Steve Pankey, who ran for governor of Idaho in 2014, said he is a ‘person of interest’ in the case of Jonelle Matthews’ 1984 murder. (Picture: Steve Pankey for Governor campaign/ The Charley Project)

A former candidate for governor of Idaho has revealed that he is being investigated for the cold case murder of a 12-year-old girl.

Steve Pankey, who ran in the 2014 gubernatorial race as a Constitution Party candidate and in the 2018 Republican primary, has been named a ‘person of interest’ in the December 1984 kidnapping and murder of Jonelle Matthews in Greeley, Colorado.

Authorities say Pankey, 68, and his former wife lived two miles away from Matthews when she disappeared after returning home from a Christmas concert.

Matthews’ body was not discovered until July 23 of this year, when a construction crew found her remains while excavating a pipeline in a rural area.




Pankey told the Idaho Statesman that he gave investigators a sample of his DNA last month – although police in Greeley said they never even requested DNA from him.

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He said: ‘I never met Jonelle, I never met her family, I didn’t know she existed or disappeared until Wednesday, December 26 (1984).’

‘I’m trying to be transparent…I have nothing to hide.’

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Last week, police searched Pankey’s home and served the former gubernatorial candidate a warrant that said investigators have probable cause to believe he kidnapped and murdered Matthews.

The Greeley police department told Fox 31: ‘Steve Pankey has made repeated efforts to speak with detectives throughout this investigation.

‘Greeley detectives went to Twin Falls, Idaho on August 15 efforting a conversation. During the interaction Pankey refused to speak with detectives for reasons unknown.’

Matthews’ remains were found this July by a construction crew in a rural area. (Picture: Fox 31)

Pankey said he has told investigators that he would not speak to them without an attorney. He has had multiple encounters with law enforcement in the past, including accusations of ‘date rape’ in 1977, which was later dismissed, as well as up to 20 misdemeanors, such as battery and harassment.

He said he has ‘won’ all his trials, although that has not been verified.

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Pankey claims to be speaking to the public because of his concerns about investigators, who he says have the wrong ideas about him, and because he is a public figure.

He has denied any involvement in Matthews’ murder and said he was with his wife on the night she disappeared.