last moments of Kimberly’s life, and so far have discovered some key pieces are missing.
Kimberly’s white 2011 Cannondale Quick CX3 mountain bicycle and a Bose Soundlink III speaker, which he always carried in his backpack, have disappeared.
While his death remains a mystery, investigators hope information about his missing belongings could provide clues that lead to his killer.
Authorities don’t think Kimberly’s death was a random act of violence.
“We think this is a targeted attack,” Sgt. Spencer Crum, a spokesman for the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, said.
Sheriff’s officials said Kimberly was stabbed multiple times before he was buried. The teen had been missing since Oct. 17. Kimberly was not a student at the university and had recently graduated from Rancho Cotate High School, according to his Facebook account.
Investigators have been collecting forensic evidence and carefully unearthed his body in a rugged area dense with trees and brush.
No arrests have been made in the slaying.
“We don’t feel there is a stranger out there stabbing people,” Crum said.
Still, Crum advised students and faculty to be cautious in their movements while the investigation proceeds.
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