On September 14, 1990, 10-year-old Kacey Ann Perry was visiting her father in Portland, Oregon. Kacey’s mother and father never married, and their relationship did not last long. Her mother had legal custody of her.
At some point that night, the two got into a heated argument over Kacey living with her father. He told Kacey she must live with him instead of her mother or not be allowed to visit him anymore. He believed her mother was not taking proper care of Kacey.
Kacey became angry and ran away from her father’s home around 11:00 p.m. that night. She took a few clothes and her purse when she left. She was spotted at a nearby Kienow’s Food Store shortly afterward. Her personal belongings were later found near the store.
No one has seen Kacey since.
There were possible sightings of Kacey hitchhiking near Albany, Oregon, and Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 near Wilsonville, Oregon, a few days after leaving her father’s home. However, these sightings were never confirmed. She may have been trying to get to her mother’s home in Kaizer, Oregon, about 45 miles south of Portland.
In August 1991, Kacey’s mother’s ex-boyfriend, Brian Keith George, confessed to killing Kacey and disposing of her body in the woods near Kelso, Washington. At the time, George was in police custody in Portland on a bank robbery charge, which occurred on September 2, 1990, just 12 days before Kacey vanished.
George was an immediate suspect by police because of a previous nine-year prison term for manslaughter.
George later recanted his confession on T.V. and has not been charged with Kacey’s disappearance. He claimed Kacey’s father is the person behind her disappearance. No evidence supports his allegation, and he is still considered a suspect by police.
True Crime Diva’s Thoughts
There isn’t a lot of info available on Kacey. No website or a Facebook page was set up by the family that I could find. It doesn’t appear that anyone is looking for her, and yes, I find that strange.
I found Kacey’s parents’ names – Tami Perry and Michael Ferdina – and her brother, Troy Perry. In an Ancestry.com message board, Troy Perry posted a reply on there in 2014:
My name is Troy Perry, Michael p. Ferdina is my sisters Father. My mother Tami Perry and Michael didn’t last long as to Michaels jealousy over My sister Kacey Ann Perry. My sister went missing on sep 10 1990. As to her whereabouts I have know clue but if you Michael do come forward with it…. Love and miss Kacey Ann Perry
Does Troy think Michael had something to do with Kacey’s disappearance? If so, why?
I noticed Troy put the wrong date that Kacey went missing – the 10th of September. She vanished on the 14th. Probably just a typo.
I did find Kacey’s family on Facebook, including Ferdina.
What I want to know is why was Michael, a grown man, jealous of Kacey, his own daughter? That’s a little strange. Was he jealous of Kacey getting more attention from Tami than he did? Some guys are weird like that.
Could the argument with her father have gone too far? Why on earth would he insist that she live with him and then tell her if she chooses to stay with her mother, she can’t see him anymore? What the hell was that about? What parent does that crap? That’s what that was. CRAP. Granted, we only have HIS version of what happened before Kacey disappeared.
Witnesses saw her at the Kienow Food Store. Not sure if this was a confirmed sighting or not. Now, if she was indeed running away, what was she doing there? Food? Maybe she went there to call her mom and ran into the wrong person. Perhaps her father found her, and something happened.
I’m not sure I buy that Brian Keith George killed her. So he confessed. Big deal. It could have been coerced. Police honed in on him from the start because of his criminal background, which is normal, of course. But that doesn’t mean he killed Kacey. Did any witnesses see Kacey with a man resembling George? From what I understand, he lived in Kelso, Washington, at the time of Kacey’s disappearance. Still, his girlfriend testified at the bank robbery trial that he had returned from a trip to Oregon in late September 1990. So, was he in Portland around the 14th?
No evidence suggests Kacey’s father killed her, but considering he was the last person known to her to see her and they had an argument, well, he makes the better suspect, in my opinion.
There is also the theory, of course, that someone abducted her at Kienow’s when she was there. Her personal belongings were later found near the store, so it’s definitely a possibility. But there were the hitchhiking sightings.
The hitchhiking sightings occurred several days after Kacey left her father’s house. If that was her, where was she in between the Kienow Food Store and Interstate 5/205 sightings? Why are there no sightings of her during this time? Albany’s sighting is strange because if she was trying to get to her mother’s home in Kaizer, Albany is about 29 miles south of there. Why would she be hitchhiking in Albany? Where was she trying to go?
I think Kacey is most likely deceased. Even if she ran away, she could not have survived living on the streets at that age.
1 comment
Her face is haunting