Twenty-eight-year-old Alice Mae Van Alstine was trying to do the right thing when she provided information to authorities on violent acts in central Iowa linked to The Minutemen, a right-wing, paramilitary organization she and her former husband, Lee Andre, had belonged to. Her courage in speaking up may have proved fatal.
Alice Mae Van Alstine
The 5-7, 128-pound, brown-haired, blue-eyed mother of four disappeared on Friday night, March 26, 1976 from 4375 N.E. 29th Street in Des Moines, Iowa. She did not take her purse or–despite the cold weather—wear her coat or shoes. Her car door was found open with keys in the ignition. Her children, to whom she was devoted, were alone in the house. The oldest was 7.
If you have any information on the disappearance and presumed death of Alice Mae Van Alstine, contact the Des Moines Police Department, the Iowa DCI Missing Person Information Clearing House, or the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
Lee Andre and I were in the same class at Lincoln High School. I’ve not had any contact with Lee after graduation in 1961. I now live in Bakersfield California.
I first heard about the loss of Alice Mae Van Alstine, not by name but as Lee Andre’s wife, about 40 years after graduation. I was relaying the story, as I had heard it, to an acquaintance here in Bakersfield. My acquaintance told me that he had heard the story before from a co-worker that is a relative of Alice.
I post this comment so that I would check the box for followup e-mails.
I graduated from Albia High School with this girl in 1965. I thought I knew her. But, looking at the picture, I don’t remember her. I can’t locate the yearbook yet, but she must have made some big changes in her appearance after graduating. Keep an eye on Andre. Is he in good health? Maybe he’s the kind to make a deathbed confession when his health goes. Maybe his buddies have already thought of that.