KC Unsolved: Investigation into grandmother’s murder stretches to 3 states

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Investigators have one body and evidence from three locations. They’ve written enough reports to fill nine binders and have traveled to three states. After three years, and countless hours of investigations, there are still zero answers for a metro family.

A Sergeant with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office opens the case file to the unsolved murder of Alesha Reade more than three years after the office began investigating the gruesome case.

THE SCENE

For investigators, Alesha Reade’s case began at a scene, just like every other case.

Soon, they realized this case would be much different than other murder investigation.

It started on February 10, 2021, in a rural creek bed along the Missouri River. By the next day, officers were meticulously searching three Clay County locations near Cameron Road and south to Missouri City.

Since then, the investigation has involved trips to three other states.

But, back to the beginning.

This mystery started when a person walking in the cold found what they believed could be human remains and called for help.

The remains were in such a state, by the time Clay County Sheriff’s Office found them, they had no way to immediately identify the victim.

Sergeant Chris Johnson is the supervisor of the criminal investigation unit for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. He was the first investigator on the scene after someone walking in the area found the remains in a creek bed late in the afternoon.

“Deputies had sent me images of the remains that had been found because we didn’t know exactly what it was, which prompted me to the medical examiner at the time and I shared those images with the medical examiner to determine if they were animal or in fact human” Johnson said.

Johnson sent the pictures to the medical examiner and an anthropologist and determined they were the remains of a human.

Investigators eventually identified the woman as 45-year-old Alesha Reade.

Reade was a daughter, sister, mother, and grandmother, with a family who misses her to this day.

They say she’d be so proud that her son is now in law school.

She also has grandchildren who barely her.

Her sisters try to keep her memory alive by playing, and sharing, voicemail messages they saved during happier times in their lives.

Now they’re sharing one of the messages publicly to show how much she meant to her family.

THE SCENE

Reade’s family and investigators have kept in touch over the past three years as the investigation has moved across the country and around the metro.

As investigators will say, this investigation has been a tough one. They’ve fought an uphill battle from the moment they discovered Reade’s body.

It was February, and Kansas City was in the middle of a bitter cold stretch.

“We were out walking, doing these field searches, we had vans following our personnel. So we could have you know, warming centers if you will, so they could get in there. to stop where they were at. And we could we’ve tried to do a grid the best we could so we won’t miss anything,” Johnson said.

“The dogs that came out, you know, they had to switch their dogs out so they could keep warm as well.”

The location of Reade’s remains didn’t help either.

“Out there, out in a county roadway, it is very dark. You may have a light on a house near the area,” Johnson said.

While officers were able to collect evidence that first night, they said it was not an ideal situation.

“So we didn’t have, weren’t able to kind of encapsulate or document the scene the way that we actually wanted to that evening,” Johnson said.

Instead of focusing immediately on the evidence at the scene, Johnson said they did what they could. Investigators began the preliminary investigation as a missing persons case and ed other area police departments.

The condition of the remains also posed an issue as Clay County investigators tried to track a killer.

“It was a white female, we knew that, possibly the size, but there was very vague information, so we did what we could preliminarily that evening, and then started back again the following morning,” Johnson said.

THE INVESTIGATION

The day after the discovery, investigators divided and conquered.

Johnson and another sergeant zeroed in on identifying their victim.

“Our evidence sergeant at the time, we actually responded to the medical examiner’s office to collect tissue samples of the remains that were found so we could run them to the Kansas Missouri Police Crime Lab. So we could start that analysis,” Johnson said.

Other investigators returned to the scene in Clay County.

We knew we knew we had to keep searching.

They focused on the area south of where they found Reade’s remains.

It turned into a daunting task.

“The thing about county law enforcement is the amount of land the amount of area that you have to cover, the uneven terrain, of course, no lights. So and then, you know, utilizing the air , which was hugely helpful,” Johnson said.

The effort paid off.

“ ... investigators were out on scene and had canvassed further to the south and found evidence that we needed to look at in the area closer to the Missouri City area,” Johnson said. “And in doing so, we were able to find additional human remains.”

As soon as the additional remains were discovered, Johnson said more officers were called to the scene.

“We partner with people from multiple different divisions within our agency from our civil process to our detention division, to our special tactics and Response Team, the Platte County Sheriff’s Office responded to assist us, MO-SAR, which is the Missouri search and rescue canine search. When we started a large canvas, we ed the Kansas City Police Department and asked for their air unit as well,” Johnson said.

As investigators meticulously searched the area, a boost to the case arrived in the form of a missing person’s report filed in Independence, Mo. Information in that report helped officers identify Reade much faster than if they had to rely on something like DNA or fingerprints.

Johnson also said they matched tissue samples to help identify Reade.

A VICTIM’S VOICE

Sgt. Johnson said he is motivated to find Reade’s killer. Some of that motivation came from Reade’s own voice.

After Reade’s family filed that missing person’s report in Independence, Johnson and his investigators refocused the investigation.

“We started gathering information, when she was last seen, when somebody last talked to her. And ultimately, that’s what led us to the Fav Trip gas station on 23rd Street in Independence,” Johnson said.

The investigators spoke to employees who worked at the gas station. It turned out they knew exactly who police were trying to identify.

“We were able to collect surveillance video at that time, so then, the team of investigators, they were able to bring that back to our command post. And we started watching it and that’s when we were able to gather that and listen to the video,” Johnson said.

The investigators weren’t ready for what they heard on that video.

That’s when we all heard that and knew how scared she was.

Just how she said it. The sound of her voice, the look on her face, was fear.

While Johnson won’t share what Reade said on that video because it’s part of an active investigation, Johnson said every investigator who works on his team has watched the video and listened to Alesha’s voice.

“So that is our motivation in the case of knowing that how scared she was at night and that she suffered,” Johnson said.

At some point, someone stepped in to help Reade at the gas station. Investigators said a Good Samaritan gave Reade a ride. They checked out the tip, but it only raised more questions.

“There was a good Samaritan present in the store that night that realized that she needed help. And he did give her a ride, we were able to identify who that person was, ultimately locate him and rule him out having any involvement in this based on our investigative interviews, and other investigative leads that we’ve gotten the case,” Johnson said.

Investigators now believe Reade came face-to-face with someone else after getting the ride, and that’s the person, or people who killed her.

REMAINING QUESTIONS

Johnson said they are confident in their investigation into Reade’s movements leading up to the night she died. But, there are obviously gaps that Johnson and his team are struggling to fill after she left the gas station.

“We’ve answered a lot of tips in this case. But people have called in with a lot of tips and gave us some positive information to continue to follow up on. And there is still some information out there,” Johnson said. “We need somebody to bring it full circle for us.”

Investigators said they need evidence and witnesses to confirm certain information.

• Only a couple people can explain what happened
• Investigators have an idea of the events
• Have interviewed people who can answer those questions

Reade’s case file is already massive, but it’s growing.

“This is Alesha’s case file right here. To this point, and it’s gonna even get bigger. I can almost guarantee that,” Johnson said.

The case consumes nine binders that are filled with more that 300 reports, search warrants, and phone calls. The binders don’t include all the face-to-face interviews, or trips to three other states that have also happened as part of the investigation.

The Clay County Investigative Squad has also met with other agencies in the county to review the case. They met twice in three years.

All 20 investigators with the sheriff’s office also spend an entire week in 2023 working leads on just this case.

I won’t be happy, but I’ll be satisfied once the suspects in the case, you know, actually, Justice gets for Alicia.

Johnson believes each effort brought them closer to answers, but said his team is still missing the key information to close Reade’s case.

“1,148 days since this occurred, they think they got away with it. I want them to know that they haven’t gotten away with it,” Johnson said.

But to do that, Johnson said he needs someone brave enough to step up and help.

“Just come forward. We know that you know you’re scared. But we also know that the right person who knows exactly what happened to Alicia. Wants justice for her. Knows that what happened to her she did not deserve, knows that she wishes she would still you know, with her family with her daughter, her grandchildren. She wants to be here and we need the person that did this to be held responsible,” Johnson said.

The standard Crime Commission TIPS Hotline reward for Clay County is up to $2,000. But Alesha’s family has added to it, bringing it up to $7,000. Tips to the hotline are anonymous by calling 816-474-TIPS.

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