Elizabeth Syperda vanished from Mount Pleasant on July 17, 2000.

On July 17, 2000 — 10 years ago today — 22-year-old Mount Pleasant resident Elizabeth “Liz” Nicole Forshee-Syperda disappeared from her East Madison Street apartment sometime between 10:30 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. She left behind all her belongings and never claimed her last paycheck or accessed her bank account again.

Her roommate — who was at work when Liz disappeared — said the apartment door was locked from the outside and that Liz had no access to a vehicle.

One month before, Liz’s estranged husband Michael Syperda (whom she met when she babysat his children) had a violent confrontation with Liz and her roommate. After she vanished, he pled guilty to assault in that case and received a suspended sentence and parole.

Although law enforcement cannot link Michael Syperda to the disappearance (he refused to take a polygraph), Liz’s family believes he was involved. He now lives in Colorado.

Liz’s mother Donna Forshee travels from Sacramento, California, to Mount Pleasant every year on the anniversary of Liz’s disappearance. She hopes that her public presence at remembrance ceremonies will remind the public and law enforcement about the need to find Liz.

For the 10th anniversary of Liz’s vanishing, Donna Forshee paid for a billboard near New London, Iowa, that informs drivers of the disappearance and offers a $20,000 reward for information.

When she disappeared, Elizabeth was 5-feet-4 and weighed 150 pounds. Her long brown hair is naturally curly and her eyes are hazel. She has piercings in her ears, tongue, and left nipple; and a heart tattoo surrounds her navel. She was last seen wearing a t-shirt, black jeans, white Nike athletic shoes, a diamond and emerald ring, a wedding ring, and a diamond “Year 2000″ necklace.

Elizabeth Syperda, missing since 2000

Liz’s disappearance was highly publicized and the area was saturated with missing person posters, but law enforcement received no information to indicate foul play or to reveal the location of the missing young woman.

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the Mount Pleasant Police Department at 319-385-1450 or the Iowa DPS Missing Person Information Clearinghouse.

To make an anonymous report, call the Greater Burlington Area Crime Stoppers at 319-753-6835.

The holiday creates conditions and opportunities just right for crime.

Nearly every Iowa city or hamlet hosts a 4th of July parade or picnic with a carnival and fireworks. Add to that class and family reunions, and even the smallest towns see inflated populations. Drifters and transients come in with traveling midways and food booths; but in the crush of crowds, strangers don’t arouse suspicion.

The festive atmosphere pushes regular schedules aside, alters behavior patterns, and lowers caution.

Hot, muggy weather provokes physical and emotional stress, anxiety, and aggression.

Many activities are scheduled long after night falls, and folks drift off afterwards into the potentially dangerous darkness towards their homes or cars.

Alcohol, consumed all day and long after the fireworks end, lowers inhibitions — of both victims and predators — and emboldens risk-taking and aggressive behavior.

Although many unsolved homicides cluster around this time, this weekend we remember Iowans who have gone missing during the 4th of July holiday.

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Thousands gather each year to watch giant explosions of color coordinated to music at the Dubuque Jaycees and Radio Dubuque Fireworks Display along the Mississippi River. Afterwards, the restaurants and bars of downtown Dubuque fill with celebrants.

Crystal Arensdorf, 20, disappeared from Dubuque July 4, 2001.

That’s where 20-year-old Crystal Ann Arensdorf and her friends were on the hot, humid night of Tuesday, July 3, 2001 — in Knicker’s Saloon at 2186 Central Avenue. Even though she was a minor, Crystal drank alcohol there.

Knicker's Saloon, where Crystal Arensdorf was last seen on July 4, 2001

The 5-feet-6, 115-pound blonde wore blue-tinted soft contacts over her brown eyes that night. She was dressed in a white polo shirt, tan shorts, and sandals and wore an opal pendant on a gold chain, an opal ring, and a toe ring.

Crystal chatted with brothers Steven and David Peacock; and, after her friends left, she tried to find a ride to East Dubuque, Illinois, on the other side of the Mississippi. She discussed sharing a cab with bartender Robert R. Mootz after the bar closed, but that never materialized.

Crystal vanished after last being seen at Knicker’s Saloon around 2:00 a.m. Wednesday, July 4.

She has been declared an involuntarily missing and “endangered” person.

The Peacock brothers were polygraphed and their car seized and searched, but charges against them were not filed. Bartender Robert Mootz was also questioned. He was convicted of serving alcohol to a minor but not charged with Crystal’s disappearance. In October of 2001, Crystal’s boyfriend, Tim Gerlieb, was cleared of suspicion.

After following up on more than 550 leads, Dubuque Police are stymied. The Arensdorf family is offering a $2,500 reward for details leading to Crystal’s whereabouts.

If you have any information concerning the disappearance of Crystal Ann Arensdorf, contact the Dubuque Police Department at 319-589-4410 or the Iowa DPS Missing Person Information Clearinghouse.

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Waterloo Jaycees Fireworks Festival on the Cedar River

The free Independence Day Jaycees Fireworks Festival annually draws nearly 30,000 people into downtown Waterloo for an air show, music, and beer gardens. The view along the Cedar River is spectacular as fireworks explode from the 6th Street Bridge.

The celebration is held the first Saturday in July, which in 2004 was July 3. Temperatures hit 85, the sun went in and out of the clouds, and humidity was high. A little rain fell in the evening but had dissipated by fireworks time. The festivities continued into Sunday, July 4 and the early hours of Monday.

L.C. Matlock was last seen July 5, 2004 in Waterloo.

That’s the day 37-year-old Waterloo resident L.C. Matlock disappeared. He was last seen near the Mullen Avenue Bridge wearing a white Denver Broncos Terrell Owens jersey with blue jeans and black Nike tennis shoes.

When Matlock failed to show up at his Tyson meat plant job, his employers contacted his family, who did not know where he was. He was reported missing to Waterloo Police on Monday, July 19, two full weeks after he disappeared.

Matlock, who lived alone, has not contacted family members; and his bank account has been inactive.

Police have no evidence of foul play in Matlock’s disappearance but consider him physically endangered because he needs medication for a health problem.

Matlock is African-American, stands 6-feet-2, and weighs 210. He has black hair and brown eyes.

If you have information on the whereabouts of L.C. Matlock, contact the Waterloo Police at 319-291-4339 or the Iowa DPS Missing Person Information Clearinghouse.

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Michael James Delaney, 49, disappeared from Davenport on July 3, 2008.

Forty-nine-year-old Davenport resident Michael James Delaney was reported missing on Thursday, July 3, 2008 after he lost contact with his teenage daughter Jennifer, with whom he lived.

On that day, the annual “Red, White, and Boom” celebration took place along the Davenport and Rock Island riverfronts. Clowns, obstacle courses, art work, and music provided family entertainment; and the day ended with fireworks on the Mississippi synchronized to patriotic music.

Shorty before he disappeared, Michael Delaney purchased a recent-model, white, extended-cab Chevrolet Silverado Z71 4-wheel drive pick-up, which also has not been seen since July 3, 2008. There is no VIN information available for the truck because the seller is unknown.

Michael Delaney bought a truck similar to this one shortly before he disappeared. (photo courtesy of the Quad-City Times)

Mark Edward Handlon, a person of interest in Michael Delaney's disappearance

Authorities named 53-year-old Mark Edward Handlon as a “person of interest” in the disappearance. Handlon had arrest warrants at the time in the Quad City area, one for stealing money from a Moline restaurant. He also failed to return a white 2000 Chevrolet Silverado pickup to a Bettendorf car dealership in June 2008. Police also are looking for him.

Michael James Delaney is a white male who stands 5-foot-10, weighs 190 pounds, and has brown hair and blue eyes. A woman who dated him shortly before he disappeared described Delaney as a “wonderful, caring, and charming person” who was devoted to his daughter and still grieving the death of his wife.

Michael James Delaney

Delaney’s photo and information are posted on several missing person websites where readers are encouraged to provide feedback. This post — signed by “Michael James” — was left on helpfindthemissing.org at 3:35 p.m. on November 12th, 2009:

“i am dead. please do not worry about me. i am in a better place. i was killed by someone i did not know and i do not want anyone looking for me any longer. my body is by the susquehanna river where i often used to fish. please stop worrying, i am fine.”

If you have information on the whereabouts of Michael Delaney or his vehicle or about Mark Edward Handlon, contact the Davenport Police Department at 563-326-7979, Davenport Police Detective Shannon Hughes at 563-326-6147, Quad City Crime Stoppers at 309-762-9500, or the Iowa DPS Missing Person Information Clearinghouse.

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Temperatures and humidity were both in the low 80s on Friday, July 3, 2009. This was the last time the Maquoketa Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored its annual Independence Day fireworks following dirt track races at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. Racing fans had long enjoyed the combination of the spectacles.

It was also the day that 40-year-old Noel E. Brown was reported missing to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

A photo of Noel Brown is not available, but he stands six-feet tall, weighs 155 pounds, and has brown hair and hazel eyes.

If you have any information about Noel Brown’s disappearance, contact the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office at 563-652-0662 or the Iowa DPS Missing Person Information Clearinghouse.

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There will always be a carefree and jubilant celebration of our nation’s independence and people will continue to mix alcohol with the fun of large crowds. July heat and humidity are a constant in Iowa.

But limiting alcohol intake, not becoming separated from companions, and being aware of surroundings and unusual behavior will help guard against foul play on the 4th of July.

Connie Craft, 20, was murdered near Cresco June 30, 1975

The Albion Gravel Pit northwest of Cresco was empty the last weekend of June 1975. The usually swimmers and partiers had other entertainment.

The Mighty Howard County Fair was in full swing, just as it had been every June since 1893. Thousands packed the Cresco fairgrounds for cattle shows, rodeos, stock car races, and midway thrills.

Twenty-year-old Cresco native Connie Craft had attended the fair all her life. In 1975, she was studying cosmetology in Minnesota, so the celebration that year was also a reunion with family and friends.

On Sunday evening, June 29, Connie enjoyed the fair with pals and was seen at 12:30 Monday morning sitting alone on the steps of a building across from the Police Station.

An hour later she was dead, bludgeoned and drowned in the deep and chilly Albion Quarry seven miles away.

All small towns have their rumor mills and the one in Cresco still grinds out theories about Connie’s mysterious death.

Some in Cresco believe that the murder was covered up by an influential person, that it involved someone Connie knew who was using drugs, and that the true condition of her body was not made public. Others have heard that an article of her clothing was found in a local man’s vehicle — perhaps an item that divers unsuccessfully searched for in the chilly water where Connie died.

If you have information concerning the unsolved murder of Connie Craft, contact the Cresco Police Department at 563-547-3101 or the Howard County Sheriff’s Office at 563-547-3535.

Jodi Huisentruit disappeared on June 27, 1995 from Mason City

Jodi Huisentruit is one of Iowa’s most well-known missing persons. The 27-year-old was abducted an hour before dawn on Tuesday, June 27, 1995 from the parking lot of her apartment at 600 North Kentucky Avenue in Mason City. She was leaving for work at a local television station.

Her disappearance was featured on “Unsolved Mysteries” and “America’s Most Wanted” and was the subject of the pilot episode of “Psychic Detectives.” An entire website — www.findjody.com — is devoted to her case. Queries, tips, and comments about her come in regularly to the Mason City Police.

The apartment complex where Jodi was abducted.

What is it about Jodi and her disappearance that still fascinates Iowans after 15 years, that makes us pause when we see her photograph and wonder?

The answer lies with Jodi herself. A pretty, petite blonde with brown eyes, Jodi was appealing and memorable.

She was the morning and noon anchorwoman at CBS affiliate KIMT-TV, which reaches a wide area of northeast Iowa and southern Minnesota.

Viewers woke up every morning to her pleasant smile and friendly manner. She was there while they had coffee in their kitchens. She sat across from them in their living rooms like a friend who came each day for a visit.

Locals often saw her — single and carefree — cruising around Mason City in her 1995 red Mazda Miata sports car.

Women envied Jodi’s slender figure and beautiful hair. Men found her attractive. Older viewers wished she were their daughter or granddaughter. She was the woman everyone wanted to be or to know.

But her high profile may also have attracted someone with less wholesome motives. Jody may have been taken by a stalker lurking at the edge of her celebrity, driven by obsessive thoughts and fantasies about a relationship with her.

Jodi was declared dead in 2001; but her friends, fans, and family push on for answers and never give up hope of finding her.

Jody Huisentruit

Traci Evenson, murdered in Cedar Rapids, June 21, 1997

The June 21, 1997 murder of 22-year-old Cedar Rapids resident Traci Ann Evenson was a tragedy compounded by frustrating irony.

Traci was beaten so severely that she suffocated from swollen face and head wounds.

Traci’s body was found by her sister, Jodi Lynn Jackson, whose troubled relationship with her husband, Anthony Jackson, was likely at the center of Traci’s death.

Law enforcement had two theories: (1) that Anthony Jackson went to Traci’s apartment to confront her because she warned Jodi he was bad for her or (2) that he went there to rape Traci and was rebuffed. Either way, intense rage was involved.

These theories could not be pursued, however. Five months after the murder, Jodi and Anthony Jackson and their two children died in an automobile accident.

DNA taken from Jackson’s body after death matched that left on a Cedar Rapids rape victim but could not be linked to Traci, who was not sexually assaulted.

Traci paid the ultimate price for trying to protect her sister from the man who not only took Traci’s life but left her body to be discovered by the sister she was loyal to. And his death cheated Traci out of justice.

If you have information about the unsolved murder of Traci Ann Evenson, contact the Cedar Rapids Police Department at (319) 286-5375.

Valerie Klossowsky

For us, Valerie has stopped in time – still that shyly smiling junior high school student of the photos in 1971 newspapers. If she were alive, she would be 54 years-old.

As we mark the anniversary of Valerie’s murder, we are encouraged by the recent exhumation of Lisa Peak, who was found beaten and strangled in a ditch just north of Waverly on September 7, 1976. Bremer County Attorney Kasey Wadding hopes that something will be found that can be analyzed by modern scientific methods not available 34 years ago.

Some have long speculated that Valerie’s and Lisa’s deaths were related to each other and to that of Julie Ann Benning, 19, who went missing from Waverly on November 28, 1975 and whose remains were found in a ditch northeast of Shell Rock on March 18, 1976.

The three Bremer County murders have many similarities. Advancements in DNA may bring a break in the case of Lisa Peak which will help solve the other two.

Time marches on, but so does science; and those who murder are finding that time is not on their side.

Marlene Padfield

On Thursday, June 10, the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun featured a story about the Iowa Cold Cases website, and spoke with ICC’s co-administrator Nancy Bowers about the unsolved murder of Lisbon resident Marlene Padfield as well our organization’s commitment to providing every resource available to help solve cases like Marlene’s.

“You can shake loose a memory or jar a conscience,” Nancy said of the rapidly growing and detailed case summaries and the group’s efforts to publicize them in hopes of shaking loose one of those memories or a conscience.

The full story is available here, and many thanks to our Nancy Bowers for her dedication and great work!

Barbara Lenz

When she disappeared, Barbara was 5-7, weighed 130 pounds, and had long, dark hair and blue eyes. Two inches below her left elbow was a unique purple scar. She left behind a 3-year-old daughter.

Can a person literally disappear “without a trace”? Or does someone, somewhere always know what happened?

Perhaps you know where Barbara Lealyn Lenz is. If so, report your information to the Iowa DPS Missing Person Information Clearinghouse, the Iowa DCI Cold Case Unit, or the Harrison County, Iowa, Sheriff’s Department at 712-644-2244.

Ramona Jean Cox

Ramona Jean Cox was a precursor to Mary Tyler Moore’s Mary Richards, the bright and pretty young woman who left a small town for the big city to “make it.”

Ramona was from a farm near Moravia, Iowa, in Appanoose County. She came to Des Moines, found a secretarial job, lived alone in an apartment, and led an active social life.

But on April 29, 1962, Ramona—then 25—was brutally raped and murdered in her apartment. Her death made sensational headlines around the country and was featured in lurid “true detective” magazines.

Her family remembers a vivacious and happy sister and looks for answers, still after nearly 50 years.

If you have information concerning this unsolved homicide, click here to contact the Iowa DCI Cold Case Unit or here to contact the Des Moines Police Department.

Ruth Pohlmeier-Kingery

Most families are fortunate not to be touched by violence or murder and some seem to have more than their share. Ruthie’s brother Samuel John Kingery was murdered in Ames, Iowa, in 1999.

Her brother’s killer was convicted and sent to prison. Now it’s Ruth’s time for justice.

There is a $3,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction in Ruth Pohlmeier-Kingery’s unsolved murder. If you have information, call Crime Stoppers at 515-223-1400 or click here to contact the Des Moines Police Department or call 515-283-4869.

Seventeen-year-old Corrine Elaine Perry left home that evening to go to a Creston laudromat. She was never seen again, although her car was discovered in the parking lot of the business on April 18.

Today, Corrine would be 44-years-old.

If you have information concerning the disappearance of Corrine Perry, click here to contact the Iowa DPS Missing Person Information Clearinghouse or contact the Union County Sheriff’s Office or call 641-782-7717.

On April 11, 1975, an African-American female body was found in the Mississippi River in Clinton, Iowa. She was young—12-to-23-years-old—was approximately 5-foot-3, weighed 100 to 120 pounds, and was wearing no clothing or jewelry. An autopsy revealed she died of a gunshot wound early in 1975 and was approximately 10 weeks pregnant.

If you have information concerning the murder of this young woman and her unborn child, click here to contact the Clinton County Sheriff’s office or call 319-242-9311 or call the Iowa DCI Missing Person Information Clearinghouse at 800-346-5507.

Mary Jayne Jones

For 36 years, a murder mystery has haunted Wapello County, Iowa, and justice has been denied.

On April 9, 1974, 17-year-old Ottumwa resident Mary Jayne Jones disappeared in the middle of the day and was found dead—shot in the head and the heart with a high-powered rifle—in the home of a farm couple on vacation.

The 5-foot-2, auburn-haired girl—well-liked and highly-regarded by all who knew her— moved to Iowa from North Carolina in 1973 to be near a sister who had a new baby. When a friend back East sent Mary Jayne a clipping about a murder there, she wrote, “There’s hardly any excitement like that here. It’s rather a dead town.” Sadly, that was not the case.

This murder has never been linked to anyone and Mary Jayne’s parents and two sisters have no answers for why her young and promising life was so brutally ended.

If you have information about this case, contact the Iowa DCI Cold Case Unit or the Wapello, Iowa, County Sheriff at (641) 684-4350.

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On April 9, 1978, Steve Gardner, 27, was murdered at 1037 23rd Street in Des Moines, Iowa. His is only one of dozens in the metropolitan area that are unsolved. Sometimes, it takes only the smallest clue to bring closure to cases. If you have any information about his death, contact the Des Moines Police Department.
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Linda Mayfield

In the early morning hours of Good Friday, April 9, 1982, 21-year-old Linda Mayfield was brutally stabbed near the north office door of the Starlite Motel at 3320 West Broadway in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She died a few hours later during surgery at Mercy Hospital.

The killer—with the first name “Chris”—was a Caucasian male in his mid-to-late 20s, 5’7 to 5’10, and clean shaven but with extensive chest hair visible at his neckline. He wore jeans, a light blue pullover shirt with an emblem, and a jean jacket.

The Starlite Motel in Council Bluffs, where Linda Mayfield was stabbed.

If you have any information regarding the unsolved murder of Linda Mayfield, click here to contact the Council Bluffs Police Department Criminal Investigation Division or call (712)-328-4728.

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).

Sarah Ann Ottens

On March 13, 1973, 20-year-old Sarah Ann Ottens was found murdered in her University of Iowa dorm in Iowa City. Sarah was a nursing student from Morrison, Illinois, who worked in the cafeteria attached to the Medical School’s rehabilitation center for handicapped children. She was a pretty and vivacious young woman with many friends. Among those who loved her were her parents, Robert William and Myra Schaut Ottens; her paternal grandparents, Harriet Ten Boer and William Ottens; and her siblings Sandy, Scott, Sam, and Susan.

If you think you have any information that could help solve this case, please click here to send it to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

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Ten years later on March 13, 1983, a dead newborn infant was found along a rural road in Story County, Iowa. The child’s identity is unknown, but someone somewhere must remember and grieve.

If you have information about this child, please contact the Story County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheila Collins

Sheila Jean Collins was 18.  She was full of life, friendly, and fun-loving.  Her smile and green eyes dazzled, her long brown hair swung thick and beautiful.  Her contagious laughter rang through the halls of her Iowa State dorm.  She was smart and an excellent seamstress.  She was tolerant and generous and kind.  She lived an exemplary life and harmed no one.  She was loved by her parents and sisters and a boy who was planning to give her an engagement ring.  Her complete innocence and her trusting nature led her to accept a ride with a stranger.

She was murdered 42 years ago today, on January 26, 1968.

Tonight, once again, a small group of us still seeking answers will retrace her journey from the ISU campus to the spot where her body was found in rural Story County.  It will be a somber and humbling moment in which we remember Sheila’s life and honor her memory.  The lack of resolution will be frustrating and saddening.

Someone knows what happened to Sheila Collins.  Someone can provide the answers to the mystery of this beautiful life ended too soon.  If you have any information, please come forward.  It is never too late.   Nancy Bowers

The brutal and senseless murder of any individual is always horrific, but each time these all too frequent anniversary dates come and go for so many of these young women’s unsolved crimes, I begin thinking about their fathers, their mothers; I have a twenty-something daughter myself and simply cannot imagine the sheer true grit they’ve been forced to summon and maintain.

Today I’m thinking about the families of Pamela Hinrichs of Clinton, Iowa, and Kimberly Ratliff of Council Bluffs.

Pam Hinrichs, 19, was shot 29 years ago during an apparent robbery of the AMVETS Post No. 28 at 1317 S. 17th Street in Clinton either late evening on January 12, 1981, or early morning Jan. 13. The cash register and a nearby safe were cleaned out, and there were no substantial leads, suspects or witnesses. Her case remains unsolved.

Eleven years ago today, Kimberly Ratliff, 22, was found in a car left in the People’s Natural Gas parking lot at 1414 West Broadway in Council Bluffs. Her throat had been slashed.

Ratliff worked at Airlite Plastics Co. in Omaha, Neb., and was last seen alive when she got off work about 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 8, 1999. She lived in Council Bluffs with her mother and stepfather, Joyce and Leslie Kennedy.

To this day, no witnesses have come forward and police have not charged anyone with the crime.

Not yet, anyway. But the times — they are a’changin’. And the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s new Cold Case Unit has a powerful ally in DNA’s growing technology and database .

Those responsible for the deaths of Pam and Kimberly and many others like them may run, but soon there will be nowhere to hide.

Every year, Julie Benning and her four sisters helped their father clear rocks from the field before he planted.

She was bright, beautiful, spunky and ambitious, and always eager to get out and meet people and make things happen. She had a zany laugh and quick smile, designed and sewed her own dresses, loved live music and the weekly Top 100 Countdown.

She also was an avid reader — Nancy Drew mysteries were a favorite — was already writing her own stories and had an interest in investigative journalism. But the day after Thanksgiving in 1975, Julie Ann Benning suddenly vanished without a trace.

The recent Plainfield High School graduate’s whereabouts remained a mystery for nearly four months until a Butler County road maintenance worker discovered her body alongside a quiet country road. Thirty-four years after the spirited and independent teen first went missing, her case remains unsolved.

If you think you have any information that could help solve this case please click here to send your information to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Lisa McCuddin

A day seldom goes by that I don’t receive e-mail asking about an Iowa cold case, but occasionally one arrives that — before I’ve even clicked to open and read it — makes my heart skip a beat or two. They are the ones where I recognize the sender’s last name because it matches a victim’s last name. The message will be highlighted in blue, indicating it’s addressed to my cold cases e-mail address, and when the subject line says something like “My Daughter,” all doubt is indeed removed; a victim’s parent has taken time to write me about his or her daughter — a daughter whose death I’ve most likely written about on the cold cases website.

Due to the vast number of cases listed there, most victim pages include “case summaries” I’ve compiled from collective news media articles, police reports and/or other documentation, rather than a by-lined article. (Links to any referenced articles follow the summary.) But even when I set about putting together each case summary, I give myself mental reminders: This person was somebody’s mother, someone’s daughter and sister; this could have been my brother, my uncle, my grandfather; and How would I feel were I to read this about my daughter or brother or son or sister?

Unsolved murders (and longtime missing persons cases where the victim is assumed deceased) are hard enough on families, and in writing about either, one often walks a fine line between disclosing delicate or unpleasant details about the victim’s life (especially if it played a role in the crime) while still respecting family members’ feelings.

So when a family member writes me for the first time, and particularly if it’s one of the victim’s parents, yes, I do worry if I’ve somehow offended them even though I’ve never gotten any negative calls or mail that would rationalize my fears.

On Friday, I received three e-mails, and by the time I finished reading the third, I suddenly recognized the three true things I consistently see in “cold case families,” and the attributes had been there all along.

Families of cold case victims are kind.

They tend to appreciate and be thankful for any efforts — regardless of how small — others extend on behalf of their loved one. They seem to have an innate sense that people are good, have the best of intentions, and are trying to help. They are long on praise and short on criticism.

Families of cold case victims are patient.

They understand that media will have other stories to cover, police and sheriff’s departments other cases to investigate, and friends and even other family members lives to still lead and move forward.

Families of cold case victims never lose hope. Ever.

Despite dead-end leads and witnesses who refuse to get involved, they never lose hope that those responsible for their loved one’s death will be brought to justice. Whether five years or 40, hope is always viable in a world where advancing DNA technology rivals any aging conscience.

While passing years spent waiting for justice could reasonably make one bitter, the e-mails I’ve received are a testament to the strength, the compassion, and the courage cold case families find within themselves under circumstances many cannot imagine.

Clips from Yesterday’s Letters
(reprinted here with permission)

From Becky McCuddin, mother of Lisa Ann McCuddin, who was shot and killed while riding as a passenger in a vehicle on its way to a Fort Dodge, Iowa, motel on October 2, 2004:

I am so glad you have this website. People don’t believe me when I tell them Iowa has a huge amount of unsolved murders. It is going on 5 years and still no arrest in my daughter’s case. This is not because of lack of trying on the investigator’s part. A lot of it has to do with people not wanting to get involved and coming forward.

Robert Bates

From Tracy Kaiser, girlfriend of Robert Bruce “Kip” Bates III, who was shot around 10 p.m. on September 27, 2007, while working at the Carter Lake, Iowa, ‘Jump Start Conoco’ convenience store:

Robert was my boyfriend. I gave birth to his daughter a few weeks after he was murdered. This Sept. 27th will mark 2 years since he left us. He was working when someone shot him. He was not supposed to work that night. He was scheduled to work in the morning but switched shifts with someone else. The investigators have confirmed that it was not meant for my boyfriend. They have an idea on who did it but do not have enough evidence to prosecute.

And from Jennifer McCuddin, sister of Lisa Ann McCuddin

I just wanted to send a big thank you for setting up this web site. We are coming up on 5 years and nothing new on her case yet. I have sent this web site to many friends and if it doesn’t help my sister’s case I hope it will help someone’s family.
____________________________

My sincere thanks to Becky, Tracy and Jennifer for writing. Keep the faith.

Yours in hope,

Jody

Lisa Peak

While many families celebrate today’s Labor Day holiday, at least two Iowa families will mark the day with another kind of remembrance: the loss of a young, vibrant daughter, and the cold case anniversary of each of their untimely and senseless deaths.

Thirty-three years ago on Tuesday, September 7, 1976, the nude, beaten body of 20-year-old Marie “Lisa” Peak was found lying face down under a lone cottonwood tree in a ditch a quarter mile north of Waverly, Iowa’s, city limits. She had been sexually assaulted, and, according to autopsy findings, died of suffocation and a broken neck. None of her clothes were found at the scene.

Peak, a sophomore majoring in journalism at Wartburg College in Waverly, had just returned to the campus following a summer vacation break. She disappeared the following day — Labor Day — after telling friends she was going shopping.

Many couldn’t help but wonder if Peak’s murder might be connected to two other Waverly homicides.

The nude body of 19-year-old waitress and budding writer Julie Ann Benning of Clarksville had been found March 18 approximately six miles from where Peak’s body was discovered. Benning had been missing since late November 1975 and had been strangled. An autopsy report established her death was due to “homicidal violence, caused by injury to the throat area.”

Five years prior to Benning’s murder, the partially clad body of Valerie Lynn Klossowsky, 14, was found south of Waverly. She, too, had been strangled.

All three cases remain unsolved.

Labor Day also proved deadly for another young Iowa woman. On September 7, 1992, Rhonda Anette Knutson — a month shy of her 23rd birthday — was murdered in the early morning hours while working the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift at the Phillips 66 convenience store in Chickasaw County. Knutson died from severe traumatic head injuries caused by beating from a blunt object.

The investigation into her death included hundreds of interviews by deputies and agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, along with the employment of a private investigator and several psychics.

Her case also remains unsolved.