Former police officer, daughter of murder victim finds hope in new effort to solve cold cases

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - A deck of playing cards – each including information about an unsolved crime in Kansas – will soon be distributed in state prisons and county jails across the state, with hopes of garnering new leads from inmates. It’s giving hope to families awaiting answers in their loved ones’ cases.

One case in this new deck of cards hits Wichita police particularly hard. Arthur Goebel is the father of one of their own, a retired police officer.

Kathy Goebel spoke with Eyewitness News anchor Natalie Davis about his murder for the first time, sharing her hope that this cold case card deck will renew efforts to find the person who killed her dad.

Kathy wanted to be a police officer since she was a little girl.

“I told my dad I wanted to be a cop so every Saturday, we’d watch Cops together. The funny thing is, I’d been on Cops several times and he’d never seen any of my episodes,” said Kathy.

The last time she saw her dad Art was in July of 2017. It was her birthday, but she had a gift for him: a chance to watch those Cops episodes to see his daughter in action.

“He was so proud,” said Kathy.

Three days later, she got a call in the middle of the night from one of her fellow officers. Her father had been murdered by a home intruder.

“My birthday will never be the same because that’s the last time I talked to him,” said Kathy.

She says dealing with the trauma and grief is a day by day process.

“They took my hero away from me,” said Kathy.

Who did it? Why? Those are questions detectives can’t seem to answer.

“There’s no reason someone would come after Art Goebel. [He was] a family man, devoted to his community and his church. He served his country. He was an excellent man,” said Detective Tim Relph, with the Wichita Police Department.

Maybe someone behind bars knows something; an inmate playing cards, who sees Art’s picture on the four of diamonds.

“Somebody’s going to have a real attack of conscience,” said Relph.

Kathy is clinging to hope for any new lead in her father’s case.

“I pray that that somebody says something. And then I wonder, will I be able to forgive them?” said Kathy. “I would at least know that person’s not out here hurting other people.”

It’s peace of mind, desired by so many other families whose loved ones are on these cold case cards.

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