On May 12, 1987, nine-year-old Kandy Janell Kirtland, a fourth-grade student at Crockett Elementary in Bryan, Texas, was abducted from her home after being dropped off by the school bus. Her parents found her backpack on the front porch and the front door open; Kandy was missing. Her decomposed body was found along a creek almost two weeks later. She had been shot once in the head after her hands had been tied with electrical cord.

Investigators identified 44-year-old local junk dealer James Otto Earhart as a suspect after witnesses said he matched a description and saw him talking to Kandy shortly before she disappeared. Earhart had reportedly asked about buying a paint gun from the Kirtlands the day before. Police arrested him on May 26, 1987; a .22-caliber pistol was seized from his vehicle and officers found a piece of paper with the Kirtland home address and newspaper clippings about the abduction at his residence. He denied responsibility but was later convicted of capital murder and executed by lethal injection on August 11, 1999.

Does anyone have memories of Kandy, the neighborhood, or the days around May 12, 1987, that could add detail to what happened?