An excerpt from the book about Brenda Keller: ‘The search kicks into high gear’

This excerpt is from Chapter 7 of my upcoming book about 12-year-old Brenda Keller’s death on Oct. 19, 1991. The untitled book should be published sometime in 2024.

As she stood in the Blake house, Tracy Keller was convinced her daughter Brenda was somewhere on the property. But alone and with no proof of wrongdoing and little information from Jon Mareska Sr., she had no choice but to leave. Within minutes, she was on the phone with an emergency operator, who dispatched William Vaughn to Dover. Vaughn, a young detective new to the gig at the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department, left Topeka at 9:35 p.m., arriving at the Keller home at 9:59 p.m.

As Tracy filed a missing person report, she told Vaughn about Penny Lister spotting Brenda near the Blakes at 5:30 p.m. Vaughn relayed the information to dispatch, which assigned additional deputies to the scene.

In the meantime, community volunteers and members of the Dover Fire Department continued the search for Brenda. As Tracy met with Vaughn, a veteran law enforcement officer and chief of the Dover Fire Department was on his way home to nearby Maple Hill when his handheld radio suddenly buzzed with activity.

Bill Kilian grew up in Manhattan, Kansas, but spent most of his life living in Wabaunsee County while working in several roles for the Topeka Police Department and Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office for more than 20 years. As the radio cackled for several minutes while fire department volunteers discussed the search for Brenda, something stood out to Kilian: the lack of cohesion.

“We started hearing individual firefighters were out, and I remember hearing they were on the fire engine driving some roads,” Kilian said. “Even after I got to the scene, it became obvious that it was a lot of good people doing a lot of good things, but they were spinning their wheels.”

Kilian’s first stop in Dover was at the Keller’s house. At 10:20 p.m., he learned from Tracy that Brenda was wearing a light-colored jacket and white tennis shoes. Kilian then called Lister and learned that she saw Brenda just north of the bridge between the Blake and the Kemble house, less than a quarter mile to the north. Through various other calls and conversations, Kilian also learned that a man named Jon was at the Blake house and saw Brenda walking south on Douglas at 5:30 p.m.

“Pretty early on, I said, ‘Let’s meet,’” Kilian said. “It was a big plus with us being firefighters because of the communications (with the handheld radios). It needed to be more organized.”

Nearing 11 p.m. and with the temperature dropping into the 30s, several units of community members and volunteer firefighters met on Douglas Road. The group formed a line on the east side of the road going north from the small bridge Brenda was on at around 5:30 p.m., covering from the road to 50 yards east.

As that search got under way, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Topeka Police Department for assistance from the latter’s helicopter crew. A little after 10:30 p.m., pilot J.D. Moore and fellow officer Dana Ortiz were on their way to Dover, landing near Douglas Road at 11:15 p.m.

At about the time Moore and Ortiz were dispatched to Dover, Wabaunsee County deputy Harry Carpenter, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department Corporal David Reser, and reserve captain Alvin Moran arrived in town, joining Vaughn in the parking lot of the small café and store on the southwest corner of the town’s intersection. The Shawnee County officers briefed the Wabaunsee County officers on the search and witness accounts of Brenda earlier in the day.

“We went to Dover, and I said, ‘Well, what’s going on?’” Carpenter said. “And they said the minister’s daughter has disappeared. I asked who the person was down at the house where she disappeared, and they said, ‘Jon Mareska (Jr.).’ I looked at Alvin, and Alvin looked at me, we both smiled, and I said, ‘That’s your suspect.’”