George Kelling

"The problem is your mother."

George Kelling is a child abductor and killer who appeared in Season Seven of Criminal Minds.

Background
Kelling's father left him and his mother when he was an infant. His mother had a history of depression and suicidal ideation; she used to take many walks for hours, and finally, Kelling followed her onto a bridge on one of her walks and saw her sitting on the ledge, trying to gain the will to commit suicide. However, she was pushed to her death by Kelling, who, for the rest of his life until he was caught, thought she jumped all by herself. After his mother's death, he was put in a foster family. Eventually, he left the home and became a 911 dispatcher. Years prior to From Childhood's Hour, the foster father died, and a month before the episode, the foster mother died and her death became the stressor for Kelling, who began to use his former foster home, which became unoccupied.

From Childhood's Hour
Through his job, Kelling received a 911 call from Bobby Smith, whose mother Marlene was suicidal. Kelling writes down Bobby's address and follows Marlene and Bobby to Marlene's mother's house. When Marlene dropped Bobby off at the house, not knowing that her mother was absent, Kelling arrived and pretended to do a follow-up on Bobby in order to gain his trust. He then took him to his foster home. At his home, Kelling asked if Bobby wanted his mother's pain to end. Bobby said yes and George promised to set Marlene "free". After Marlene was cleared as a suspect, she went to the grocery store. Kelling approached her outside, saying he knew where Bobby was. He then led her into an alleyway and killed her, slashing her wrists to simulate a suicide. However, he goes too far and proceeds to stab her repeatedly also.

Kelling then sets his sights on Timothy Tanner, whose mother was addicted to drugs. He kidnaps Timothy from a park while his mother was buying drugs. Kelling then took Timothy to his house, but Timothy was more defiant, continuously saying, "I want my mommy!" Asking Timothy if he wanted his mother's pain to end like he did to Bobby, to which he received the same reply of "Yes", Kelling then went to kill Mrs. Tanner, but because she was placed in protective custody, he was unable to do so. His anger only intensified when Timothy wouldn't stop saying "I want my mommy", so he released him in a bar.

Later, Kelling receives a 911 call from Shannon Barton, a teenage girl whose mother's boyfriend was attempting to rape her, and writes down her address before dispatching authorities to the house. He then arrives at the Barton residence and gets Shannon's mother Connie to open the front door by saying he is doing a follow-up. But Connie refuses to let the follow-up proceed and tries to shut the door, but Kelling forces his way in and abducts Connie and Shannon at gunpoint. At his foster home, Kelling tells Shannon his own story of his mother's "suicide". He then takes Shannon to the room where he is keeping Connie and Bobby, and forces the latter into a closet and pointing his gun at Connie, telling Shannon that it is her choice to allow him to shoot her. Shannon says that she loves her mother, and Kelling is angered. Fearing that Kelling might kill Shannon, Connie fakes anger at Shannon's decision and cries out to her that she shouldn't have called 911 then. Shannon changes her mind and reluctantly allows Kelling to point his gun at Connie. However, the BAU arrive before Kelling can pull the trigger and tell him the truth about his mother's death. Furious, Kelling yells at them, letting Shannon go as a result. Hotch misinterprets it as an attempt to kill and shoots him in the shoulder, incapacitating him. Bobby is let out of the closet, Connie apologizes to Shannon, and Kelling is arrested.

Modus Operandi
Kelling targeted households with single mothers with sons in which said mothers had some sort of major burden which also had an impact on their sons, such as depression or drug addiction. He would find his abducted victims, the sons, through his job as a 911 dispatcher, receiving calls from them regarding their mothers in some way. He would write down the caller's address and then approach them in public areas, gaining their trust by saying he was doing a follow-up to see if they're adjusting well to the aftermath. He would then abduct them and take them to his former foster home, where he would ask them if they wanted their mothers' pain to stop, to which he would always receive a reply of yes. Kelling would then approach the mothers in secluded areas, where he would kill them in ways that simulate their troubled lives; for example, he slashed Marlene Smith's wrists to simulate her suicidal behaviors. He also utilized a revolver that he used to keep Connie and Shannon Barton compliant as he abducted them; he later attempted to shoot Connie with the same gun.

Known Victims

 * His unnamed mother
 * Bobby Smith
 * Marlene Smith
 * Timothy Tanner
 * Kelsey Tanner
 * Connie Barton and her daughter Shannon

Appearances

 * Season Seven
 * From Childhood's Hour