A forensic excavation was conducted at a South Elgin home Thursday in connection with a 17-year-old girl who disappeared a decade ago.
Kianna Galvin left her home on Concord Avenue on the afternoon of May 6, 2016, telling her sister she’d be back in a few minutes. She was last seen at the home of two childhood friends in the 800 block of Revere Road, around the corner from where she lived.
Despite DNA tests showing Galvin’s blood on a neighbor’s garbage can and the suspicion that a man whose girlfriend’s family owned the Revere Road home could have been involved in the disappearance, the case has been unsolved for 10 years.
Investigators who scanned the Revere property Monday with ground-penetrating radar found “anomalies” that warranted further investigation, according to a news release issued Thursday by the Kane County state’s attorney’s office. The excavation, which is focused on the home’s basement, was conducted by South Elgin Police Department and the Fox Valley Major Crimes Task Force.
A portion of Revere Road was closed to accommodate the work, and the Kane County Office of Emergency Management was on the scene assisting with traffic.
Blue tarp tents filled the front portion of the house and yellow crime scene tape surrounded the property.
Galvin’s case was recently featured on “Hunting the Missing: Chicago,” a podcast by retired Chicago police detective Pamela Childs.
The episode looked at the connection between the teen’s disappearance and a man who is serving a 15-year prison term for stabbing his girlfriend.
One of Galvin’s friends told Childs that the man, whose name has not been disclosed, stabbed his girlfriend after she told him she was going to tell police what he did to the Galvin. In police reports, however, the girlfriend said the stabbing was the result of an argument between the pair.
Galvin’s friend was never interviewed by detectives, and South Elgin police initially considered the teen to be a runaway.
Talissa Carrion, who was friends with Galvin when the two were South Elgin High School students, was at the Revere Road scene Thursday as police conducted the excavation.
She remembered their group of friends listening to music and hanging out, she said.
“We always had fun together,” Carrion said.
Kianna was “very outgoing. She was amazing. Her personality was huge,” Carrion said. “She was a kind, sweet girl. She was a bright soul.”
Through the years, she has kept up with efforts to solve her friend’s disappearance. “(Everyone always) thought this is what it was going to come to,” she said. “Finally, the justice she deserves.”
The state’s attorney’s office said updates would be released as they become available.
Galvin’s mother, Fiona, who reported her daughter missing on May 8, 2016, which was Mother’s Day, still lives in the neighborhood. On Thursday, an unidentified woman placed a bouquet of flowers and a religious candle on the family’s porch.
“Ten years have passed since Kianna disappeared, and the weight of that loss is still deeply felt by her family, her friends and this entire community,” Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said in the release.
“My heart remains with all who continue to carry that pain. We have not forgotten Kianna, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to seek the truth. It is my hope that renewed efforts will finally bring the answers her family deserves.”
Mosser urged anyone with information, no matter how small it may seem, to contact the police.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
