Kent Police detectives used DNA, genealogy comparisons and a discarded cigarette to find the man who allegedly killed Dorothy “Dottie” Silzel 44 years ago at her Kent condo shortly after she ended her shift at a local pizza parlor.
“With the advancements in DNA technology and other forensic tools, they can run but they can’t hide,” Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla said at a Wednesday, Aug. 28 press conference at City Hall.
King County prosecutors have charged Kenneth Kundert, 65, with first-degree murder for the February 1980 strangulation of Silzel, 30, found dead in her condo in the 25400 block of 106th Avenue SE.
Kent detectives, the FBI and the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office arrested Kundert Aug. 20 at his home in Clinton, Arkansas. Kundert remains in custody in the Van Buren Correctional Facility in Clinton with bail set at $3 million.
It could be a week or several weeks before Kundert is extradited to face the murder charge in King County, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
“The apprehension of Dottie’s killer has given hope to so many other families waiting for a resolution to their active or cold case,” said Jim Yantzer, an older brother of Silzel, at the press conference.
Yantzer praised the Kent Police for its work.
“A special thank you to (Detective) Tim Ford with the Kent Police who became her avenger for us and renewed our faith and gave us hope with his compassion and faith that her killer would be found,” Yantzer said.
The cold case
Silzel was last seen the night of Feb. 23, 1980 between 10 and 10:15 p.m. when she left Gaetano’s Pizza at the end of her shift, according to police documents. She worked there part-time to supplement income from a full-time job at Boeing.
On Feb. 26, 1980, a Kent patrol officer was dispatched to Silzel’s condo to meet her friends and co-workers from Boeing for a welfare check. She had not reported for work for two days, which was highly unusual.
The officer entered the home through an open slider door and found Silzel’s body on the second floor of the condo. She had signs of lividity, indicating she had been dead for some time.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office determined she had been strangled to death and noted she also had a blunt impact to her head. During the death investigation, DNA evidence was collected, including a bathrobe.
Evidence was sent to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, and utilizing microscopic examination, the lab located DNA evidence belonging to an unknown male, named Individual A, according to police.
Over the years, multiple Kent detectives were assigned to the case and worked numerous tips and leads, according to police. Multiple DNA samples were obtained for comparison, but none had been identified as the Individual A.
In 2015, members of Silzel’s family contacted Ford, a major crimes sergeant, to take a look at the case again. Ford assigned the case to himself and has worked it for the last nine years.
“I knew about the case,” Ford said at the press conference. “I knew her name. I didn’t know all the facts. Once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down.”
In March 2022, senior forensic genealogist Misty Gillis began to perform additional genealogy comparisons of the DNA profile of Individual A. At that time, she worked for Identifiers International, a company that uses forensic genealogy to identify potential suspects, according to police. They identified 11 potential suspects.
According to an article on the National Library of Medicine website, forensic genetic genealogy has become a law enforcement tool with the rise in popularity of consumer DNA testing because there now exist public genetic genealogy databases populated with large amounts of genetic data from consumers, i.e., general members of the public. Forensic genetic genealogy utilizes this mass of data for the purposes of human identification in a forensic context. The websites people use to share their data include FamilySearch, Ancestry and many others.
Law enforcement began to collect and research DNA samples from the group of suspects to compare to Individual A’s DNA profile.
Two of the potential suspects identified through DNA were Kurt and Kenneth Kundert, brothers living in Arkansas. In September 2023, Kent detectives found out the two brothers were in custody for an assault. Ford worked with the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office to request voluntary DNA from the brothers.
Kurt Kundert gave a voluntary sample, according to police. Kenneth Kundert declined. The State Patrol Crime Lab excluded Kurt Kundert as a suspect because he was not a match.
Kent detectives looked into Kenneth Kundert’s ties to Washington state. He worked in 1987 in the Snohomish County area. They also learned he and his brother had lived in an apartment complex about 1,200 feet from where Silzel was killed.
In March, Ford and other Kent detectives in the Special Investigations Unit traveled to Clinton, Arkansas to conduct surveillance of Kundert, according to police. They were assisted by the FBI, the Arkansas 20th Judicial Drug Task Force and the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office.
During the operation, they were able to obtain a discarded cigarette reportedly belonging to Kenneth Kundert. Ford confirmed at the press conference that Kundert reportedly had discarded the cigarette outside of a Walmart store. The State Patrol Crime Lab determined the DNA on that cigarette reportedly matched DNA found on a bathrobe at the murder scene and belonged to Individual A.
“Within the confines of the law and respecting privacy and constitutional rights, our detectives are very creative at their jobs,” Padilla said about tracking down a cigarette.
Padilla said Kundert had no substantial criminal history. He said detectives continue to work the case to find out more about his life in Washington.
Ford said it was unknown when Kundert left Washington. He lived in several states before moving to Arkansas. He apparently worked in the siding and construction business.
As far as his connection to Silzel and a motive to kill her?
“We are working to determine that still,” Padilla said.
The victim
Silzel graduated from high school in Manden, North Dakota, according to a profile released at the press conference. She lived in the Seattle area for about 12 years prior to her death.
At the time of her death, she was a training supervisor at Boeing in Renton for new engineers. She worked at the Kent pizza parlor, just a few blocks from her condo, on the weekends.
“She loved her job at Boeing,” Yantzer, her brother said at the press conference.
Silzel previously lived in Renton but had purchased the Kent condo not long before her death. She was survived by five brothers, two sisters, her parents and extended family at the time of her death. Her parents have since died. Most of her siblings lived in the South King County area in 1980. She was single at the time of her death and did not have any children.
“Dottie loved life and people,” Yantzer said. “She was an awesome aunt to many nieces and nephews and daughter to mom and dad and a sister to eight brothers and sisters.”
She also did volunteer work.
“She was a hugger for the Special Olympics,” Yantzer said. “She is missed by all.”
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Jim Yantzer, an older brother of Dottie Silzel, and his wife listen at a Kent Police press conference about the arrest of a man in August for investigation of killing Silzel in 1980. STEVE HUNTER, Kent Reporter
Dorothy “Dottie” Silzel. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent Police
Kenneth Kundert. COURTESY PHOTO, Van Buren County (Arkansas) Sheriff’s Office
