2/21/2024 UPDATE: 35 years after Kelle’s death, three men have been charged in relation to her murder. Their names are Bobby Lee Banks, Leonard Banks (AKA Dwight Banks) and Wiley Belt. Bobby Banks and Leonard (Dwight) Banks have been persons of interest in Kelle’s case from the very beginning; on the day of her disappearance, a Missouri Highway Patrol Officer pulled over both Banks brothers and–reportedly–asked them what they’d done with Kelle. Kelle had encountered the Banks brothers on the day of her death, in a store where she worked. A witness reported that Kelle “mouthed off” to the Banks brothers. She disappeared later that day, and her remains were found a week later in the Mark Twain National Forest.
An update episode on Kelle’s case is forthcoming.
When a young Missouri woman is abducted from a cemetery and murdered, her violent death haunts her rural community. The Ozark Mountains overshadow a heartbreaking mystery in this episode of Last Seen Alive.
Sources used to research this episode:
Kelle Ann Workman (Find A Grave)
Report: Kelle’s Killer(s) Can Still Be Caught (Webster County Citizen / Fred Spriggs)
Untitled July 6, 1989 Article (Douglass County Herald)
Unsolved Slaying Haunts Family (Springfield News Leader, 1990, via Newspapers.com)
24 Year Old Woman Missing Since Friday (Douglas County Herald, 1989, via Newspapers.com)
Body of Missing Woman Found in Christian County (Douglas County Herald, 1989, via Newspapers.com)
Slaying Suspect Sticks by Alibi in Workman Case (Springfield News Leader, 1995, via Newspapers.com)
July 1996 Article (Springfield News Leader, 1996, via Newspapers.com)
Tommy Lyn Sells (Serial Killer Information Center, Radford University / Dr Mike Aamodt)
If you know anything about the abduction and murder of Kelle Ann Workman, please call the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department at 417-683-1020, or submit a tip to the FBI at fbi.gov/tips.
LAST SEEN ALIVE 