Abby Connolly
Kristi Lynn Nikle was known as a vivacious young woman who loved making memories with friends.
Kristi was born with developmental disabilities, but she never let them stop her. She placed third in Division III of the 12-15 age group in Special Olympics bowling in November of 1990, and her family described her as independent and street-smart.
But tragically, in 1996, Kristi went out for a fun night of bingo with a friend and never made it home. She’s been missing ever since.
Kristi was 19-years-old when she decided to attend a bingo night in downtown Grand Forks, North Dakota, on October 3rd, 1996. Kristi did a great job at bingo and allegedly won $500 that night.
However, no one knows what happened to her after bingo, and her father, Mike, panicked when Kristi did not call or arrive back home that night.
While Kristi may have been independent, her family claimed she had a very trusting personality due to her mental abilities, similar to a 10-year-old. Her brother Lonnie has said that if a stranger offered Kristi some candy from their car, she would have taken it.
Today, the police fear that the night Kristi vanished, she may have been too trusting of someone with dangerous intentions.
The day after Kristi went missing, her family tried to file a missing person’s report with the Grand Forks Police Department, but they were told to wait at least 72 hours since she was an adult.
In the meantime, her family searched the local spots where Kristi would frequently hang out, hoping to find her or someone who knew where she had gone. However, they had no luck, and she was officially reported as missing on October 10th.
As time passed, the Grand Forks Police Department received several tips from people who claimed to have spotted Kristi, but investigators believe they were false sightings.
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