State police fined $24K for withholding records in 1995 case

MADISONVILLE, Ky. (AP) – The Kentucky State Police must pay nearly $24,000 for refusing to share 911 calls with the mother of a young woman who disappeared decades ago.

The penalty includes legal fees and $25 per day for violating Kentucky’s Open Records Act for 564 days.

The Evansville Courier & Press reports that Sarah Teague and her lawyer Chip Adams believe police suspected the wrong man in the apparent 1995 abduction of her 23-year-old daughter, Heather Teague. They say a 911 call played for them in 2016 was different than a call they heard in 2008 describing a different man dragging the girl away.

Police said the first tape is lost. A judge dismissed their claim that they couldn’t share a copy of the 2016 call without hindering a possible police action.