Dennis Michael Clougherty
Dennis Michael Clougherty
23 years of age
U.S. Highway 20
Cedar Falls, IA
Black Hawk County
Case Number: 7400418
August 12, 1974
Black Hawk County in Iowa
On Monday, August 12, 1974, sometime between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and midnight, 23-year-old Dennis Clougherty was shot several times in the chest and left along Union Road, south of First Street in Cedar Falls, Iowa. His body was discovered early the following morning by a passing motorist.
Twenty minutes later, some of Clougherty’s personal belongings were located approximately five miles south on Viking Road, including the college student’s backpack, motorcycle helmet and clothes bag.
A coroner’s report indicated Clougherty died from five gunshot wounds to his body.
Courtesy photo Dan Jacob, Waterloo CourierA Vietnam vet preparing to start graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Clougherty left Madison around 4 p.m. Monday with plans to hitchhike to Torrington, Wyoming, to retrieve his motorcycle and then ride it back to Detroit, Michigan, to attend a weekend family wedding. Clougherty’s motorcycle had broken down in Torrington earlier that year and he’d left it behind for repairs.
Clougherty’s route from Madison to Dubuque was never determined, but an investigation confirmed a motorist picked him up at approx. 7 p.m. Monday while traveling westbound on Hwy 20 near Dubuque, and gave him a ride to Independence, IA, dropping Clougherty off at a café there around 8:15 p.m. Clougherty ate at the then-Rush Park Café and left Independence around 9:15 p.m. hitchhiking westbound on Highway 20. Another motorist picked him up and drove him to Waterloo, dropping him off at the Highway 20 and Highway 63 intersection.
Courtesy photo Cedar Rapids GazetteHere, Clougherty was picked up around 10:30 p.m. by two male subjects in their early 20′s driving a brownish/gold 1962-1964 Chevrolet car, possibly a four-door, with a beige interior. Clougherty was never seen alive again.
Robbery was not considered a motive, as Clougherty’s billfold still contained $80 and his backpack’s contents were left undistrubed. Police said there was no property missing from his person, and that no motive or suspects have been identified in the case.
On the 35th anniversary of Clougherty’s murder, Cedar Falls Police appealed to those who may still know something to come forward with any information that might prove useful. With the passage of time, new technology could help make a difference in the case but police say they need new information to help point them in the right direction.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Cedar Falls Police Department at (319) 273-8612 or send your information directly to the Iowa DCI’s Cold Case Unit.
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