Namus: On November 11th, 1982, Kathy was going shopping instead of to her job at a bank. She disappeared that day. On November 15th, 1982, her vehicle was found abandoned in a parking lot at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Foul play is possible.
Search tips: She primarily made the news in Texas and Kentucky. She was from the latter state but resided in the former at the time of her disappearance.
Commentary and Research
By Shane Lambert
Originally written: March 9th - March 14th, 2025
Has Kathy M. Goad Been Found?
As of March 16th, 2025, Kathy Goad remains missing. Her NamUs profile (MP8539) is still active, indicating an unresolved case.
One thing that I wanted to state is that I don't like the NamUs description. I am worried some readers might get misled.
As it sounds, it reads like she decided to go shopping instead of going to her bank job. But November 11th, 1982, was Veterans Day, a federal holiday. While not all banks closed, many did, or operated with reduced staff.
It’s likely Kathy, a bank employee, had the day off, making her shopping trip unremarkable, not a deviation suggesting something was amiss on its own. I read that she was going to the mall to exchange some items the day she disappeared.
She seemed to have a stable routine in her life. She had worked at the bank, her place of employment, since high school, according to an article in the February 20th, 1983, Park City Daily News.
Not Thought to Have Boarded a Flight
This article is part of my "vehicle at airport series." For these articles, the tag denotes case where a missing person's vehicle is found at an airport. I've come to the opinion that this is usually done as a way of misleading investigators.
Kathy’s vehicle was found at DFW Airport on November 15th, 1982, but that doesn’t mean she took a flight. Per Charley Project and Websleuths, no flight records match her departure. Physical evidence, like hairs linking Kathy to a car salesman’s vehicle (more below), suggests she never reached the terminal.
Her husband, Steven Goad, is the person who found the car. Some might take that as evidence of him 'conveniently' knowing where it was. I took it to me he was exhaustive in searching for her. That the husband might have done something because he found the car was explored and abandoned as a lead early in the investigation. He also convincingly passed a lie detector test.
A Car Salesman’s Shadow: A Theory
What happened to Kathy? One compelling lead points to a car salesman from Hurst, Texas.
What follows is a constructed scenario based on available evidence and critical reasoning, aiming to provide clues to her fate. But first, I will bullet point some matters of fact. The following are true details, according to the early journalism of this case:
- The salesman, after selling the truck to Kathy and her husband, saw Kathy two other times; once at her home when she was locked out and once at a restaurant. That was noted in the Park City Daily News on February 20th, 1983.
- Reportedly, he made advances toward her the day she purchased the truck with her husband.
- In a different case, the salesman damaged a woman's car (called a "girl" in reporting) after she refused a sexual advance. This act led to his firing.
- He was arrested for the vehicle damage.
- The salesman, who became a suspect, agreed but then refused to take a lie detector test.
- The investigators took hair samples from the trunk of the salesman's demo car, and these samples matched hair samples from a brush and roller that belonged to Kathy Goad.
- The salesman had a history of sexual assault, assault, and criminal mischief. He had been charged with rape before.
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| July 31st, 1983. Courier-Journal. |
- A witness claimed he saw the suspect put concrete blocks and a cord in the back of the car, where the missing person's hair was found (December 3rd, 1984/Courier Journal) on the afternoon of the day Kathy disappeared.
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| Concrete blocks and cords could be used to weigh down a body. |
- As of December 3rd, 1984, the suspect was in jail, either for assaulting or raping a woman. (December 3rd, 1984/Courier-Journal).
- He had a 14-year sentence and was in a penitentiary in Huntsville.
Since he was fired, I assumed that the vehicle damage he did was to a client's car. However, it might have been on his personal time.
Meeting Up With a Salesman Not To Be Ignored
The first bullet was of extreme importance. In between the date when Kathy purchased the truck from the salesman and her disappearance, she had 'chance' encounters with the salesman: once at a restaurant and once at her home when she was locked out.
Firstly, I don't think the meetings are random. I think he was stalking her.
Secondly, that he was 'on the spot' when she needed help getting back into her house is very weird. It does prove that he, at least, learned of her address if this was a random encounter.
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| The paperwork associated with a vehicle purchase would have provided the car salesman with access to the missing person's address. He made a sexual advance toward her, showed up at her home on another occasion, and ended up in jail long-term for a serious offense against another woman. |
However, on this occasion I think he was probably stalking her and that he used the fact that she was locked out to reacquaint himself at this point. For me, the fact that he was at her house is clear evidence that he knew her address somehow. In my theory below, I assume that he simply got her address from the paperwork involved in the truck purchase at the dealership. But even if him meeting Kathy and her home is a random thing where he was just passing by, the bottom line is he knew where she lived by the date of her disappearance.
A Theory on What Happened to Kathy Goad
The following sections are my guess on what happened to Kathy Goad after a lot of research into her case.
Theorized: Morning, November 11th, 1982 (Veterans Day) – East Fort Worth
Kathy, a 20-year-old newlywed, has Veterans Day off at her bank job. She is going to shop, likely at North East Mall in Hurst, 10 miles from her East Fort Worth home.
Not long ago, she and her husband bought a truck from a Hurst dealership. The salesman for the vehicle, known for inappropriate advances, is said to have made an advance toward Kathy.
In my theory, I suggest that he accessed her address from the paperwork of the vehicle sale. He had met up with her twice before, according to the journalism covering this missing person's case, at about the time of the disappearance. I think he had been stalking her fairly steadily ever since she and her husband bought the truck.
According to my research, dealerships commonly took people's addresses for vehicle purchases in Texas in 1982. This was needed for any purchase that required financing, and it was still standard for record-keeping and warranty purposes, even for purchases that did not require financing.
The car salesman was extremely likely to have had access to her address based solely on her buying a vehicle from him. That's corroborated by the fact that he ended up showing up at her house the day she got locked out.
In my theory, he is stalking her on Veterans Day 1982. As a holiday, it stands to reason he has the day off as well and therefore has the leisure time to stalk her.
Theorized: Midday – North East Mall Parking Lot, Hurst
Kathy parks at the mall, unaware that the salesman has followed her. As she exits her car, he approaches—perhaps pretending it’s a coincidence and/or using the truck as an excuse. His familiarity lowers her guard. He lures her to his demo car, then attacks her or maybe chloroforms her. Her hairs, later found in the vehicle he operated, mark this moment. He locks her in the trunk unconscious and drives off, leaving her car behind.
Theorized: Afternoon – Murder and Disposal
His prior advances and criminal history (assault, harassment) suggest a motive—rejection turned violent. The salesman rapes and murders Kathy Goad. That afternoon, he loaded concrete blocks and cord into his vehicle, as supported by an eyewitness. In my theory, he is doing this to sink Kathy's body somewhere.
The salesman heads to a secluded spot, possibly near Lake Worth or Eagle Mountain Lake, 10-20 miles from Hurst. He hides the body well.
Theorized: Evening to November 15th – Staging Kathy's Car
With Kathy’s keys (taken during the abduction), the salesman returns to the mall at some point. He drives her car to DFW Airport, and abandons it by November 15th. The four-day gap implies he hid the car first and then moved it during the night at some point. He is doing it to suggest she’d fled in hopes of confusing the investigators, whom he knows are coming. He returns to Hurst using a taxi or transit.
Aftermath: Not Theorized
The salesman did, in fact, end up fired after an unrelated arrest (damaging a woman’s car). Police then found Kathy’s hair in the demo car he used, and an informant shared the second-hand confession.
Furthermore, Kathy's family hired an investigator who did not believe much the salesman said. The salesman agrees to a lie detector test but withdraws. Also, the salesman ends up in jail on a fourteen-year sentence for a crime against another woman.
As for Kathy's case, second-hand confessions aren't good for much. Without her body, prosecutors decline to charge him in 1983. The case goes cold - and here we are.
Why My Theory Fits
- Address Access: Sales records gave him her East Fort Worth address, enabling stalking. Journalism covering the case supports the notion that he had her address by November 11th, 1982.
- Hairs: Forensic evidence ties Kathy to his demo car, suggesting he abducted her. Those hairs are in the trunk, further suggesting abduction. Sometimes teenagers ride in the trunks of cars for lack of a seat. But when missing people are linked to a car trunk, it's only because they were there against their wills, either unconscious or restrained.
- Airport: The car’s location at an airport could easily be just deliberate misdirection as she was a happy newlywed. It's common for missing people to have their vehicles found at airport parking lots. They rarely have documented flights from the same airports.
- Lake: The informant’s tip and local geography point to a hidden disposal site.
- Profile: His previous behavior and job firing make him an interesting person to incorporate into the hypothetical scenario. His profile is clearly that of a misogynist.
Conclusion
This theory posits the salesman stalked Kathy from her home, abducted her from a mall parking lot, killed her, and dumped her body in a lake, using her car to mislead investigators.
Could Lake Worth or Eagle Mountain Lake hold the final clue? As of now, Kathy’s fate and what happened to her remains unsolved.
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