Photo by Wanda Hanson
When the Fillmore County Unit of Townships Association held their 71st Annual Banquet, they shared a good meal, great conversation and door prizes before listening to the evening’s speaker. As Captain Dan Dornink of the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Department began his presentation, the mood quickly turned more somber.
Dornink had come to share his experiences during the investigation of Maddi Kingsbury’s murder and disappearance in the spring of 2023.
Dornink, a sergeant at the time in the Sheriff’s Department, was asked by Sheriff John DeGeorge to become lead on the Kingsbury case on April 1, the day after Maddi Kingsbury had disappeared from her home in Winona.
The first order of business was to interview Adam Fravel, the father of Maddi’s children. Roadways and cameras were then checked to search for the Fravel van. Once Fravel’s van had been spotted on camera going through Rushford at noon March 31 and returning at 12:45 p.m., the team felt strongly that Maddi was somewhere in Fillmore County.
On April 3-6 the sheriff’s department drove every possible road branching off Highway 43 to see where a person could get from Rushford within the time frame. The search area was large – over 200 square miles. The first week the deputies were searching sun up to sun down, always searching just one more road before going home for the night.
The deputies were grateful for the command center set up at Preble Town Hall where they could update maps of the search each day and refuel for the next step of the search.
On April 7 and 8, large scale public searches were conducted. Task Force One came down from the Cities; team leaders of the search were given an app to track their search areas. Once an area was completed, another was assigned to the group. Unfortunately, nothing was found.
Easter Sunday, the searchers took a break. A picture was found of Adam Fravel driving a Ranger with a shovel in the back. Surely, this was a clue – or was it?
The week of April 10-14 was also fruitless as the searchers searched areas following up on tips that were emailed in. Heat detecting drones were used in the search.
Photo by Wanda Hanson
In the second half of April and May the search slowed. Dornink shared that he personally would get stressed out in his office and would just look up nearby land parcels, get permission and go out to search it.
On June 7, Dornink had the morning off. Additional information had been found about property associated with the Fravel family on 198th Street. At 1 p.m. Dornink drove to the end of 198th Street and parked his car. He searched the south side of the road to Highway 43, turned around and went back on the north side of the street to his car, searching as he went. Upon reaching his car, he stopped and stood, reflecting on yet another fruitless search. As he was standing there, he heard a swarm of flies buzzing.
Looking around to find the source of the flies, he noticed a gray sheet peeking out from under a pile of branches and sticks at the foot of a nearby tree. In that tough moment, he knew he’d found Maddi. He realized they had been within feet of the body as they searched the first weekend.
Fravel was arrested at 5:22 p.m. that day and officially charged with Maddi’s murder on June 8. On October 2, Fravel was indicted by a grand jury for Maddi’s murder. That day Dornink was able to go home and finally relax with his family. The search was over.
On October 22, Dornink was on the witness stand in the Fravel trial for four hours, answering questions. Estimates were that Fravel had been on the scene for approximately 18 minutes to hide the body. Dornink was able to review the trial on November 7. This was emotional for him.
Fravel was found guilty of four counts and sentenced on December 17. He is now housed at the most secure facility in Minnesota as he serves his life without parole sentence. On January 8, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the Fravel conviction and rejected all his arguments.
When asked if it was hard on him to find Maddi, Dornink replied that the hardest part was not finding her for many weeks. The picture of Fravel in his Ranger with a shovel ended up having no significance in the case. Contrary to some opinions, Dornink said Maddi’s body had never been moved. Grass and weeds had grown up around it undisturbed.
While Dornink’s presentation had indeed been somber, the audience of township members appreciated hearing Dornink’s viewpoint of the investigative search for and the discovery of Maddi Kingsbury. They applauded the diligent work of law enforcement and all the searchers.
Leave a Reply