40 years later, Kimball Post Office bomb's a mystery
KIMBALL — One month after a bomb rocked the Kimball Post Office — killing the assistant postmaster — about a dozen investigators were searching for the person who mailed a bomb that exploded at 6:42 a.m. May 13, 1976.
"At this point we just don't have anything concrete to hang our hats on," said William McClanahan, chief postal inspector for Minnesota, in 1976. "The investigators have no alternative but to stick around the area until we get this thing nailed down."
Forty years later, investigators are still trying to nail down the case.
There are no new leads that can be released, according to Jeff Long, public information officer for the United States Postal Inspection Service. But there is a $100,000 reward for anyone who has information that brings the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.
"This is the 40th year. We're making sure people still know about it and the tragedy it was," Long said. "We want to catch the people who are responsible."
Ivend Holen was the assistant postmaster killed in the blast. Holen, who was alone in the building when the bomb exploded, died en route to St. Cloud hospital. He was a 60-year-old father of 10 who lived on a farm in the community.
The bomb was delivered to Kimball from a bulk mail station in Minneapolis at 1 a.m. the morning of the explosion. The blast set off a fire in the building that took firefighters 30 minutes to extinguish, according to a story from the St. Cloud Daily Times.
"Damage to the post office was reported as 'extensive.' Glass was blown as far as 35 feet into the street and surrounding area. The interior was damaged by the force of the explosion and the fire," the story states. "A Kimball fireman who found Holen said his injuries included cuts and burns on his face, hands and legs. A fireman said some of his clothes were on fire. Holen was carried from the building, the fireman said, because another explosion was feared."
The post office was moved to temporary quarters until the building was repaired. The investigation revealed the bomb was most likely meant to reach someone living on Route 1 — on the north side of the city — and that it was assembled and mailed by someone from the Kimball area.
"The explosion and Holen's death stunned Kimball's 600 residents, and the fear and disbelief caused by the bombing still remain close to the surface in the normally tranquil town," states a Times story from one year after the explosion. "The anxiety over the bombing lingers because postal authorities are certain the bomb was not intended to explode at the post office."
The original award of $3,000 was increased to $10,000 shortly after the investigation began. The reward was increased to $50,000 by postal authorities in May 1977.
In the first year of investigation, postal investigators conducted more than 3,000 interviews and spent almost 11,000 hours investigating the case.
"Most people interviewed in Kimball feel optimistic the person who sent the bomb will be apprehended and they believe the new reward offer may help uncover the final pieces of information needed to solve the bombing," the 1977 story states.
In the years since the explosion, authorities have described the bomb as a low-grade explosive triggered by a carefully constructed device. No motive has been determined.
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Investigators questioned local stores to find out where a fishing tackle box, orange electrical wire, putty and a 12-volt battery used in the device were purchased.
"It would not have been very hard to make such a bomb, though," said inspector McClanahan in 1976. "All you need is the knowledge of how to complete an electrical circuit and have nerves of steel to do it."
Current Kimball Postmaster Patty Nelson was attending high school in Kimball when the bomb exploded, and said she remembers the shock that followed the explosion.
"They went around and talked to as many people as they could," Nelson said of the investigators.
Nelson has worked at the Kimball Post Office since 2000, and was promoted to postmaster a few weeks ago. She said she doesn't remember post office staff ever commemorating the event. Instead, post office staff remain vigilant and hopeful the investigators discover new clues or can analyze old clues with new forensics.
"Certainly the community still remembers," Nelson said.
Do you have a tip in the case?
To report information about the 1976 explosion at the Kimball Post Office, contact the National Law Enforcement Communication Center at 877-876-2455 or Twin Cities postal inspector Kate Nichols at 612-884-7880.
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