On Tuesday, January 13, 2015, in the morning, Allegan County deputies answered a 911 call and had no idea what to expect. At eight in the morning, a man dialed 911 and claimed to have killed his wife a few days prior and intended to flee the nation. Then, without saying anything more, he hung up. The 48-year-old Sara Knight’s body was discovered by deputies who were sent to the house on 116th Avenue in rural Ganges Township, Michigan, right away. They entered the house with caution. Harold “Butch” Knight, her 66-year-old spouse, was nowhere to be found. He never came back to the house and was never seen again.
Sara’s body showed no obvious signs of trauma, but it was evident that she had been de*ad for about 48 hours when her body was discovered and that there had been no assistance available to first responders. Butch had draped a sheet over her body and had positioned a phone book with her family’s contact details close by. According to an autopsy, she di*ed from strangulation.
Sara’s friends and family were shocked to learn of her de*ath and were clueless as to what could have been the motivation. They hoped he would be found soon after learning with horror that her husband was a suspect in her de*ath. The public was urged by officials to keep an eye out for his 2009 Subaru Forester, which is light green in color and has the Michigan license plate GM74A. They advised people to stay away from Butch because, the day before he killed his wife, he had purchased a handgun and was thought to be dangerous.
Detectives were informed by Roxanne Cameron-Harris, Sara’s daughter, that she was aware of two possible locations for her stepfather to go. She suspected he would move to Beaverton, Michigan, or Maine, where he had previously resided. However, he had been a truck driver for a few years before retiring, so he was probably familiar with a lot of the nation’s locations.
Although Roxanne noticed that Butch was frequently absent due to work and had an enigmatic side, he and Sara were preparing to celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary the next week, and he had never shown signs of violence. Why would he act in this way, I want to know? What made him do this to my mother?
Although Butch and Sara’s relationship was occasionally strained, friends and family acknowledged this, but Roxanne claimed that no one ever imagined their marriage would end in mu*rder. “I didn’t think he could pull this off, but it appears that he did…I have no idea how he did it.
Roxanne discovered a ton of cards and love letters from Butch to her mother as she rummaged through the home Sara and Butch had shared. She found it difficult to comprehend how he could kill his wife after showing her such love for so long. “That is illogical…It’s difficult to say what’s wrong with him; it might be medical.The issue is that we are clueless. It terrifies us.
Up until 2013, Butch and Sara had made their home in Maine. While Butch had preferred to stay, Sara had wished to go back to Michigan in order to be nearer to her kids. Sara made the decision to relocate from Maine to Michigan in search of employment after graduating from the University of Southern Maine. Without Butch at first, she moved in with Roxanne and her husband in Maine until she was able to secure employment as a respiratory therapist. After that, she relocated to the Ganges Township home, where Butch eventually followed.
Sara loved being outside, going fishing, hunting, and kayaking when she wasn’t working. She loved to travel and had a special place in her heart for hurt animals, especially lighthouses. She would always try to bring home any wounded or abandoned animals and bring them back to health.
Money was a point of contention between Roxanne and Butch on occasion, though she wasn’t sure why. “He pretended that money was an issue, even though Mom had good income.” Roxanne believed that their recent move from Maine to Michigan had simply put them under some financial strain. Sara appeared content despite the money problems, and nobody suspected Butch was abusing her. “We would have relocated her and packed her up.” We were not prepared for this.
Following Sara’s passing, her daughter discovered that Butch had not been paying the couple’s bills for a few months. Consequently, her mother’s life insurance had lapsed, leaving her family uncertain about how they would cover the costs of her burial and funeral. The couple had a joint bank account, but investigators discovered that Sara also had a personal account. Butch had spent all the money in this account before leaving the state.
Detectives discovered that Butch had been spotted in Maine a few days after Sara was killed. Authorities in Maine knew he was wanted and had issued a warrant for his arrest for mur*der. The FBI was helping with the investigation because Butch had crossed state lines, and officials were optimistic that he would be located soon.
After a month, Butch was still nowhere to be found. The Town and Lake Motel in Rangeley, Maine, was where Butch stayed from January 15 to January 19, according to information the U.S. Marshals had, but they lost track of him after that. Two weeks later, his car was discovered in Farmington, Maine, in a Wal-Mart parking lot, but nothing inside provided any information about his whereabouts.
Sara worked at Central Maine Medical Center while she lived in Maine, and when word got out about her passing, her former coworkers there were devastated. Julia Haverimen, her former employer, told reporters, “She was beloved.” She was a very respected individual. Detectives interviewed a number of people who shared this sentiment. Nobody had any negative things to say about Sara, and everyone was shocked that her husband could have mur*dered her.
In order to ask Butch some of the questions she had been considering, Roxanne hoped he would be found alive. “I want to know what my mom could have done to him that he could have done this. She is the sweetest person on the planet and she saved millions of lives [as a respiratory therapist].”
A photo of Butch was uploaded to the Allegan County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page on February 5, 2015. He had dark brown hair and a moustache, and he was dressed in camouflage overalls. The image had come from a security camera at the Wal-Mart in Farmington, where Butch had left his car. Investigators didn’t think Butch had any friends or family in Farmington, and they weren’t sure if he had a particular motive for leaving his car there.
Reporters were informed by Captain Baker that Butch could have gone almost anywhere. It appears that the car was abandoned in January, so it’s possible that he left the area or that he is still in Maine. I believe that he wanted to switch cars because he knows that people are looking for him.
Detectives had access to GPS data after the Subaru was found, which allowed them to pinpoint Butch’s movements in the days that followed Sara’s mur*der. While traveling from Michigan to Maine, he made multiple stops at truck stops and also stopped to mail a package containing letters and personal belongings to Sara’s mother. He had made a quick stop in Turner, Maine, his former hometown, before moving on to Farmington and leaving the car behind.
He may have hitched a ride from Farmington to Rangeley, which is only ten miles from the Canadian border, according to investigators. After leaving a motel in Rangeley on January 19, 2015, he might have attempted to enter Canada, but he wouldn’t have been able to do so on foot due to the amount of snow in the area at the time.
Detectives investigated the possibility that Butch tried to hide out in one of the three Amish communities that were close to Rangeley. Though they were unable to locate any proof, investigators speculated that Butch may have planned to attempt assimilating into one of the Amish communities after discovering multiple books about them in his garage.
A few members of Sara’s family discovered in July that someone had gained access to her Facebook account and used it to “like” a May 2015 post. Sara’s loved ones believed Butch had accessed her account from wherever he was hiding out because only he could have known her password. Although Sara’s account did not lead investigators to the person’s location, it did offer some indication that Butch was still alive.
At year’s end, Butch remained elusive, and investigators were still attempting to find his hiding place. Although he knew it wouldn’t be simple, Detective Craig Gardiner told reporters that his New Year’s resolution was to track down and apprehend the fugitive. “He was last observed in Maine on January 19, 2015.” Although there haven’t been any updates, we still regularly mail Maine our wanted posters.I’m hoping he makes a mistake at some point.
The investigation was beginning to stagnate, according to detectives, as the first anniversary of Sara’s mur*der drew near. After following every lead they could find, they were unable to locate Butch’s hiding place and were not even certain if he was still alive.
When the case had not moved forward by October 2016, Sara’s family became dissatisfied and made the decision to hire a private investigator to assist in finding Butch. Carolyn Clore, Sara’s mother, expressed her dissatisfaction with the police’s lack of effort in tracking down her daughter’s killer to reporters. Butch weighed roughly 250 to 300 pounds and measured 6 feet 6 inches tall.The police did miss him even though you could not have missed him.
Carolyn revealed to the public for the first time what was inside the package Butch had sent her following Sara’s mur*der: $2,000 in cash wrapped in newspapers. He included a note advising Carolyn to use the funds to arrange for Sara’s cremation. “It was heartless…why would he act in that manner following her de*ath?”
Butch also penned a lengthy, meandering letter to Carolyn. “He asserted that she was a liability because she had seen something she shouldn’t have and that he was a drug addict or dealer.” In his letter, he declared, “I will turn myself in when I feel like it, and I will never spend a day in jail,” claiming that the police were too foolish to apprehend him.
Butch claimed that he had to kill Sara because she had seen something that neither the detectives nor Sara’s loved ones were supposed to believe. Carolyn thought Butch made up the drug connection because he didn’t want to acknowledge the true reason he killed Sara—that he couldn’t control her—because there was no evidence of that either. “She wouldn’t go because he wanted her for himself and to return to Maine.”
Detectives stated in January 2017 that despite following leads from Alaska to North Carolina, they had not been able to locate Butch’s whereabouts. Although he appeared to be an average grandfather, they reminded the public that he was still thought to be armed and dangerous.
Butch had led a routine life up until he killed Sara and left the state. He had been a truck driver and served in the U.S. Navy for a while, but he also possessed other abilities. In addition to being an accomplished woodworker, he had some training in accounting and computer science. He had trouble hearing and was a bit of a recluse. He was known to frequent health food stores and was interested in eating a healthy diet at the time of his disappearance. It was hoped by the investigators that these details would help someone recognize Butch even if his appearance had changed.
The third anniversary of Sara’s mur*der has passed, and her family has once again expressed frustration over the case’s lack of advancement. “I don’t know why they haven’t gotten him,” Carolyn said. He even wrote me a letter after telling them what he had done. He is making them look foolish.
Years passed, and Butch was still at large. Despite thousands of hours spent on the case, detectives were never able to find out where Butch went after leaving the motel in Rangeley, Maine. It’s likely that he attempted to enter Canada using a false identity, but it’s unclear if he was successful. He is still wanted and considered a fugitive from justice as of June 2023. There is still an active warrant for his arrest.
In January 2015, Sara Lee Clore Knight, then 48 years old, was fatally strangled by her 66-year-old spouse, Harold “Butch” Knight. Despite Butch reporting the crime to 911, he left the scene before the cops could arrive and is still at large. It’s possible that he entered Canada using a false identity after leaving the nation. Butch has a big bald spot in his white hair, hazel eyes, and a history of dying his mustache and hair a dark brown color. He weighs 285 pounds and stands 6 feet 5 inches tall. Please call 269-673-0500 to report any information regarding Butch’s whereabouts to the Allegan County Sheriff’s Department.
