Harrison County in Iowa

Missouri Valley in
Harrison County

Allen F. Shoemaker

Homicide

Allen Shoemaker

Allen F. Shoemaker
Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Police
36 YOA
Missouri Valley, IA
Harrison County
May 17, 1925

Case summary by Nancy Bowers

In Missouri Valley, Iowa, on Sunday, May 17, 1925, Special Officer Allen F. Shoemaker of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Police was checking train cars for tramps and troublemakers.

When he found nine men in a gondola car, he turned his flashlight on them and asked what they were doing.

One of the men drew a gun and shot Shoemaker, who fell towards the shooter. The man then fired three more times.

Allen Shoemaker, who was 36-years-old, died in the railroad office not long afterwards.

Courtesy photo University of Iowa Libraries Digital Collection

The Missouri Valley railroad yards where Alan Shoemaker was killed while on duty.

Six of the tramps were arrested and taken to the Harrison County Jail at Logan. None was charged.

Sheriff W.R. Milliman told the media that four police officers had been slain in Missouri Valley since 1898 and the perpetrator in each case was caught. He vowed that Shoemaker’s killer would be apprehended, also.

The Chief of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Police, W.T. Dineen, ordered that the hunt for the killer be pursued until every clue was exhausted. To that end, he sent two Railroad Special Detectives to Missouri Valley to aid in the investigation.

However, no one was charged with the murder; and the case is unsolved.

The Life of Allen F. Shoemaker

Allen F. Shoemaker was born September 28, 1888 in Logan, Nebraska, to Hanie P. and Mattie Shoemaker. He had two sisters, Edith M. Shoemaker and Florence M. Shoemaker Thede.

One source reported that Shoemaker was survived by a wife, although in the 1920 Census he was unmarried.

Courtesy Officer Down Memorial Page

Shoemaker worked as a Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Police Officer for four years. Before that, he drove a cab.

In 2010, his name was added by the Iowa Department of Public Safety to the Peace Officers Memorial.

Information Needed

Questions and information about the unsolved 1925 murder of Officer Allen F. Shoemaker should be directed to the Missouri Valley Police Department at 712-642-2736, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office at 1-877-644-2299, the Iowa Department of Public Safety, or Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.

Sources

• Allen F. Shoemaker, Officer Down Memorial Page.
• “Following New Clue In Murder Of Rail Sleuth,” Davenport Democrat and Leader, May 20, 1925.
• The Iowa Department of Public Safety Peace Officer Memorial Page Remembers . . . Special Officer Allen F. Shoemaker.
• “Sheriff Believes He Is On Trail Of Iowa Slayer,” Sioux City Journal, May 21, 1925.
• “Sheriff Hoping to Capture Tramp Who Killed Rail Sleuth,” Waterloo Evening Courier, April 20, 1925.
• “State Police Officer Memorial service held May 14 at Iowa Capitol complex,” Iowa Law Enforcement, Vol. 39, no. 2 (Summer 2010).