BOZEMAN — The arrest of 25-year-old Austin Clowes is sending shock waves through the community.
“I was overwhelmed with emotions. I was shaking, I was crying, I was smiling. I couldn’t even describe how you feel when you hear those words,” said Karla (Kilwein) Hacker, daughter of Steven Kilwein.
WATCH: Shock and Relief: Arrest of Austin Clowes Revives Kilwein Family's Hope for Justice
Kilwein’s family has waited more than four years for an arrest. Kilwein’s children, who we spoke to after the arrest was announced, say they’re grateful for law enforcement’s perseverance in finding a resolution to the cold case.
Still, they are concerned that Clowes walked free – in Bozeman – all this time.
“He was there living his life. I mean, he got to have five more birthdays that we didn’t have with our dad, He had four more Christmases, countless family dinners, and he just got to go on living his life,” said Kari (Kilwein) Gray, one of Steven Kilwein’s daughters.
The family says an especially alarming component of this case has been the lack of public knowledge – making it difficult to get help from the community.
“A lot of people have never heard of this. People on the street who were a couple houses down had never heard of this. Nobody even seems to know this happened and we didn’t know how to get the word out,” said Kurt Kilwein, son of Steven Kilwein.
One of the neighbors who had never heard of this case before: Treasure Imokhai, who found out about the murder for the first time today while speaking with us.
“I’m honestly so surprised cause I’ve lived here for, like I said, four years, and it’s been a really quiet neighborhood and to think something like that happened over there is kind of insane,” he said.
Now, more waiting for the family... as the case against Clowes moves through the justice system.
“All this time that we’re missing out with him that we could have had… there’s nothing that could substitute that, except the closest we can get is justice for my dad,” said Gray.
“My hope moving forward is that justice is served, and if the suspect that has been arrested is guilty, that he serves the full punishment that is allowed by the law and is and issued to them by the court,” said Hacker.
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