Kylr Yust to stand before Cass County judge on pair of murder charges

Kara Kopetsky was killed in 2007. Jessica Runions was killed in 2017.

Kylr Yust is charged with first-degree murder in both cases. He has pleaded not guilty in each case.

Monday is the day the families of Kopetsky and Runions have been waiting for. They plan to attend Yust's arraignment, saying, if there is a court date for him, they will be there.

Kopetsky was 17 years old when she disappeared, last seen walking out of Belton High School in 2007. She had recently filed a restraining order against Yust.

Nearly a decade later, a 21-year-old Runions was last seen leaving a friend's party. Her car was later found torched on a rural road.

Though their deaths were separated by nearly 10 years, DNA and dental records confirmed the remains found in April, near each other in a heavily wooded portion of Cass County, were those of Kopetsky and Runions.

During Yust's last court appearance, the mothers of both girls said they plan to fight for justice, together.

"Where ever one is, we're both supporting both girls. There's always going to be a presence where ever," Runions' mother Jamie said.

"United front. We're a team, a family. Brought together by a tragedy, but family nonetheless," Kopetsky's mother Rhonda Beckford said.

Yust's hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.