Wanted For:

• Kidnapping
  Coeur d' Alene , ID
• Murder
  Coeur d' Alene , ID

Latest Airing:

• July 09 2005

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End Of The Line For Duncan

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Shasta Groene was the sole survivor of Joseph Duncan's killing spree that took the lives of her mother and brothers, Slade and Dylan.

After a seven week manhunt and massive search effort, police cuffed Joseph Edward Duncan and charged him with the kidnapping of two missing children in July of 2005. An alert waitress at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur D' Alene, Idaho spotted Duncan eating with an unlikely companion -- Shasta Groene -- an 8-year-old girl who had been missing for weeks.

Shasta and Dylan Groene disappeared on May 16, 2005.  The investigation began when a neighbor called police to report "suspicious circumstances" at the Groene residence.  When police arrived at the scene, they made a gruesome discovery.  Shasta's mother, brother and a family friend were dead inside the home.  Even more troubling was the fact that Shasta and her little brother Dylan were nowhere to be found.

The bodies of Shasta's family members bore obvious signs of injury, but the cause of death remained undetermined.  However, at the time, police treated the deaths as a homicide investigation.  Immediately, an AMBER Alert was issued for Shasta and Dylan Groene.

Police searched for weeks with few signs missing Groene children.  A break finally came when Joseph Edward Duncan and Shasta appeared in a Denny's restaurant on July 1, 2005.  At the time, police were uncertain if Duncan was connected to the deaths of Shasta's family members. Furthermore, 9-year-old Dylan was still not recovered.

Shasta Tells Of Nightmarish Ordeal

When police first interviewed Shasta, they say that she spoke of the relentless and multiple molestations that she and her brother withstood at the hands of Duncan.

Police learned that Shasta was awakened at her home and watched as her mother, Brenda Groene, 13-year-old brother, Slade, and Mark McKenzie, her mother's boyfriend, were tied up and killed.  Cops say that the youngest Groene siblings were also bound and placed in a pickup truck. The children were later transferred to a stolen red Jeep and taken to the first of three campsites.  Soon after Shasta was recovered and Duncan was arrested, law enforcement found Dylan's body at a remote campsite in Montana.

Duncan Becomes The Focus Of Another Investigation

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According to an audio taped conversation with police, Shasta Groene told cops that Duncan sexually molested her brother Dylan before killing him and setting the remains on fire.

In 2005, cops believed that they had credible evidence linking Joseph Duncan to another crime. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced that Duncan was the primary focus in their investigation of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez's murder.

Cops say on April 4, 1997, little Anthony Martinez was playing outside in Beaumont, Calif. when he was abducted. What followed was an intense manhunt for the killer -- but cops had little on which to base their investigation -- until one of the missing Idaho children, Shasta Groene, was recovered alive.

When Shasta was discovered at a restaurant with Joseph Duncan, he was arrested and fingerprinted.  When cops ran Duncan's fingerprints, they discovered the prints matched those of partial prints found at Martinez's murder scene.

In Jan. 2007, Riverside County, Calif. District Attorney Rod Pacheco filed murder charges against Duncan and is seeking the death penalty.  Riverside County authorities are awaiting Duncan's Idaho proceedings to finish so they can prosecute Duncan for Anthony's murder.

Steve Groene: This Needs To Stop Here

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After his daughter was recovered and his son's body was discovered, Steve Groene, called out to lawmakers and politicians about better protecting our children by keeping men like Duncan off the streets.

In an outdoor news conference Steven Groene said "This needs to stop here."  He went on to say, "People like this should not be allowed in public."  He was referring to Joseph Duncan, the man convicted of abducting his daughter, Shasta.

Groene said Americans need to pressure lawmakers to protect children from people like Duncan, who has been convicted of murdering the family of the kidnapped siblings.

"These people are put in their positions by us, and they're supposed to be working for us, but they're not doing their jobs," Groene said of politicians. He added that "people need to get on their congressmen, senators and even the president to stop convicted predators from preying on children."

Describing the trauma of his ordeal, Groene said: "This is still so incomprehensible that it's going to take a long time for us to realize what's happened."

"We need to get some laws changed," he said. "We need to do it quickly."

Wanted For:

• Kidnapping , Coeur d' Alene , ID ; May 16, 2005
• Murder , Coeur d' Alene , ID ; Jul 01, 2005

(Information valid as of November 3, 2008)

Associated Persons:

Dylan Groene
Missing Child
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Shasta Groene
Missing Child
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Anthony Martinez
Cops announced Duncan as the primary focus in their investigation of Anthony Martinez's murder.
Missing Child
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Sex Offender Registries -- The Time For Change Is Now »

Television Airings:

• »July 9, 2005

Jury: Duncan Should Die For Dylan Groene's Murder

Joseph Duncan, a convicted pedophile from Tacoma, Wash., pleaded guilty in December 2007 to federal charges related to the kidnapping of young Shasta Groene and her brother Dylan in 2005.

Now, a federal jury has sentenced him to die for his crime.

On Aug. 15, 2008, jurors saw video taped footage taken of Shasta and Dylan Groene during their time with Duncan in Montana's Lolo National Forest. 

Duncan, who is representing himself, had little interaction with the court and appeared to nod off at times during the testimony.

Duncan is also suspected in the 1996 slayings of two girls from Seattle who were half-sisters and is charged with the 1997 killing of a boy, Anthony Martinez, in Riverside County, Calif.

Alert Tipster Helps Cops Catch Kidnapper

On July 1, 2005, a seven-week search effort for two missing Idaho siblings ended when cops arrested Joseph Edward Duncan III.  A tipster at a late-night restaurant helped lead cops to Shasta Groene and Duncan, the man cops say abducted both her and her brother, Dylan.

This amazing recovery occurred in the early morning hours when police say Joseph Edward Duncan decided to stop for a bite to eat at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. Police say he was accompanied by Shasta Groene.  A waitress at the diner told police that it seemed strange that a little girl would be out so late.  While Duncan dined with the little girl, the waitress realized that the 8-year-old sitting in the restaurant was Shasta Groene.

Tragically, Shasta's brother Dylan did not survive.  In the days following Duncan's arrest, the 9-year-old's remains would be discovered at a campsite in Montana. 

Police told AMW that both siblings were moved from three different campsites since they were abducted, and cops say that the Groene children were also repeatedly molested by Joseph Duncan.