Girl found slain in home
The following appeared in The News-Messenger in Fremont Ohio on Wednesday April 13, 1983 and was written by Mark Fisher and Cyndi Metzger:
Investigators had no suspect in custody late this morning in the murder of 12-year-old Christina McKinney, who was found slain in her 2024 Lake St. home Tuesday night. Sandusky County sheriff's deputies were awaiting a preliminary coroner's report today to determine how Christina died. The Fremont Junior High School 7th-grader appeared to have been beaten, according to Sheriff Joseph Kindred Jr.
Kindred said he could not confirm reports that the girl had been shot. There was no apparent evidence of sexual assault, the sheriff said. Some parts of the house were ransacked, but nothing was reported missing.
Barbara McKinney discovered her daughter's body before 10 p.m. when she returned home from work with friends and relatives. She had last seen her daughter alive at about 4 p.m. Tuesday at an East Side service station where Mrs. McKinney works, Kindred said.
Officers are seeking a 40-year-old Fremont area man for questioning in the case. They said he was with Christina at the gas station Tuesday afternoon. "We're trying to locate him," Kindred said. "As far as we know, he is not a suspect. We just want him for questioning." Friends of the McKinneys identified the man as a friend of the family, and said he often provided rides for Christina and her mother.
The girl's body was taken to the Lucas County coroner's office this morning for an autopsy. Christina was Barbara McKinney's only child. Friends said Barbara's husband was killed in an auto accident more than 10 years ago, and she did not remarry.
Mrs. McKinney lived in the home with her daughter, according to friends and neighbors who gathered at the murder scene Tuesday night. The woman's brother, who reportedly used to live in the house, was with Mrs. McKinney when she found her daughter's body.
A small crowd watched silently as deputies searched the area around the home. Assistant Sandusky County Prosecutor Alfred Cooper and Coroner Dr. Samuel Lowery assisted with the investigation inside the home. One woman who asked not to be named said she had known Barbara for about 12 years, since shortly after Christina was born. The woman, who used to babysit for Christina, described the 7th-grader as "a good person" who had no problems in school. She had no enemies, the woman said.
A neighbor said this was the first slaying that he could recall in the quiet, Polish-dominated "Prairie" area of Sandusky Township. "This is a nice neighborhood," he said. "Most people keep to themselves." Schoolteachers who knew Christina today described her as a "quiet little girl."
"As a student she was really nice," said Bob Ballenger, the girl's math and homeroom teacher this year. "She had all A's in math." "She didn't talk to a lot of people, but she had a couple of close friends," he said.
The news "shocked" everyone at Otis School, Christina's elementary school, according to Principal John Brown. "She was a quiet little girl, never in any trouble," Brown said. "She was just not the type of kid you expect something like this to happen to."
Before classes began this morning, Brown said several parents called to ask school officials to make sure their children arrived and to ask that the playground be watched carefully.
Daniel Pinna 
