People in Sioux Falls are providing authorities with tips surrounding a weekend homicide. Sioux Falls Police released surveillance video and photos of a person they say is directly related to the death of 56-year-old Kari Kirkegaard. Those tips are helping officers on the case.
People have called in dozens of tips related to four main elements of the death investigation. Some are about missing bedding or a bicycle the person of interest rode. Others include possible sightings of the victim’s vehicle Saturday morning, and some tips provide names of people who could be the person in the black-and-white surveillance video.
Officer Sam Clemens says investigators can rule out some of the tips right away, but other information is helping officials focus their work.
"From an investigative side, it can be a little frustrating not having that information," Clemens says. "So that’s why we turn to the public’s help and try to get them involved, because we know that somebody saw something. Somebody may recognize a person or some clothing. You just really never know."
Clemens says authorities are waiting on an official cause of death, which could take weeks. He says the Sioux Falls Police Department is dedicating resources to the investigation, including examining potential evidence.
"The vehicle was processed, so the crime lab went through the vehicle. There was a lot of different things that were taken. Whether those were latent prints or hairs or other samples, I don’t know," Clemens says.
Clemens says authorities are determining whether they need to send some evidence to the state crime lab in Pierre for analysis.
Follow this link to video the surveillance video released by Sioux Falls Police earlier this week. If you have a tip for authorities, call Crime Stoppers at (605)367-7007 or online at this link.
