During the early 1980s, a disturbing pattern began to emerge in southwestern Washington. Young girls were disappearing without explanation, leaving investigators and frightened communities struggling to understand what was happening.
One of the children was **8-year-old Chila Silvernails of Kalama, Washington**. In 1982, she disappeared while apparently heading toward her school bus. Her body was discovered the following day. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
At the time, investigators did not identify **Joseph Kondro** as a suspect. Kondro had previously been in a relationship with Chila’s mother, but there was not enough information then to connect him to the girl’s death.
Years later, another disappearance would bring Kondro’s name into the investigation again.
## Rima Traxler Disappears
On **May 15, 1985**, 8-year-old **Rima Danette Traxler**, a third-grade student at St. Helens Elementary School in Longview, Washington, disappeared.
Rima was known as a well-behaved and successful student. There was little reason for anyone to believe she had simply run away. The circumstances instead suggested that something more serious had happened.
Yet investigators initially had very little information about when or how she had vanished.
Kondro was acquainted with Rima’s family. On the day she disappeared, he was reportedly drinking beer with Rima’s stepfather. Police questioned him, but at that stage he was not publicly identified as a person of interest.
More than a decade passed before investigators would obtain the evidence needed to connect Kondro to Rima’s disappearance.
## The Disappearance of Kara Rudd
The case changed dramatically in **1996**.
On **November 21, 1996**, 12-year-old **Kara Patricia Rudd** disappeared after getting into a vehicle on the grounds of her middle school in Monticello, Washington.
Kara was considered a popular child and had no known history suggesting that she would simply leave home. Investigators therefore treated her disappearance seriously.
There was also a direct connection to Joseph Kondro.
Kondro had known Kara’s mother since childhood and was familiar to Kara herself. He had also spent considerable time around the family’s property, including staying in their garage. Eventually, he was forced to leave because of his continuing problems with alcohol.
Soon after Kara vanished, people noticed unexplained cuts on Kondro’s body. Investigators considered the possibility that the injuries could have resulted from a struggle.
Another important detail emerged: Kara had reportedly told a classmate that she intended to miss school that day. She was subsequently seen getting into Kondro’s **Pontiac Firebird**.
That made Kondro the last known person seen with her.
Still, investigators did not initially have enough evidence to arrest him.
## A Search Leads to a Breakthrough
For approximately six weeks, authorities searched for Kara.
Detective **Scott McDaniel** eventually focused attention on the Mount Solo area near the Columbia River, a location Kondro was known to visit.
The search produced a grim discovery.
Kara’s body was found beneath an abandoned Volkswagen. Investigators determined that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
The condition of the scene preserved important forensic evidence. Investigators were eventually able to obtain DNA evidence linking Kondro to the crime.
That evidence changed the case completely.
Joseph Kondro was arrested and charged with Kara Rudd’s murder.
## Kondro Confesses
During questioning, Kondro eventually described what he said had happened to Kara.
According to his confession, he took her first to a swimming area near Germany Creek and later drove her to an abandoned house close to the Columbia River. He admitted sexually assaulting and strangling her.
With the evidence against him mounting, Kondro faced the possibility of receiving the death penalty.
His attorneys therefore negotiated a plea agreement with prosecutors.
As part of that arrangement, Kondro agreed to confess to another killing that had remained unsolved for more than ten years: the disappearance and murder of Rima Traxler.
## The “Unicorn” Password
Kondro explained that his familiarity with Rima’s family helped him gain her trust.
Rima’s parents had taught her a safety password—**”unicorn”**—that someone was supposed to know if they were genuinely authorized to take her somewhere.
Kondro had learned the password from Rima’s stepfather.
He later used that information to persuade the child to get into his vehicle.
According to Kondro’s confession, he took Rima to the Germany Creek area, where he sexually assaulted her, struck her, and strangled her. He then buried her near a tree.
The confession finally provided investigators with answers in a case that had remained unresolved for years.
Under the plea agreement, Kondro avoided the death penalty and received a **55-year prison sentence**. He was incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.
## Other Missing Girls Remained a Mystery
Although Kondro had now confessed to the murders of Rima Traxler and Kara Rudd, investigators continued to wonder whether he had been responsible for other disappearances in the region.
His criminal history and violent behavior made him a possible suspect in several unsolved cases involving young girls.
One case that particularly drew investigators’ attention was the 1982 disappearance of Chila Silvernails.
There were notable similarities between Chila’s case and the murders for which Kondro had been convicted. The location, the age and sex of the victims, and aspects of the crimes led investigators to suspect that Kondro might have known more about Chila’s death than he ever admitted.
His prior relationship with Chila’s mother added another connection.
Detectives hoped to question him about additional disappearances. However, Kondro was reluctant to discuss them because he feared that further admissions could expose him to the death penalty.
As a result, several questions remained unanswered.
## Death in Prison
Joseph Kondro spent the remainder of his life behind bars.
On **May 3, 2012**, shortly before his 53rd birthday, Kondro died in prison from liver disease believed to have been associated with a Hepatitis C infection.
His death ended any possibility of obtaining further confessions directly from him.
Kondro was officially connected to the murders of Rima Traxler and Kara Rudd, but suspicions surrounding other missing girls—including Chila Silvernails—were never fully resolved.
## The Case and Criminal Profiling
The Kondro case later attracted attention from criminal profilers and true-crime investigators because of the behavior surrounding his crimes and the possibility that warning signs of violent behavior could have been identified earlier.
FBI profiler **John E. Douglas**, one of the pioneers of modern criminal profiling, studied Kondro. His analysis later became associated with the documentary series *Mindhunter* and was discussed in greater detail in Douglas and Mark Olshaker’s book *The Killer Across the Table*.
The investigations surrounding Rima Traxler and Kara Rudd have also been examined in books and television programs devoted to unsolved and true-crime cases.
Among the productions and publications connected with the story are *The Longview Serial Killer*, *On the Case with Paula Zahn*, and *Cold Case Files*.
But perhaps the most unsettling part of the story is what remains unknown.
Two children’s murders were eventually attributed to Joseph Kondro. Yet investigators suspected that the full extent of his involvement might never have been uncovered.
Several disappearances from the region remained unresolved, leaving families without the answers they had spent decades searching for.
This story is based on publicly available information and reported facts. It has been independently written and presented for informational purposes. Images, if any, belong to their respective owners.