Kimberly Sue Doss

Left and Center: Kimberly circa, 1980

Right: Age Progressed to age 56

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: March 20, 1980

Missing From: Davenport, Scott County, Iowa

Classification: Endangered Missing

Date Of Birth: February 12, 1966

Age: 14 years old

Height and Weight: 5’2″ and 120 pounds

Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian Female, Brown hair, Brown eyes, Kimberly has a gap between her upper front teeth and one of them is chipped

NCMEC Number: 601057

Details of Disappearance

Kimberly was last seen in Davenport, Iowa on March 20th 1980. She had left her mother’s home in Houston, Texas earlier in the year to go stay with her father in the Davenport area but she opted not to stay with him and instead stayed with her boyfriend and some friends in the area. Kimberly was in contact with her mother and let her know of her movements during this time.

She last contacted her mother in March to let her know she was returning to Houston and had a bus ticket. The bus ticket would’ve taken her from Davenport to Chicago, Illinois and then onwards to Houston. Kimberly told her mother she had met a girl going to Chicago and wanted to spend one night with her before returning home.

This was the last time she ever contacted her family again. Kimberly failed to return home to Houston so her mother contacted her father and everyone she knew in Davenport but she wasn’t with any of them and none of them knew where she was. Her mother attempted to file a missing persons report in Houston when her daughter originally didn’t return home but they refused to take the report.

As a result, her mother spent the next two years searching endlessly for her missing daughter. She went to Chicago, Illinois where the police assisted her in searching for Kimberly but they didn’t find her anywhere in the area. She also sent letters about her daughter’s disappearance to law enforcement agency all over the country.

In 1982, her mother moved from Houston to Davenport, Iowa since it was the last confirmed place her daughter was seen in. In September of 1982, she called the Davenport Police Department to file a missing persons report on Kimberly and they accepted it. As a result, many missing persons agencies falsely list her as disappearing in September of 1982 when she would’ve been 16 years old. In reality, she had been gone for two years and her family hadn’t heard from her at all.

In late 1982 or early 1983, Thursday’s Child, a charitable organization that assists homeless or at-risk youth claimed they had seen Kimberly in Hollywood, California and made contact with her. The workers from the organization claimed that Kimberly had bleached her hair blonde and was using the alias “Kimberly Kathleen Gardner.” They also said she was a prostitute under a pimp named James Wiseman and worked in the Hollywood Boulevard area.

The woman the workers saw was said to be four inches taller than Kimberly. Her mother did not believe the woman was her daughter and no investigative action occurred at the time of the reported sighting. The Los Angeles Police Department claimed they had an arrest record and mugshot of the woman in 1985 but Davenport police never received the supposed report and the photo they got was a non-official snapshot.

The photo supposedly bore a likeliness to the missing teenager. Despite the very minimal evidence, investigators stated Kimberly Gardner and Kimberly Doss were the same individual. They also said her mother positively identified the woman as being her daughter, something her family refutes. This led them to conclude she was an adult who did not want to return home to her family. Her family still doubted the identification and said the photos were years apart as Kimberly’s last known photo was taken in 1980 and the woman’s arrest occurred years later.

In December of 1991, investigators managed to locate Kimberly Gardner who was living in Minnesota at the time. She confirmed her identity as well as her arrest in the 1980s that spurred the possibility she might be the missing teenager. She also recalled being questioned by investigators on whether or not she was Kimberly Doss back then. She said she was not the missing girl at the time and again repeated she was not years later.

There was also a false report that Kimberly had been identified as a deceased female located in Sugarland, Texas in 1989. The girl was later correctly identified and was found to be using Kimberly Doss as an alias name. Much of these mistaken conclusions have led to confusion and misinformation being spread all over Kimberly’s case. Despite this, her mother and family remain vigilant in their search for answers.

Kimberly was described as a free spirited teenager but she always kept in contact with her family and would not have gone this long without letting them know she was okay. Texas investigators and Davenport police are currently investigating the circumstances of Kimberly’s disappearance which remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Davenport Police Department 319-326-7778

Texas Department of Public Safety 800-346-3243

Source Information

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children