I loved him so much I would have climbed Everest with a violet on my nose: The story of Joyce McKinney’s mad passion (16 photos)

What lengths will a woman go for love? The story of Joyce McKinney's mad passion, who hunted her lover for years, proves that she will do anything.

How did a smart and quiet woman, who lost her virginity at 25, become the hero of a sex scandal? Why did a beauty queen fall in love with a Mormon and was ready to follow him to the ends of the earth? How did this wild story of passionate love, which the media turned into a pornographic thriller, end? Read our article.





Most love stories tend to be about sublime feelings, devotion, and self-sacrifice. But sometimes, feelings are laced with selfishness, insane passion, cruelty, and even crime. One striking and controversial example is the story of Joyce McKinney's mad love for Kirk Anderson.

Where it all began



Joyce McKinney in her youth.

Joyce McKinney was born in a small town in North Carolina. She was one of those proper girls who only dated successful men, married them, lived in a cozy house behind a white picket fence, and were quite content with their lives. Joyce started dating late and participated in a program for highly intelligent children. Incidentally, her IQ was 168.



A grown-up Joyce with her parents.

Joyce McKinney's parents worked at the school: her father was the principal, and her mother taught English. At 22, she won a beauty pageant in Wyoming.

The smart and beautiful McKinney earned two degrees: first from the University of North Carolina, and then from Brigham and Women's University in Utah, where her family moved permanently. It was the very center of the Mormon community. The year 1975 proved fateful not only for her but also for Kirk Anderson—the beginning of a mad, criminal, and all-consuming love. Joyce passionately desired the young and shy Mormon parishioner.

The Flame of Love

Kirk Anderson didn't strike me as the epitome of male beauty. He was a rather plump, above-average height, shy, and awkward janitor's son. Despite this, Joyce McKinney was overcome with a mad passion. She was already making plans for the future, thinking up names for their children, and couldn't imagine her life without the object of her passion. Ultimately, the 19-year-old man couldn't refuse the 25-year-old blonde beauty.



Joyce McKinney and Kirk Anderson

They were in love and lost their virginity together, but the young Mormon was tormented by pangs of conscience over his premarital affair. His parents frowned on his relationship with a woman six years older than their son. Furthermore, Mormon law strictly prohibited premarital sex. This was a crushing blow to the woman's fiery passion for the man.

In Pursuit of Happiness

When Kirk repented to his spiritual father, members of the Mormon sect decided the young man needed urgent rescue and guidance from this "sinful" relationship. On the elders' orders, the young man left for California to serve as a missionary, bringing the Word of God to his parishioners.



Representatives of the Mormon community.

But Joyce McKinney found her beloved there, too—the passion flared up with renewed vigor. Kirk Anderson was soon transferred to Oregon, but the passionately infatuated beauty queen "miraculously" ended up there too. After this, it was decided to send the unfortunate lover overseas to Europe.



"I loved him so much that I would have climbed Everest for him with a violet on my nose," Joyce McKinney said.

This time, the girl had great difficulty finding out where her lover had disappeared to. She had to hire private detectives. But despite their efforts, they couldn't find the young man. Her money was running out, and attempts to find Kirk were fruitless. Joyce went to Hollywood, hoping to make a career there, become a star, and earn the necessary funds.



"She was stunningly beautiful. I desired her madly, but she talked only about Kirk. For her, no one existed except him," recalled one of her friends from that time.

Alas, Hollywood rejected the amorous blonde. So the persistent beauty decided to earn some extra money by participating in dubious photo shoots for obscene magazines. These photos would later be published by virtually every media outlet in the Old and New Worlds.

In her quest to possess her beloved, Joyce McKinney stopped at nothing. She even became a call girl to raise money for detectives and find her lover, but she insisted on performing oral sex exclusively with her clients. If they wanted more traditional contact, Joyce's student Lola would come to her aid.

"I just wanted to save Kirk"

First and foremost, the passionate and loving woman sought to free Kirk from the influence of Mormon ideology. She wanted to make her lover "happy," in the truest sense of the word. The search for Anderson was ultimately successful, but to achieve her goal, Joyce needed an assistant.



Joyce McKinney and her accomplice in the kidnapping, Keith May, who was in love with her

She found him through a newspaper ad: 22-year-old architect Keith May, to whom she told her dramatic love story. This man became obsessed with Joyce, just as she was with Kirk. May was filled with understanding and compassion. He wasn't even fazed by the fake gun in the suitcase. The man realized that persuasion alone wouldn't solve the problem and agreed to participate in the adventure.

The Kidnapping of a Beloved

It happened on September 14, 1977. According to Joyce, Kirk was incredibly happy upon seeing her and immediately got into the car to follow his beloved. However, the Mormon himself told a completely different story: a man approached him, threatened him with a gun, and ordered him to follow him. As he got into the car, he was chloroformed and woke up in a house.

And in the cozy love nest, everything was ready to receive the welcome guest. Favorite dishes, drinks, a luxurious bed. And to prevent the guest from leaving this "paradise" too soon, he was handcuffed with a long chain.

Joyce McKinney warned her beloved that he would be here for one, two, or three months until she became pregnant. After three days of lovemaking, the exhausted Kirk vowed to marry Joyce. The woman believed him and released him.

But the treacherous lover immediately escaped and went to the police for help. Three days later, the kidnapping couple was arrested.

British media sensationalized the sex scandal

Joyce dominated newspaper headlines, becoming the main character in British news. Journalists, amused, put forward dozens of theories, trying to understand how a woman of average height, weighing 50 kg, could rape a man nearly six feet tall and weighing 107 kg. Bags of letters from enthusiastic men were brought to Joyce's cell, urging her to "Kidnap me!"—with their address and detailed directions.



Along with the scandal, indecent photos of Joyce, which she had taken to earn money for detectives, surfaced.

The UK tabloids lapped up this story for a long time. Every publication covered it: a striking blonde obsessed with a Mormon missionary became the center of British attention for an entire year. To her great regret, the Daily Mirror discovered and published photos of her in bondage, revealing not only her modeling past but also her prostitution trade.

Trial and Escape

Under British law, Joyce McKinney and Keith May could have been punished for kidnapping and false imprisonment with the use of a fake firearm. The charge of actual rape was dismissed—the crime of rape by a woman of a man did not exist in the UK Criminal Code.



A sobbing Joyce hides from persistent reporters.

The criminals were released on low bail, but they failed to appear for the court hearing scheduled for May 2, 1977. It was later discovered that the couple, using fake passports as part of a deaf-mute acting troupe, traveled to Ireland and then through Canada to the United States. The hapless lover was soon arrested, but British authorities, remembering the unusual story and tragic ending, did not seek her extradition.

Another meeting with a loved one

The unexpected and final meeting between the madly in love Joyce and the fanatically devoted Mormon Kirk took place in 1984 at one of Anderson's sermons in Salt Lake City. He immediately recognized his "tormentor" in the crowd of parishioners and reported her to the police. Upon arrest, McKinney was found with a chain and handcuffs in his car.



Joyce McKinney after her arrest in 1984.

Police suspected the voluptuous woman was planning another kidnapping "for love." She was warned that another attempt could result in a large fine or even imprisonment.

The Film "Tabloid"

In 2010, the world once again remembered the "man snatcher." Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris made the film "Tabloid," in which he attempted to trace the fates of the main characters of those events. What do they say and think about the events of those days, more than 30 years later?

Kirk Anderson married and had children and flatly refused to meet with the documentary filmmakers. The Mormon preacher forever erased those three days in the "love nest" from his memories. Joyce, however, enthusiastically accepted the idea of ​​being in a film about herself. The 60-year-old woman still believes Kirk loved her. She never started a family because she didn't need anyone else but her Mormon.



60-year-old Joyce McKinney in the documentary "Tabloid."

"Those were the three happiest days of my life. It was true romantic love. But the Mormons took Kirk from me a second time, and my heart has been broken ever since. I don't blame him for anything; it was the Mormons who made him tell all those terrible lies about me. I loved him, and I still love him, and I just want to tell the world my truth," she says into the camera.

It's difficult to evaluate this once-famous story. For some, Joyce McKinney is a sexually obsessed maniac who belongs in a mental institution. But for others, it's a story of great love and a woman willing to do anything for it. Everyone can see in this “saga” what they want, it depends on how you look at it.