A one-woman crusade to track down a killer

A Green Country woman fought for eight years to make sure her sister's killer stayed in prison. Now that he's out and committing crimes again, she's made it her mission to get the word out.

Thursday, January 2nd 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A Green Country woman fought for eight years to make sure her sister's killer stayed in prison. Now that he's out and committing crimes again, she's made it her mission to get the word out.

News on Six crime reporter Lori Fullbright says Kathy Seymour's life for the past 21 years has focused on one man, Forrest Harrison, the man who killed her sister [pictured] in 1981 at Keystone Lake. "She had been strangled, every bone in her neck broken and had bite marks all over her body."

Harrison pleaded guilty to manslaughter and got a 28-year prison term. After only four years in prison, he came up for parole. Every year for the next eight years, Kathy got petition signatures, drove to the prison and kept him from getting out.

After doing 12 years, Harrison got out and disappeared. Kathy lived in fear because of the threats Harrison made. "I was notified by DOC that he wanted to kill me because I kept him in so long and the judge that sentenced him."

So, she's tried to find him, but her efforts were in vain, until a few weeks ago when she found him in Texas, where he is once again, and victimizing women. Heâ€™s now serving two years probation for this second sex offense conviction which, given his history, outrages Seymour. "I'm not afraid now. I have more courage, that's why I'm want to let people know. I don't want him to kill someone else's sister or daughter. I'm not gonna sit here and do nothing."

That's why Kathy's contacted Harrison's current probation officer and the victim center in Amarillo, Texas to tell them about Harrison's violent past. Despite their lack of interest, she says she won't stop because her sister's memory is too important. "You wake up every morning and wonder why he killed her, why he's walking around free, why he's alive. It's a long time, 21 years, but you never get over it."

Seymour says it's frustrating that states don't keep better track of violent offenders when they move, which means more people become victims.