464 pages. Published October 3, 2023 by Grand Central Publishing. Non-fiction.
Polly Klaas, a dimpled twelve-year-old whose favourite colour was purple, and whose favourite song was ‘Somewhere Out There’, was taken from her home, from her bedroom—where she was having a sleepover with two friends, her mom asleep in the next room—on October 1, 1993, by a stranger, at knifepoint. Richard Allen Davis was arrested on November 30, 1993, and eventually confessed to her abduction and murder on December 4, 1993, the same day on which she was finally found. A jury found him guilty of ‘murder, kidnapping, burglary, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted lewd act on a child’ in June 1996.
This is the harrowing story of how it happened: the kidnapping, and the aftermath, as well as the blow-by-blow account of the investigation that led to Davis’ arrest and eventual conviction, as well as the location of Polly’s remains. Davis remains on death row after California Governor Gavin Newsom placed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019.
Kim Cross is the daughter-in-law of Eddie Freyer, who was the lead investigator on the case. She was provided, due to this link, with unprecedented access to people and source materials linked to the case. She also spoke to the two friends who were with Polly when she was abducted. Cross, however, did not have access to Polly’s parents or sisters in the writing of this book, and all reference to them is through information obtained from third parties.
Polly’s case has been used by members of the investigating team to train other professionals in the years since, and to ‘improve the [FBI]’s response to child abductions.’ Many of the tools and methods used in the investigation have changed and enhanced forensics and profiling. Because of a tragic, heartbreaking incident in the hours after Polly was taken, when she might have been rescued, efforts have been made to revamp police communication. Interviewing methods for child witnesses have also been refined. And Polly’s abduction strengthened the case for California’s three-strike laws—although her sisters have spoken against that being her legacy.
Part of her legacy, though, are the two organisations, the Polly Klass Foundation and the KlaasKids Foundation, which work around cases of missing children, to support families, to help in search and rescue missions and in the recovery of missing children, and to advocate for public policy changes.
More from ABC news, 30 years later.
Thank you to Kim Cross for providing a review copy.
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