The sheriff of Osage County, Oklahoma has announced a national task force to provide assistance in a missing persons case and look at the possible involvement of BTK serial killer Dennis Rader.

Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden said the task force will use expertise and resources of law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma and Kansas, and it will look into the 1976 disappearance of 16-year-old Cynthia Kinney in Pawhuska.  It will also look at other cold cases in Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas.   Virden has said initial findings indicate potential links between Rader and other missing and murdered persons.

The task force includes Virden and his undersheriff, Gary Upton, the Kansas Department of Corrections, media personality Nancy Grace, New York Police homicide sergent Joseph Giacalone, and Rader’s daughter, Kerri Rawson.

The task force does not include Osage and Pawnee County district attorney Mike Fisher, who held a news conference Monday to voice concerns about the investigation.  He said there is no evidence to file charges against Rader, and he said there is a lead on another person, who has since died, who is possibly connected to the disappearance. Fisher says he does not believe Kinney’s case will be solved due to a lack of evidence and the amount of time that has passed.