New podcast explores the unsolved disappearance of three young brothers in 1951
Kenneth and Betty Klein sit with their four boys on their front porch in 1950. Photo courtesy of the Klein family via Twin Cities PBS
By Abdi Mohamed Staff Reporter
In 1951, three brothers disappeared from their North Minneapolis neighborhood. 70 years later, there’s still no trace of them.
The story of the Klein brothers, Daniel (4), David (6) and Kenneth (8), haunts their remaining family members and those who have come close to the case to this day.
In Twin Cities PBS' (TPT) debut podcast Long Lost, journalist and host Jack El-Hai takes a deep dive into the story of the brothers' disappearance, looking back on key moments in the original investigation. The podcast comes on the heels of El-Hai’s book about the situation, The Lost Brothers.
On Nov. 10, 1951 after having left their home to go to Farview park, the three Klein brothers vanished. A many-decades-long pursuit for answers ensued for their parents, Betty and Kenneth Klein, and their remaining brothers.
The podcast chronicles the early Minneapolis Police Department investigation (their case is still open) and the more recent work of Wright County Sheriff’s Deputies Jessica Miller and Lance Salls, who began reevaluating key points in the investigation that may have been overlooked.
Katie O’Rourke is a producer at TPT and served as the lead for this podcast. In their research of the case, O’Rourke says that the crew came up against several obstacles, namely time. “First and foremost, the age of the case. There are very few people that have any memory of the event,” she said.
When visiting the neighborhood where the Klein brothers were raised in North Minneapolis, O’Rourke says she met some people who were unfamiliar with the case. With the growing interest in the podcast O’Rourke hopes that a renewed interest in this case will bring new answers to the few remaining members of the Klein family. Some of the living brothers are featured in the series include Gordon Klein, the oldest out of all the boys and Donny Klein who was born after their disappearance.
The original investigation was closed after five days after the disappearance of the boys. The department became convinced that the boys drowned in the Mississippi river as a railroad worker recovered a hat near the banks that may have belonged to one of the boys. O’Rourke believes that this was the best explanation the police could fathom at the time because nothing more sinister would be believable. “I think the obsession with the river and assuming they went in the river kind of seems like the least of all evils,” she said. "Any other option seemed too horrible in a way.”
The podcast scours through a collection of evidence and pieces together several interviews with key people involved in the case and poses questions that may shed light on what happened to the three Klein brothers that fateful day. El-Hai and the TPT producers worked to collect enough evidence as to question the official narrative taken by the original investigators assigned to the case.
When asked to comment on this story, a spokesperson for MPD stated that the case remains open with a cold case detective assigned. Due to this status, the department was unable to comment about the case.
In the meantime, O’Rourke aims to find more as the team at TPT continues to dig into the disappearance. “Who knows what will surface. We’re going to keep pushing and hope to come back with an update this year,” O’Rourke said.