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Kurt lived with his parents in Newburgh Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. He was the youngest of four sons and was close to his parents. 

On Friday, October 23, 1981, Kurt left his house in the afternoon and, a block away, met up with a friend who suggested they go to a Halloween party at a duplex. 

Kurt never returned home that night.

By Saturday morning Kurt's parents were worried. His mother Dorothy called his friends while his father Ken searched the neighborhood. 

On Sunday, the Sovas registered Kurt as a missing person with the Cleveland police. Dorothy placed missing persons fliers in stores throughout the neighborhood. That afternoon, she learned that Kurt had gone to the party at the duplex. 

Dorothy went to the duplex to speak with Debbie Sams, the woman who hosted the party, but she was not home. Debbie contacted Dorothy later that night and told her that she did not see Kurt, nor did she have a party that night.

Despite Debbie’s claims, a pizza deliveryman confirmed that there had been a party at the duplex on Friday night. Dorothy contacted Debbie again and this time she admitted that Kurt had been at her place. Guests later commented that Kurt had been drinking Everclear, the strongest alcoholic drink on the market at that time.

One of Kurt's friend later said that he'd taken an intoxicated Kurt outdoors for some fresh air, leaving him for a few minutes to run back inside for Kurt's jacket. However, when he returned, Kurt was gone.

A sighting of Kurt allegedly came from a schoolmate of his who was en route to a job interview on Monday, four days after Kurt was last seen. The man was driving and saw him head toward a van with people who were not from their town. He reported hearing Kurt calling out, "Hey, Franco!" Unfortunately, the schoolmate did not suspect anything out of the ordinary as he was unaware of Kurt's status as a missing person at the time of this occurrence.

On Wednesday October 28, three little boys were exploring a ravine on Harvard Street, just 500 yards from the duplex, when they found Kurt's body. Police could not find any sign of assault and his body revealed no major injuries. Police could not locate his right shoe, although his left shoe was found wedged in a pile of rocks nearby.

The autopsy  revealed that Kurt had been dead between 24 and 36 hours--obviously begging the question as to where he'd been from Friday through Tuesday. Furthermore, Ken claimed that he had personally searched the ravine where Kurt was found on Monday and that Kurt was not there. The Sovas believe that Kurt's body was put there later that evening or on Tuesday.