Kal was a 2003 graduate of Penn Cambria High School, Cresson, Pa. He is remembered as a kind and caring person who enjoyed cars, music, dirt bikes, four wheelers and baseball.

According to local newspaper accounts, Kal’s death resulted from a .22 bullet wound to the head, during a teen gathering at a farmhouse near Loretto, Pa. A Blair County coroner’s inquest with 6 jurors took place. State police apparently did not arrive until after Kal was taken away by ambulance, and then failed to separate and seriously question those present, or pursue two teens who had left the scene. There was no press report of fingerprints being taken from the rifle. An officer nonetheless testified at the inquest that Kal took his life after balancing the butt of the rifle on the floor and placing the front end of the barrel against his forehead, at a picnic table on the porch of the farmhouse. Witnesses testified they saw Kal first “dry fire” the weapon in the kitchen and then take it outside to the picnic table. They heard it fire, but said they had not seen the incident. State police were so sure that the shooting was self-inflicted, the scene’s evidence was not documented and secured. A forensic pathologist disputed the state police conclusion with a demonstration that a suicide was not possible, given the downward trajectory of the bullet, Kal’s final body position, the blood splatter pattern on Kal’s hand, and the measurements involved. Under the scenarios, Kal’s arms were 4 inches too short to reach the trigger. Kal’s mother testified that although Kal was being counseled for drug abuse, he was not suffering from depression, was planning a move to Clarion, and had proposed marriage to his girlfriend two days prior to his death. After a 30 minute deliberation, the jury advised that the death was a homicide, a ruling that was adopted by the Blair County Coroner and placed on Kal’s death certificate.

Despite the finding of homocide, no charges were brought against any suspects. Instead, there was a dispute over jurisdiction of the matter, and a separate investigation was pursued by the Cambria County Coroner. On August 12, 2004, the Cambria County District Attorney announced a finding that Kal’s death was not a homicide, primarily citing a non-specific change of opinion by the forensic pathologist involved, a review of a 911 call that claimed the shooting was self-inflicted, and the lack of homicidal motive among those present at the scene. Blair County officials strongly disagreed with the findings and did not change the indication of homicide on the death certificate. The Cambria D.A.’s conclusion remains disputed by family members. In addition to considerable local press, the mystery of Kal’s death was profiled on CourtTV, and the case even involved the accomplished psychic, Noreen Renier. Kalvin’s death remains unsolved today.