Every year, scientific methods at DCI labs advance significantly. Cases once thought to be colder than cold now have a chance for resolution.

The tiniest amount of DNA, fabric, or hair can be analyzed, not just to identify perpetrators but to identify remains.

Jane Wakefield, 26, disappeared from Iowa City in 1975 and is presumed dead.

The 1975 disappearance and presumed murder of 26-year-old Iowa City resident Jane Ellen Wakefield might be one of those cases where renewed examination of evidence could be productive.

The petite public school teacher vanished after a bike ride with friends on September 5, 1975.

Iowa City Police received a tip from a credible informant that Jane was murdered and her cremated remains scatted along I-80 north of Iowa City. A section of the highway was combed for clues, but results were not made public.

In January of 1976 — four months after Jane disappeared — police searched an Iowa City bar where a female suspect worked.

In addition, searches were made of the apartment of Jane’s soon-to-be ex-husband, John Wakefield, as well as of Magoo’s Lounge and the Four Cushions Billiard Parlor which he operated.

Investigators retrieved five vacuum cleaners and household items.

Ashes collected from an incinerator contained bone fragments and what was believed to be a tooth filling.

However, lacking today’s sophisticated technology, labs at the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation (at it was then known) found nothing conclusive to identify the minute evidence as the remains of Jane Wakefield.

Authorities believed they knew who was responsible for Jane’s disappearance, but filed no charges due to lack of evidence that would sustain a court trial.

Today that evidence might be available through DNA analysis of all that is believed to remain of Jane Wakefield.

If you have any information about the disappearance and suspected murder of Jane Ellen Wakefield, contact the Iowa City Police at 319-356-5276 or the Iowa DPS Missing Person Information Clearinghouse.

Bernita DeWoody, mother of ICC victim Lance DeWoody

We saw it once again when Olin resident Bernita Lee Houston DeWoody passed away on July 17, 2009. Her obituary noted that she was preceded in death by “her beloved son Lance in 1985.”

North Liberty resident Lance Lee DeWoody was only 22 when he was shot in the head at a picnic shelter on the north side of the University of Iowa’s Oakdale campus in Coralville on August 13, 1985.

The large Oakdale campus had just become the headquarters of the Technology Innovation Center, the University’s home for new businesses using advanced life sciences technology.

Although Coralville Police believed they had a suspect, no arrests were made. Few details about the murder were released and no possible motive was advanced, leaving family and friends to wonder.

Although his mother Bernita did not live to see a resolution to her son’s murder, Lance’s father Carl Lee DeWoody and his sister Carrie DeWoody Fortin still need answers.

If you have any information concerning the 1985 death of Lance DeWoody, please contact the Coralville Police or the Iowa DPS Cold Case Unit.

Ronald Lipsius's Clover Farm Food Market at 812 South Summit Street in Iowa City, Iowa

But, this was not to be an ordinary day. Not long after it started, Ronald lay dead in a yard a block away—shot while trying to prevent a robbery even though he always told his clerks to hand over the money and not resist.

Even more extraordinary was that the robber was a young woman, a statistical rarity. Although there were two men waiting for her in a car, she went alone into the store, threatened Lipsius with a .22 caliber pistol, took the 50 dollars, fled, and shot him when he pursued.

What is truly sad—but unfortunately not extraordinary in the annals of robbery/murders—is the very small amount of money that this woman killed for.

She not only took the life of Ronald Lipsius, she also changed forever the lives of his three small children and pregnant wife.

It is not too late for justice. If you have information about the unsolved murder of Ronald F. Lipsius, contact the Iowa City Police Department.

I’ve been dealing with that problem with one of today’s cold case anniversaries — that of Becky Palmer — killed 19 years ago (Nov. 16, 1990) at 1300 E. 25th Ct. in Des Moines. I’ve got the case number, too (1990-40843), but searches under Becky Palmer and Rebecca Palmer have turned up nothing under “this” specific Becky Palmer.

A few months ago, Lt. Moran of the Des Moines Police Dept. was kind enough to send me a list of the city’s open homicides, but they’ve got a lot of them (79) dating back to 1951, and a lot of time and resources would have gone into sending along case description summaries and photos for all 79 victims. The list he sent, however, ensured I had a complete — and equally as important, accurate — list for the state’s biggest city, and his goodwill already has saved me countless hours of uncovering all those names. For that I am grateful.

And yes, I also must admit I tend to thrive on research, so take my grumblings about the AWOL Becky Palmer articles with a grain of salt… (smile)

Of course if you’re reading this and just “happen” to have some of those articles or a Becky Palmer photo lying around you’d like to share, don’t let my explorations come between your keyboard and my inbox.

To contact the Des Moines police with information about this case, please call (515) 283-4864.

Charles Elmquist

Charles Elmquist

Today’s other cold case anniversary involves missing person Charles Elmquist, who disappeared from Iowa City in 1979.

Elmquist’s 1961 blue GMC van was located on November 17, 1979, parked in the Univ. of Iowa Hydraulics Laboratory storage lot.

Elmquist was 34 when he disappeared; today he would be 64.

If you have any information about Charles Elmquist’s case please call the Iowa City Police Department at (319) 356-5275 or the Missing Person Information Clearinghouse / Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at 1-800-346-5507.

Tomorrow’s Anniversary

Roberta “Bobbi” Crawford

Bobbi Crawford

Roberta “Bobbi” Crawford, 53, was found murdered inside her Hampton, Iowa, home on November 17, 1999. Authorities said she died of blunt trauma to the head.

Crawford’s body was found after co-workers at Ellsworth Community College, Iowa Falls, reported her missing.

If you have any information about Bobbi Crawford’s murder, contact the Hampton Police Dept. at (515) 456-2529.

Yours in hope,

Jody