On May 26, 1990, a 35-year-old male named Everett Dean Bishop, also known as "Skeet," was last seen in Linwood, Kansas. His brother saw him at approximately 2:00 p.m. at a lumber company in Bonner Springs, and Everett mentioned he was heading home. When he wasn't heard from for an extended period, his family and friends became concerned and reported him missing on June 7, 1990. Investigators found Everett's house unlocked and his cars parked in the garage, which was uncharacteristic of him as he was known to be security-conscious after a previous burglary. His sudden and unexplained absence was entirely out of character, deepening the mystery surrounding his disappearance.
The investigation into Everett's whereabouts eventually uncovered a sinister plot. According to court records, a man named Sherrill Brinkley had recently sold Everett a stolen Datsun 280Z. The car broke down in St.
Louis while Everett was driving it back to Kansas, and he left it in a parking lot. Brinkley, who had a criminal record, grew concerned that the abandoned stolen car would be discovered by police and traced back to him. This fear motivated Brinkley to silence Everett. On the afternoon of May 26, between 3 and 4 p.m., Brinkley and a mutual acquaintance, Eric Montgomery, went to Everett's home in Linwood under the pretense of wanting to do some target shooting on his property.
Once there, the friendly pretense turned deadly. Using a semi-automatic handgun with a silencer from Everett's own gun collection, Brinkley shot him multiple times. Brinkley and Montgomery then placed Everett's body into a metal barrel they found on his property. They transported the barrel to Kansas City, where Montgomery welded the lid shut. Afterward, they drove to the Missouri River, near the present-day location of the Ameristar Casino, chopped holes into the barrel, and threw it into the river. In 1992, Sherrill Brinkley was convicted of Everett Bishop's murder. His conviction was largely secured by the testimony of Eric Montgomery, who was granted immunity in exchange for his cooperation. The case took another dark turn when Montgomery testified that a month before Everett's murder, Brinkley had also killed another man, Lloyd Folsom, and disposed of his body in a similar manner. Despite the conviction, the bodies of Everett Dean Bishop and Lloyd Folsom have never been recovered from the river, leaving their families without the closure of a final resting place. The investigation revealed a tragic story of a man who was murdered to cover up another crime, his life cut short by a calculated and brutal act of violence.Last Seen: May 26, 1990
