Key facts
- Name: Kim Marie Larrow
- Born: December 17, 1965
- Age at disappearance: 15
- Last seen: Evening of June 8, 1981, at the Stroh’s Ice Cream Parlor at Sheldon and Ann Arbor Roads, Canton, Michigan
- Location: Canton Township, Wayne County, Michigan
- Description: 5’5″, 125 lbs, strawberry-blond hair
- Status: Still missing; NCMEC poster active (listed as “Age Now: 60”)
- Investigating agency: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children — 1-800-843-5678
The ice cream parlor
On the evening of June 8, 1981, fifteen-year-old Kim Larrow stopped at the Stroh’s Ice Cream Parlor at the corner of Sheldon and Ann Arbor Roads in Canton, Michigan. Her best friend worked there. Kim’s plan was simple: meet her friend, then head to Haggerty Field in Hines Park, where they were supposed to meet up.
She never made it to Haggerty Field.
Kim had moved just one week earlier — from her father’s house on Eggert Road in Dundee to her mother’s place on Beaufort Drive in Canton. A new town, a new arrangement, a fifteen-year-old girl in motion. The ice cream parlor was a familiar anchor: her best friend’s workplace, a plan for the evening. Then the thread breaks.
The girl nobody reported — at first
Kim had a history of running away. She’d hitchhiked before — once all the way to Florida. But there was a pattern to it: she always contacted someone. She always let somebody know she was alive.
This time, nobody was contacted. And for days, nobody reported her missing. Her mother, by multiple accounts, was uncooperative with the investigation. Her brother Brandon Headley’s words about it are devastating and on the record: “Kim was a forgotten child by an extremely selfish family… I’ll never forgive myself.” He told Local 4 he carries the guilt of not doing more.
Her father, Arnold Larrow, hired a private investigator — a father’s answer to a system that wasn’t moving. But the early days were lost: a girl with a runaway history, a family that didn’t report her promptly, and an investigation that started from behind.
The Western Michigan University Cold Case Program later took up Kim’s case, and NCMEC still carries her poster — age-progressed to 43 in one rendering, now listing “Age Now: 60.” She would have turned 60 in December 2025.
The serial killer lead
In 2018, the case collided with a darker one. Warren police searched a farm connected to Arthur Ream — a suspected serial killer convicted in 2008 of murdering Cindy Zarzycki in 1986 — looking for the remains of additional victims. Kim Larrow was named among the possible victims.
The search found nothing. No remains, no connection, no answers. But the fact that investigators considered it tells you how Kim’s case is classified in the minds of law enforcement: a fifteen-year-old girl who vanished off a suburban street in 1981, in a state with a deep bench of predators, is a case where the worst has to be considered.
“A forgotten child”
Brandon Headley’s words to Local 4 are the emotional center of Kim Larrow’s case: “Kim was a forgotten child by an extremely selfish family… I’ll never forgive myself.” A brother’s guilt, stated plainly, on the record. He wasn’t there the night she vanished. He can’t change that. But his testimony does something the official file can’t: it explains how a fifteen-year-old girl could disappear and not be reported for days.
The family dynamics are the case’s dark matter — invisible in the official record, but shaping everything. A mother described as uncooperative with investigators. A father, Arnold Larrow, who hired a private investigator when the police weren’t moving fast enough — a father’s money trying to buy what the system wasn’t giving. A girl who’d moved from Dundee to Canton just a week before, unmoored between two households. A history of running away that gave everyone — family, police — a ready-made explanation that required no urgency.
The Western Michigan University Cold Case Program’s involvement is the case’s best hope. University cold-case programs bring student investigators, fresh eyes, and academic resources to files that police departments can’t prioritize. WMU’s page on Kim keeps the facts organized and public. NCMEC’s poster — age-progressed, “Age Now: 60” — keeps her face in the system.
And the Ream lead, for all that it produced nothing, revealed how investigators categorize Kim: as a possible victim of a predator. The 2018 farm search in Warren — Arthur Ream’s property, Ream convicted in 2008 of killing Cindy Zarzycki in 1986 — was a long shot, and it missed. But it put Kim’s name in the same breath as a serial killer investigation, which is where the evidence, thin as it is, keeps pointing: a fifteen-year-old girl, walking alone at dusk in 1981, in the orbit of men who hunted girls exactly like her.
The 2018 farm search also revealed something about the era Kim vanished in. Arthur Ream was convicted in 2008 of killing Cindy Zarzycki in 1986 — five years after Kim disappeared, in the same region of Michigan. The seventies and eighties in suburban Detroit were hunting grounds for predators who understood that a teenage girl walking alone was a target the system wouldn’t prioritize. Kim, with her runaway history and her fractured family, was exactly the kind of victim who could vanish without the machinery of investigation engaging at full force.
She would have turned 60 in December 2025. NCMEC’s poster says “Age Now: 60” — two words that carry the weight of 45 years. Somewhere, possibly, a 60-year-old woman with strawberry-blond hair going gray doesn’t know she was once the fifteen-year-old at the Stroh’s Ice Cream Parlor who never made it to Haggerty Field.
Theories
Abduction and homicide
A fifteen-year-old girl walking between an ice cream parlor and a park at dusk, in 1981, in suburban Detroit. The Ream farm search shows investigators have taken the predator theory seriously. Evidence level: No suspect has been charged in Kim’s case; the Ream lead produced nothing. Any living person connected to this case is presumed innocent.
She ran away and something happened on the road
Kim had hitchhiked to Florida before. A girl who hitchhikes is a girl exposed to whoever stops. Evidence level: Consistent with her history, but this time she broke her own pattern — she always made contact before, and never did again.
She started over somewhere
Evidence level: No confirmed contact, no paper trail, no sighting in 45 years. A fifteen-year-old runaway who never once reached out to her best friend — the one she was supposed to meet that night — strains belief.
Have information?
Contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.
In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- December 17, 1965 — Kim Marie Larrow is born.
- June 1, 1981 (approx.) — Kim moves from her father’s home in Dundee to her mother’s home in Canton.
- June 8, 1981, evening — Kim stops at the Stroh’s Ice Cream Parlor (Sheldon & Ann Arbor Rd), Canton, where her best friend works. She plans to meet her friend at Haggerty Field, Hines Park. She never arrives.
- June 1981 — Kim is not reported missing for days; her mother is described as uncooperative. Her father, Arnold Larrow, hires a private investigator.
- 2018 — Warren police search a farm for victims of suspected serial killer Arthur Ream; Kim is among the possible victims considered. Nothing is found.
- 2026 — NCMEC poster remains active (“Age Now: 60”); WMU Cold Case Program continues work.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Kim Larrow still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Kim Larrow remains missing. She vanished in June 1981 and has never been found.
Was Kim Larrow ever found?
No. No trace of Kim has been found in the forty-five years since she disappeared.
What happened to Kim Larrow?
She was last seen on the evening of June 8, 1981, at the Stroh’s Ice Cream Parlor in Canton, Michigan. She planned to meet her best friend at Haggerty Field in Hines Park and never arrived.
How old would Kim Larrow be today?
She was born December 17, 1965, so she turned 60 in December 2025.
Was Kim Larrow a victim of Arthur Ream?
In 2018, Warren police searched a farm for additional victims of Arthur Ream — convicted in 2008 of murdering Cindy Zarzycki in 1986 — and Kim was among the possible victims considered. The search found nothing, and no connection was established.
What did Kim Larrow look like?
She was 5’5″, 125 pounds, with strawberry-blond hair. She was 15 when she vanished.
Sources
Official / law enforcement:
– National Center for Missing & Exploited Children — 1-800-843-5678
News:
– Local 4 (WDIV Detroit) — interview with brother Brandon Headley
Reference:
– Western Michigan University Cold Case Program — Kim Larrow case page (wmich.edu/coldcase/cases/kim-larrow)
– NCMEC — active missing poster (“Age Now: 60”)
Correction (Oct 2026 verification): “Arthur Ream convicted of murdering Cindy Zarzycki in 1986” → “Arthur Ream convicted in 2008 of murdering Cindy Zarzycki in 1986” — Ream was convicted and sentenced in 2008 for the 1986 murder (Oxygen.com reporting). Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.