Childhood friends speak out about 10-year search for Kara Nichols as her alleged killer faces a judge
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Micki Mitchell held out hope that her close friend Kara Nichols might still be alive nearly 10 years after she vanished from her Colorado Springs home in October of 2012. Kara was 19 when she disappeared.
That hope came crashing down two weeks ago when the El Paso County Sheriff's Office announced they found her body and made an arrest in her case.
"I haven't been able to sleep. I've been very upset," Mitchell told KRDO. "I'm very disappointed, and I'm sad. I'm just really just shocked by everything."
46-year-old Joel Hollendorfer faces a first-degree murder charge for Kara's death. Phone records show they planned to meet up the night she disappeared, and her phone last pinged near his Black Forest address where investigators found her remains in early February.
Hollendorfer's attorneys told a judge Wednesday during a status conference that they don't want cameras in the courtroom ahead of trial and they don't want law enforcement to speak with Hollendorfer about this case moving forward. It may have been a fairly standard pre-trial hearing, but it means Kara's loved ones are one step closer to seeking justice for Kara's death.
"Kara deserves justice," Mitchell said. "She's a friend, a sister, a daughter, she matters to a lot of us and, and I'm just really just blown away by this guy -- and I'm just very, very upset. I hope Kara gets the justice she deserves."
Mitchell met Kara back in the first grade at Trailblazer Elementary School in Colorado Springs. The two quickly became close friends and forged a strong, lasting bond. Mitchell eventually moved away as they got older, but they always kept in touch. Mitchell said she even came back to Colorado Springs to grab lunch with Kara in the summer of 2012 -- just three months before she disappeared.
"Everything seemed normal, she seemed the same Kara to me, and little did I know that was the last time I was going to see her," Mitchell said.
Mitchell's mom, Jennifer Mitchell-Dixon, hopes Kara is remembered for who she was as a person and how many people loved her.
"She was just an all-American Girl, just a normal, great person. She was spunky, she had a lot of life to her." Mitchell-Dixon said. "Kara could have been anybody's daughter. You know? She was the 'girl next door.' Her parents are phenomenal."
If convicted of first-degree murder, Hollendorfer will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He's expected back in court in early April for a status conference.
