Precious Few Clues

The True Crime Investigation of Kansas City’s “Precious Doe” Murder

By: Marla Bernard

Narrated by: Lee Ann Howlett

On an unseasonably warm April evening in 2001, the headless body of a tiny girl was found discarded in a makeshift dump site in the woods on the southeast side of Kansas City, Missouri.

One long night turned into four long years for Sgt. David Bernard and the Kansas City Police Department’s 1020 Squad. They followed 1,500 leads, had a replica of the child’s head sculpted from her skull, and ultimately conducted the single most extensive area canvass in the KCPD's history.

Erica Michelle Marie Green, a.k.a. “Precious Doe”, captured the hearts of not only the dedicated detectives who fought tirelessly to identify her and her killer, but of an entire community.

Precious Few Clues is a candid and touching account of the painful impact that this brutal murder had on Sgt. Bernard, his family, and the KCPD’s 1020 squad. It chronicles the all too frequent story of child abuse, failed social services, a flawed court system, and battered women who sacrificed their own children to shield their abusive lovers, echoing the same preposterous explanations of “...but I love him”.

©2023 Marla Bernard (P)2023 WildBlue Press

Gone but Not Forgotten

The case of Precious Doe enthralled Kansas City for a very long time. The little girl who was discarded as nothing more than garbage had no name, no family looking for her, and an entire city who wanted to know what happened to her.
The police worked leads, trying to solve the case. It would take a very long time to come to a conclusion, and the ending would be as heartbreaking as the case itself.

A good read, but hard in many places. For parents, this will be a harder read, as we think about our own children. If you are not angry at the mother of this young girl as the story unfolds, you will be as it continues.