Niece of missing Fargo man, is continuing her mom’s search in looking for him

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — On October 2, 1993, Fargo native Kevin Mahoney was last seen in a friend’s house in north Fargo. Thirty-two years later, his niece is still looking for him.

“My mom was the one who kind of held it down every year, and you know, contacted everybody. She always told me, “You don’t give up on family,” said Tiffany Elsenpeter, niece of Kevin Mahoney.

Elsenpeter was only 6 months old when her uncle went missing. But for the past 14 years, she has been helping in the search. This year was a little different as her mother had passed away last May due to cancer.

“I made a promise to my mom, and I intend to keep it. Like I said, she never would give up on family. And she told me to be out here until we find answers, and that’s what I plan on doing,” said Elsenpeter.

Fargo Police Detective Mark Voigtschild is the detective handling the case, along with two other cold cases. For him, working on cold cases starts from the beginning.

“Part of the problem with some of the old investigative techniques, and it was a limitation of technology, is there were no recordings. So you’re relying on an officer or detective at that time, you know, however many years ago, that they wrote a sufficient report, everything was documented and listed in the report,” said Mark Voigtschild, Detective at Fargo Police Department.

As dozens of cases in North Dakota have been deemed cold cases, Voigtschild says he won’t give up on investigating.

“When you’re working a cold case, it’s important to remember that there’s a family. There’s loved ones who care deeply about that person. And there’s not a given time as to when we’ll give up. I know I can speak for myself, I won’t give up,” said Voigtschild.