I snared ex who killed missing milk carton girl

JONELLE Matthews had the tragic distinction of becoming one of the first "milk carton kids" after vanishing aged 12.

- BY JEN PHARO

She was kidnapped from her own living room while her parents were out in 1984.

Months later, her face and the details of her case were featured on milk cartons across America in a campaign launched to help find lost children.

Then-president Ronald Reagan even mentioned her in a speech about missing youngsters.

But it was 35 years before her skeleton was found buried outside her home town of Greeley, Colorado, with a single bullet wound to the forehead.

Killer Steve Pankey is now serving life in jail - partly thanks to his ex-wife Angela Hicks, who tells her side of the story in a true crime documentary on Sky.

The couple lived about two miles away when she vanished five days before Christmas.

Around that time, Angela was becoming increasingly frightened and baffled by her abusive and controlling husband.

The day after Jonelle disappeared, Pankey suddenly decided to drive his family over 1,000 miles to Big Bear in California to stay with relatives.

Angela recalls: "Steve was never into Christmas but for Christmas this year Steve's dad said, 'Hey it would just be wonderful if you guys could come'. Steve said we weren't going to go. The afternoon of the 21st, all of a sudden Steve came home and said, 'Get us packed, we're leaving tomorrow morning'.

"I felt so bad because we had two Great Dane dogs and Steve said, 'Don't worry about the dogs, dump the dogs and get us ready to go.