Oxygen presents a two-part special, The Girl on the Milk Carton, exploring the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews in 1984 and the decades-long search for her and her killer.
The first episode, A Devastating Disappearance, transports us back to December 1984, days before Christmas, when Jonelle vanished from her home in Greeley, Colorado. Local detectives, shocked by the incident, sought the assistance of the FBI and even garnered the attention of President Reagan.
The dairy industry also played a pivotal role in the search, initiating the practice of printing missing children’s photos on milk cartons, bringing the quest for answers into homes across America.
The second episode, A Monster Revealed, fast-forwards to 2019, nearly 35 years after Jonelle’s disappearance. A chilling discovery is made when construction workers unearth human remains, including a skull with braces, similar to Jonelle’s dental characteristics.
This breakthrough reignites the investigation, leading to the sentencing of Steven Pankey to life imprisonment for Jonelle’s murder in October 2022.
The Girl on the Milk Carton: A Devastating Disappearance airs Sunday, August 25, 2024, at 7:00 p.m., followed by A Monster Revealed at 8:00 p.m. on Oxygen.
