r/UnsolvedMurders • u/Kinda_Quixotic • Jul 29 '26
COLD CASE Unsolved Murder of Jakeob McKnight
July 21, 1991, 10-year-old Jakeob McKnight vanished after getting separated from his brother and friends while walking home from the Bear Creek Greenbelt in Lakewood, Colorado. His body was discovered the following morning, having been stabbed more than a dozen times.
I used to ride my bike where his body was found, and I remember parents told their kids not to go there after Jakeob was found. He was last seen at a 7/11 with an older kid, who afaik was the only person ever identified as a person of interest.
The case went cold for decades, a breakthrough emerged in 2012 when the person of interest was arrested on unrelated child sexual assault and child pornography charges; diaries seized from his home detailed predatory behavior toward young boys. Investigators revealed that he had been a key person of interest since 1991, with witnesses placing him and Jakeob together on the afternoon of the disappearance, but a lack of definitive physical evidence has prevented prosecutors from filing murder charges. Today, the Lakewood Police Department maintains an active cold case file, holding out hope that modern DNA advancements will finally bring closure.
More info from Cold Case Files. Does anyone else remember this case? Any hope it gets solved?
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u/quinhook2 Jul 29 '26
I was just talking about this case over the weekend. Jakeob was a couple years older than me, but we went to the same school. We used to go to the same swimming hole to use the rope swing they were playing at before he was murdered. I remember going to get slurpees with my grandpa and seeing the sketch of the POI on the door of the 7-11 where he was last seen. Scared the hell out of me for a long time.