Steve Pankey Convicted in Decades-Old Murder of Jonelle Matthews
GREELEY, CO – After nearly four decades, justice has finally been delivered in the notorious cold case of Jonelle Matthews, with Steve Pankey convicted of the 12-year-old’s murder and kidnapping. The conviction brings a measure of closure to a community haunted by the disappearance of the young girl just before Christmas in 1984.
Pankey, a former neighbor of the Matthews family, was found guilty of felony murder and kidnapping after a lengthy legal process that included a mistrial and multiple attempts to bring the case to a definitive close. He has since been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.
Jonelle Matthews vanished from her Greeley home on December 20, 1984, after attending a school concert. She had been dropped off by a friend’s mother and was last seen around 8 p.m., before her parents returned home. Despite extensive searches, national attention, and a heartbroken community’s fervent hopes, no trace of Jonelle was found for over 30 years. The case remained one of Colorado’s most perplexing and enduring mysteries.
The breakthrough came in July 2019, when Jonelle’s remains were discovered by construction workers excavating a pipeline in rural Weld County, approximately 15 miles southeast of Greeley. Identification was confirmed through dental records, and the Weld County Coroner later determined her cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
The discovery reignited the investigation, focusing renewed attention on previous persons of interest and new leads. Steve Pankey, who had moved from Colorado years prior and was living in Meridian, Idaho, at the time of his arrest, had long been on law enforcement’s radar. He had made unusual and self-incriminating statements about the case over the years, even publicly calling himself a “person of interest.”
Pankey was arrested in September 2020. Prosecutors presented a largely circumstantial case, highlighting Pankey’s bizarre behavior after Jonelle’s disappearance, his alleged detailed knowledge of the case’s specifics that weren’t publicly known, and his inconsistent alibis. They argued that his actions and statements pointed directly to his culpability.
The verdict closes a chapter on one of Colorado’s most enduring and tragic cold cases. Jonelle’s parents, Jim and Gloria Matthews, who had moved away from Greeley but remained committed to finding answers, expressed relief and gratitude for the tireless efforts of law enforcement.
“We have waited for this for so long,” Gloria Matthews said following the conviction. “Knowing that she is no longer just missing, but that there is justice for her, is a tremendous weight lifted.”
The resolution serves as a testament to the persistence of investigators and the enduring hope of a family and community that never gave up on finding justice for Jonelle Matthews.