New home donated to kidnap victim, dad
Published: August 22, 2007
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Rescued kidnap victim Shasta Groene and her father will move into a donated, brand-new home next week.
After months of fundraising and work, the house — built entirely with donations for Shasta and Steve Groene — is nearly completed.
Crews were installing pavers for a backyard patio, an irrigation system and a security fence this week as Kathy Jacobsen and Midge Smock, who led the fundraising effort, tended to the finishing touches inside the home.
In May 2005, registered sex offender Joseph Duncan invaded Shasta’s home, killing her older brother Slade; her mother, Brenda; and her mother’s fiancé, Mark McKenzie, so that he could kidnap and molest Shasta and another brother, 9-year-old Dylan. Authorities say Duncan later killed Dylan at a remote Montana campsite.
Shasta, now 10, was rescued when a waitress at a Coeur d’Alene restaurant recognized her July 2, 2005.
The second anniversary of the murder spree has been difficult, Groene said, but he and Shasta are doing well.
Duncan has been convicted in state court of the killings at the Groene home. He is charged in federal court with kidnapping and with Dylan’s murder.
The trial is set for January 2008.
Smock, of the Windermere Foundation, launched the effort to build Shasta a home after learning last year that the family was homeless.
Todd Stam, owner of Aspen Homes, volunteered early on to manage the construction project.
Steve Groene has throat cancer and receives disability payments, Smock said. Some money has been raised to cover part of the property taxes, but Smock wants to raise additional funds to pay for insurance and other expenses.
The home is being held in trust for Shasta until her 25th birthday.
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