THE MEDIA

The headlines read, "Two teen-agers killed by train near Alexander." This was the beginning of a media frenzy about the bizarre deaths of Kevin Ives and Don Henry and the even more bizarre twists and turns taken by the first investigations into those deaths. The media reported the gross incompetence of the initial sheriff's department investigation and supported the parents' battle with authorities to get second opinions on the cause of deaths. They seemed to hang on every word spoken by Special Prosecutor Dan Harmon during the county grand jury investigation of the case, often referred to by now as the "train deaths."

The media covered every newly developed detail of the case, no matter how insignificant. There were close to one thousand newspaper articles written, and all were in support of the parents' quest to find out what happened to Kevin and Don. Gradually, however, enthusiasm tapered off to an occasional article when a related issue made the news. It was during this time period Linda realized that Dan Harmon had been strategically placed in charge of the grand jury investigation so he could orchestrate and control the cover-up.

Linda also realized the brutal media smear campaign against Jean had been orchestrated by Harmon, who had lied to and manipulated them like sheep. Linda now believed that Jean had to be destroyed professionally because she was conducting a forthright investigation against Harmon and other public officials. However, it was not until both Linda and Jean began cooperating with the FBI's investigation in 1994 that they finally met.

Jean and Linda shared their accumulated information with each other and with the FBI. They had high expectations that the FBI was going to do its job. Linda was told to "sit back and relax and to let the FBI do it's job, that there would be a conclusion she would be satisfied with by the end of 1994." This investigation was also different because the people they felt were involved in Saline County corruption were not involved as investigators and there was no information being leaked to the media. So Linda and Jean were patient . . . .and patient . . . . and patient. But the "successful conclusion" didn't come. On November 20, 1995, Special FBI Agent Bill Temple told Linda and Larry Ives that "after an eighteen month exhaustive investigation, the FBI had no evidence of anything." Temple went on to pour salt into the wound and told the Ives they "should consider the fact that a crime had not been committed."

After recovering from the devastation of another shut-down investigation, the seventh one, Jean and Linda decided to go public for the first time. They authorized the release of their video, Obstruction of Justice, and they began exposing the corruption surrounding the shut-down of investigations from the local to the federal level. They publicly released information supporting their belief that very powerful people were involved in covering up the murders of Kevin and Don. The media, however, ignored them, even when they revealed the existence of an FBI witness who had passed a polygraph test placing Dan Harmon on the tracks with Kevin and Don the night they were murdered. What was going on?

If they had suspicioned before that the media was part of the problem, they now are certain that it is. Linda and Jean share their opinions in their contributions to this web page. Jean has written "The Media's Role in Corruption by the Government." Linda has written "The Media; Friend or Foe?."