Kane McWilliams was born on December 20th 2010 in Colorado to parents Elijah McWilliams Panky and Leland panky some reports indicated that Leland was Kaden’s stepfather but information that we’ll get to later on in the episode proved otherwise Elisha and Leland were married in 2014 after which Kaden’s sister was born however things weren’t happy in the Panky households in November of 2017 Leland began beating Elisha according to their landlord Elisha had recently changed from being a really outgoing person to a Hermit that just wanted to
stay in her house the family was evicted in early 2018 after which they began staying in area hotels during the 2017-2018 school year Kaden attended Ellis Elementary School his principal Nicole Whiteman described him as a hard worker who did well academically and who was always positive caring and who lived the Ellis core value of Integrity in her words at Alice Caden stood out from others from the moment he walked through the school doors every morning with a huge smile on his face his smile and eyes showed how
kind and sweet he was at the core other students wanted to be his friend and look to Caden for what to do next according to his teacher Christina hafler he was always such a bright shining student he was always so kind he was so popular he would walk into the cafeteria and kids would say Caden come sit by me everybody was always so excited to see him he was always smiling and such a pleasure to have in class Kaden last attended school on May 24 2018 even though the school year or didn’t end until May 31st in August of
2018 Elisha notified Kaden’s school that he wouldn’t be coming back in fact she was going to homeschool him this will become very important later in our story according to her Facebook page Elijah worked for IHS Market which later merged with s p Global and per their website the company is the world’s foremost provider of credit ratings benchmarks and analytics in the global capital and commodity markets it is unclear what exactly Elisha did in her role but she was employed as a temporary worker Elijah was contracted to work for the
company through April of 2018 but her contract was later extended until August employees of the company were allowed to work from home but Elijah worked at the company’s satellite office in Highland Ranch Colorado about 95 percent of the time when pressed on why she came into the office Elijah replied that she would rather work in the office than at home in fact Elijah rarely left the office at all co-workers claimed that she was there all of the time almost every day and would eat lunch at the office never
leaving to get take out or go to run errands according to one co-worker a Elijah was often still there after everyone had left for the day after Elisha was involved in a car accident another temporary worker would give her rights home where they would engage in small talk during one of those conversations Elisha stated that her husband Leland was a stay-at-home dad and she was the Sole Provider of income for their family of four on December 21st of 2018 officers and detectives with the Aurora PD responded to a call at the Aurora
extended stay hotel located at 14095 East Evans Avenue regarding a DV complaint there they were met by 41 year old Elijah McWilliams Panky who had made the call regarding her husband Leland who wasn’t actually staying at the same hotel as her Leland was renting a room at the TownePlace Suites located at 3699 South Monaco Parkway in Denver by means of their investigation authorities were able to establish that the couple had two children a baby girl that has not been named due to her age and a boy seven-year-old Kaden McWilliams when
asked about the whereabouts of the two children Elisha informed the detectives that they were with their father lelands while speaking with Elisha a substance suspected to be heroin was observed in the room as such the room was secured and a search warrant was obtained by the Aurora PD while Elijah was being transported to the police station the search warrant LED detectives to suspected heroin and detectives also found a business card for a public storage facility located 5005 East Evans Avenue in Denver the access code was written on the back
and detective Brandon Meadows contacted the storage facility was advised that Elijah had been renting the storage unit since May 17th of 2018. after the search of Elijah’s room had concluded it was locked and secured that same day both Denver and Aurora police officers responded to the TownePlace Suites to have a chat with Leland Panky officers found Leland in the parking lot getting into a black 2009 BMW Leland had an active DV arrest warrant listed on the National Crime information center database with Elijah listed as
the victim as such he was taken into custody for questioning and his vehicle was towed to the Denver Police Impound Lot a cursory search of his BMW yielded a half ounce of crystal meth while in custody officers asked him about the whereabouts of his children as Elisha claimed that they were with him Leland claimed that one of his children was at a daycare center located near I-225 and Parker Road but changed the subject and avoided answering questions about Kaden eventually Leland suggested that Kaden was with Elisha due to the
act of DV warrants he was ultimately placed under arrest and transported to the Aurora PD the next part of our story is a little convoluted because so much has been redacted from official reports on December 21st Aurora police detective Jeffrey Prince interviewed a 24 year old woman who claimed that Leland had told her that he had lost his son three weeks prior according to the woman whose name was redacted Leland told her that it was too much to handle he hadn’t grieved and he needed to get help from someone she told
detective Prince that Leland told her that her family could have his storage and later that he didn’t want anything to do with it because it had too many memories this next part is also heavily redacted but I was able to figure out the gist of what was going on based on clues that were provided in the affidavit Aurora police officers responded to the Parker Learning Center located at 3104 South Parker Road in Aurora there they met with an employee and discovered that Elisha and Leland’s daughter was indeed at the location the employee advised the
officers that Leland had spoke to his staff on November 29th allegedly on that date Leland said that he wanted his daughter to be social with the other kids at the center because she had lost her brother meanwhile both Elisha and Leland were sitting at the Aurora Police Department being grilled about the whereabouts of Kaden after which they both asked for a lawyer on December 23rd detective Meadows of the Aurora PD prepared a search warrant for the couple’s storage unit on East Evans Avenue which was subsequently approved
by a judge the same day detectives with the crimes against children unit responded to the storage unit in addition two canine hand and their Partners from search and rescue dogs of the United States responded to assist both canine teams are reploying cadaver dogs at approximately 905 am an employee at the storage facility removed the lock from Elijah and Leland’s unit and at around 9 59 that same morning detectives raised the door and began their search numerous photographs were taken before anyone entered the unit now at a glance
the unit contained a few plastic storage totes a large pile of clothing and miscellaneous items located at the back closer to the door detectives found several gallon-sized water bottles and a couple of partially empty bags of Quikrete brand concrete granular pieces of premixed concrete covered much of the floor of the unit along the Eastern side was a rectangular shaped object that was wrapped with layers of black trash bags and silver duct tape the object was roughly two to three feet tall and two feet across K-9 handlers Kathy bryantly
and Melissa Kint both deployed their canine partner salmon Hawk within the open storage unit and neither canine alerted to any odors detective Patrick McGinty began the search of the unit by cutting away the layers of the black plastic from the rectangular shaped object each layer was tightly wrapped against the next interior layer and many layers contain duct tape after he removed several layers he began to detect a strong odor after the canines were deployed again both showed noticeable interest in the rectangular shaped object both handlers
advised that their canine Partners had displayed their individual trained indication which signaled the presence of the odor of human remains based on the new information learned during the brief search detectives halted their efforts and secured the scene pending the arrival of homicide detectives from the Denver Police Department after obtaining information from the members of the Aurora PD Denver homicide detective Carrie Johnson responded to the Denver PD headquarters and authored another search warrant for the storage
unit which was signed by judge Olympia Faye at 2 53 PM that same day at around 3 pm detectives Marty Smith and Carrie Johnson entered the unit with their search warrant the unit contained numerous items of evidentiary value that were measured photographed and collected as evidence among those items that were found was a large plastic dog crate with a block of cement inside it Denver pd-bomb technician Kurt Peterson x-rayed the dog crate however the x-rays were inconclusive as to whether anything was contained inside the block of cement as
such the dog crate was transported to the Denver medical examiner’s office numerous bags of Quikrete in the large bottles of water were collected as evidence as mentioned prior the Quikrete mixture was prevalent on the floor of the unit and appeared to be mixed and placed inside of the dog crate at 7 45 PM the Denver PD crime lab in detectives finished collecting evidence that was in plain view at 8 pm detective Smith secured the door and placed a lock on the unit on Christmas Eve while the citizens of Denver were out celebrating
with their families the Denver medical examiner’s office identified and removed the remains of what appeared to be an adolescent from the block of cement the body was decomposed in a visual identification could not be made later that same day a third search warrant for the storage unit was approved and signed by a judge detective Smith from the Denver PD crime lab completed the search and documented the contents of the unit in its entirety on December 29th at 3 in the afternoon Aurora PD Sergeant John Kessler
contacted detective Smith of the Denver PD and advised him that officers were at the Aurora extended stay hotel with a female witness that claimed to have information about a seven-year-old boy that had been killed and placed into a dog crate Aurora PD officer Stacy Sparks who was involved and familiar with the case was already on location and meeting with the reporting party also present were officers Nick Langdon and Jason Weber after officer Sparks spoke with the witness whose name has also been redacted she was sure that she had all
of the information pertaining to the case at 3 12 pm Officer Nick Langdon contacted detective Smith he told him that the witness had been staying at the Aurora extended stay hotel with Elijah Panky in that Elisha told her that a little boy died inside of an animal carrier and was currently in her storage unit at approximately 4 pm detective Smith arrived at the hotel and met with the witness who agreed to go to the Denver PD headquarters for an interview at 6 51 PM detective Smith began a video recorded interview with the witness she
said that she had met Elisha at the Arapahoe County Jail on December 22nd they were both in the same cell block shared conversations with each other and were released at the same time on December 24th yes even though a body was found inside of her storage unit Elisha was released from jail while they were in jail together Elijah allegedly told the witness that her son was missing and that her husband Leland was the last person her son was known to be with when they were released on December 24th the witness went to stay with Elisha at
the hotel after only two days of knowing one another the hotel room was apparently already prepaid the witness shared that she was with Elisha at the Arapahoe County Courthouse when detectives showed up took a saliva sample from her and gave her a piece of paper indicating that she was a suspect in her son’s death the witness testified that the previous day around three or four in the afternoon Elisha told her that the little boy had died in the dog crate Elisha shared with her that her husband and the two children were
staying at the hotel but she couldn’t exactly remember where the hotel was located she told the witness that Lilo would tell the boy to go into the dog crate and she would do the same whenever she needed to take a shower allegedly the little boy was in the dog crate in Late July and Leland had put blankets on top of the dog crate Elisha told a woman that she heard her son cry out that he was hot and thirsty but rather than help her own son she just stayed in bed she said that the following morning she got up and found that the little boy had
died possibly of Suffocation Leland also checked on his son to verify that he was indeed dead according to the witness Elijah took the dog crate with the little boy still inside and put it in their car afterward they drove to a store and bought concrete and industrial strength trash bags Elijah told the woman that they then drove to the storage unit poured concrete into the carrier and wrapped it in trash bags as a result of the witnesses sworn testimony an arrest warrant for CA resulting in death was prepared by
detective Smith on January 2nd 2019 Elijah Panky turned herself into the Denver PD and was placed under arrest and held in the Denver City Jail on January 7 2019 Denver district attorney Beth McCann announced the filing of formal charges against Elijah Panky in connection with the death of Kaden McWilliams she was charged with one count of CA resulting in death and one count of abuse of a corpse in a press release D.
A McCann stated quote thanks the tenacious work by both the Aurora and Denver police departments we now know that young Caden was not only missing for several months he was no longer alive this is a terrible tragedy for the community the community now knows that a little boy was not only missing for seven months he had in fact died while this case will take time to resolve it will take even longer for our community to learn and heal end quote on January 8th Denver district attorney investigator Teresa Wirtz spoke with an employee of the storage facility the
employee advised the investigator that on May 17 2018 Elijah Panky opened an account with their company and was given access to the Evans lot and a storage unit according to the employee Elijah was provided with the unique access code that allowed her entry into the Evans lot via the front access gate between the hours of 6 a.
m and 9 pm when the unit was overdue on rent the access code was deactivated DNA samples from Elisha and lelands were compared to a DNA profile that was obtained from the postmortem samples from the juvenile encased in the concrete on January 10th forensic scientist Eric Duvall with the Denver PD crime lab determined that Leland and Elijah Panky were in fact the biological parents of the Adolescent found encased in the concrete block it was Kaden McWilliams on January 15th Denver PD crime scene investigator Michael Bush downloaded the
Evans lot surveillance videos for the dates of May 17 2018 through December 23 2018. during that roughly seven month period both Leland and Elisha were caught on camera numerous times both together and separately accessing the gate in the storage unit as well as paying their rent at the facility’s office on January 20th detective Smith interviewed Leland at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office with his lawyers present during that interview Leland denied having a key to the storage unit he stated that he had access when the
couple first moved their belongings into the unit after they had been kicked out of the place they were living Leland continued that after he and Elisha separated which was before Caden got out of school he no longer had a key and he never accessed or entered the storage unit again however video surveillance caught Leland entering the lot via Elijah’s code on September 27 2018.
he was there for roughly 13 minutes on February 28th the Denver coroner’s office released the autopsy report for Kaden McWilliams the report indicated that on December 24 2018 Dr Meredith Frank began the autopsy process according to the report Dr Frank’s opinion Kaden McWilliams died as a result of homicide by undetermined means with child maltreatment serving as a significant contributing condition Dr Frank also noted the following the postmortem examination revealed severe emaciation of the body consistent with a malnourished or deprived state
seven-year-old Kaden only weighed 27 pounds numerous injuries of the head torso and extremities some of which showed evidence of healing it was also possible that Caden experienced complications of injuries such as infection or sepsis he may have also suffered a component of asphyxia or hyperthermia which could not be confirmed a test revealed metabolite and meaning Caden’s liver tissue Dr Frank determined that given the highly suspicious nature of his death the findings of the autopsy and that Caden was a young child who was dependent on
others for his care the manner of death was a homicide on March 15th Elijah Panky was interviewed the Denver PD headquarters by detective Smith also present were D.A Joe Morales and both of Elisha’s lawyers Elijah revealed the following information near the end of May 2018 the family all moved into a room at the in-town Suites located at 2900 West Hampton Avenue in Sheridan Colorado Elisha was still working full-time and would leave the room at around 6 30 a.
m and return home about 12 hours later she shared that Leland was solely responsible for the care of Kaden and his little sister she stated that she was well aware that her husband was mistreating Kaden after they moved into the InTown Suites she also knew that Leland wasn’t feeding him around July 11 2018 three days prior to Caden’s death Elijah was taking a nap when she awoke to Leland yelling she observed Leland holding Caden by the neck up against the wall the little boy’s feet were not touching the ground
afterward Leland took Caden to the bathroom where Elijah claimed she heard a ruckus what sounded like things hitting the walls she claimed that she never heard Kaden cry out in pain or cry at all for that matter Leland then left the little boy in the bathroom with the door closed he told Elijah something cryptic that they couldn’t save both children and that they could take Kaden to the mountains to bury him Elisha said that a few days prior to his death Leland was keep side of the dog crate firmed that the day that they found her
son dead they purchased Quikrete trash bags and water they drove Kaden to their storage unit mixed the concrete and poured it into the crate it should be noted that even though Elisha claimed that Caden died in mid-july authorities believed that he was killed in May around the same time that she pulled him from school on March 29th the Denver coroner’s office provided detective Smith with a forensic anthropology report which was completed by Dr Christine pink and indicated the following anti-mortem injuries in
different stages of healing were present on the cranium and lower right arm the right forearm had a fracture that had been healing for 40 to 50 days a nasal bone fracture with evidence of healing at the time of death with new bone formation present according to Dr pink bone formation typically occurs in children by 10 to 14 days after the injury injuries to the frontal bone nasal bones and right orbit were consistent with blunt force trauma these injuries were the result of at least one blow however do the active nature of healing and the
lack of intersecting fractures separate instances of traumatic injury could not be ruled out on May 24 2019 detective Smith requested a warrant for the arrest of Leland Panky for the offense of first-degree homicide CA resulting in death in tampering with a deceased human in January of 2020 prosecutors reached a plea deal with Leland s first degree homicide charge in exchange for the Lesser charge of CA resulting in death in tampering with the deceased human he was sentenced to 72 years in prison as a result of her plea
deal Elijah Pinkey was sentenced to 32 years in prison plus five years of mandatory parole for her role in Caden’s death explaining the decision Denver district attorney Beth McCann pointed to the unknown cause of death for Caden remarking quote we had to take in account the risk of going to trial on first-degree homicide charges when the exact cause of death was not determined end quote prosecutors were also wary of subjecting Kaden’s loved ones as well as a judge and jury to a trial that would revisit the details of the case which officials
ascribed as one of the most horrific cases they’d ever seen Leland panky’s crimes they said were intentional deliberate calculated callous self-serving and deprived of any sense of humanity or human kindness during sentencing Elisha’s Sister Sarah Cruz fondly remembered her nephew she said quote I was in the room when Kaden was born I saw his sweet little face and was immediately smitten as Caden grew it became apparent that he had a very old soul he was a Sweet Child and gentle in our entire family fell in love with him
end quote Miss Cruz is now the guardian of Caden’s younger sister who she describes as a miracle and a survivor in the wake of Caden’s death his former teacher Christina hafler started a GoFundMe page to set up a memorial to honor the little boy with a goal of incorporating Caden’s memory in a public art project planned to be displayed on the side of Ellis Elementary and a bench or tree as of the date of this recording the fundraiser is now closed and raised 6210 dollars as of September 2019 the memorial was
completed and 121-foot mural off of Dahlia Street in Denver features a tree and a bumblebee because Kaden enjoyed nature there’s also a dinosaur too a bright orange bench outside of the school’s entrance was also dedicated to Kaden as well as a tree that was planted nearby in his honor the finishing touches on a work of art with so much meaning way too close to home for me so I decided that you know we should do some sort of a memorial Brooke Webb didn’t know Kaden McWilliams but her daughter went to school with him and saw him in
the hallways of Ellis Elementary his death touched the community it was devastating for the teachers and the parents and the whole Community because if anyone had known that he was you know facing that kind of torture and abuse we would have wanted to step in and do something Webb still wanted to do something a little boy who seemed to be forgotten in life and in death police believe he was missing for several months before his body was found so she started raising money for a memorial outside the school he loved I wanted you
know the bench and the tree and for the kids that remember Kaden and knew Kaiden that they can have you know peace while they’re here at school his classmates even gave their input on the mural that would be dedicated to the smiling boy with a love of nature students met with the artists and helped paint the design they inspired it is incredibly joyful I think about the specific things in it that were very special to Kaden and then I see lots of colors representing so much joy and diversity in our own school
and it’s it really feels very student-centered a teacher at Ellis wants people to feel that Joy when they look at the mural and when they remember Kaden I hope that when people see the mural and see the bench we’ll remember obviously remember Kaden and the amazing kid that he was and also think about the care and the joy that we have at our school Brooke Webb a parent of an Ellis Elementary student reached out to legislators in Hope of changing Safe Haven laws to include older children she said many people are familiar with the
concept of dropping a baby off at a fire station if they’re unable to care for it and believes there’s a way to put in place a similar policy for older kids Brooke Webb has been a champion for Cadence cause and also runs the Facebook group Justice for Kaden McWilliams which kept its followers updated as Kaden’s case progressed if you suspect that a child is being mistreated please contact the child help National CA hotline all calls are toll-free and confidential the hotline is available 24 7 in more than 170
languages you could be the person to save a child just like Kaden McWilliams
