Janice Snow
Janice Marie Snow
17 YOA
2000 block of S.E. Park Avenue
Des Moines, IA
Polk County
April 12, 1965
At 17, Janice “Jan” Marie Snow was a typical teenage girl. She was in her junior year at Technical High School in Des Moines, where she made good grades and had many friends.
Jan was regarded as “cute” and as having a “good personality.” She didn’t smoke or drink or cause her parents any worry.
The Snow family lived in a new subdivision at 3843 Leyden Avenue in northeast Des Moines. Her father Bill — a mail carrier in the suburb of Urbandale, Iowa — and her mother Betty moved to Des Moines from Ft. Dodge, Iowa, about 1957. Jan had a younger brother, Kenny, who was 8 years old.
Jan’s best friend was Tech High School sophomore Sally South and Jan was “going steady” with Sally’s 18-year-old brother Jack; their dates were mostly going to the movies. Jack was expelled from Tech High School for cutting class but was working at a downtown car wash and planning on finishing up his senior year. Sally and Jack’s mother thought Jan was, “a real, real nice girl — the kind you want your children to know.”
Jan and Sally were both petite at 5-foot-1 and weighing 100 pounds and, like teenage girls do, often swapped clothes. Janice left for school on Monday, April 12, 1965 wearing Sally’s black and white shift dress with a sailor collar and bow in front. Over the dress she slipped on a black raincoat.
After school about 3:30, Janice, Sally, and schoolmate Judy Young went to the Capitol Lanes at 410 Sixteenth Street. The bowling alley was a meeting place for high school kids to “have a coke.” Despite the cloudy, cool, and windy weather, the girls were in high spirits.
About 4:45, Sally South’s father, an inspector at Fawn Engineering, picked his wife up from Meredith Publishing Company downtown where she worked and then the three girls at 17th and Locust. The Souths let Jan, Sally, and Judy out of the car at the intersection of 12th and Locust streets in the heart of the downtown commercial district.
The three friends walked around the loop area, window-shopping and trying on clothes at various stores in preparation for Easter, which was the following Sunday. They stopped to have French fries and cokes. While at the lunch counter, Jan saw a 23-year-old acquaintance having a cup of coffee and visited with him for a while.
By 9:00 p.m., the three girls knew it was time to take the bus home. Jan would be going a different direction from Sally and Judy — on the route called the Fairgrounds Bus.
Sally later told authorities, “We talked about Jan going home while we were walking east on Walnut Street. Jan said she better go home, although staying with me overnight was mentioned.” Jan asked Sally to borrow a dime to phone her dad when the bus got to the turnaround at E. 33rd Street and Easton Avenue because she would still be almost a mile from home and didn’t want to walk at that time of night.
Meanwhile, Bill Snow was getting worried and called the South home to ask if Sally and Janice had arrived there. When told they hadn’t yet, he assumed that Jan would be there later and spend the night, as she often did.
Courtesy photo Google Street ViewAbout 10 minutes past 9:00, the three girls parted company at King Prescription Pharmacy at Sixth and Locust streets. Sally and Judy got on a northbound bus and thought that Jan boarded the Fairgrounds Bus going east. Sally believed she saw Jan in the bus window and tried to point her out to Judy, but the bus had gone past.
The next morning, Sally phoned Jan’s home to remind her to bring a red purse to school that she wanted to borrow. Betty Snow answered and it was then she learned that Jan had not spent the night at the South residence. Betty Snow phoned another of Jan’s friend, who had not seen her since Sunday. Panic set in for Jan’s parents and her father reported her missing to the police.
At 8:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, April 15, Des Moines Street Department workers in the 2000 block of S.E. Park Avenue came upon Jan’s body a little over three miles from where she was last seen. She was lying eight feet down a bank in a cluster of bushes in a wooded area about 25 feet north of the road. Her right arm was curved around a small sapling.
Jan was fully clothed, but her shoes were missing. Her black raincoat was torn and soaked from rain that fell almost all day on Wednesday and her nylon stockings were a bit disarrayed but still hooked to her garters.
Jan was stabbed through her clothing with a long, slender knife — sharp on one side and dull on the other — 14 times and died from specific wounds to the chest, back, liver, and lungs. She also had a cut on top of her head. She was not bruised and she was not sexually molested.
Courtesy photo Google Street ViewThe medical examiner stated Jan died Wednesday night at some other spot and was dumped where she was found. Fifty hours had passed since she was last seen alive.
The missing hours made headlines in Des Moines and authorities pleaded with the public to remember if they had seen Janice between 9:15 p.m. Monday and the time of her death on Wednesday night. She had to be somewhere.
Some investigators had different thoughts, however, and believed that Jan’s arm was around the small tree as though she struggled there.
The weather during those missing hours was consistently cloudy, foggy, and rainy with temperatures averaging in the low to mid 40s, which may have slowed decomposition.
Also, the steady rain could have washed away blood that would indicate she was murdered where found or caused the blood to soak into her clothing.
A search was made from the site where the body was found for three miles east to S.E. 14th Street. No weapon or Jan’s shoes were found.
Police believed that Jan never got on the bus home and that she encountered her killer downtown where she was last seen.
Authorities checked out a tip that Jan was seen getting into a car with California license plates, but they quickly dismissed that possibility.
Four juveniles were booked for questioning but let go. The 23-year-old man who talked to Jan at the downtown lunch counter was taken back to the restaurant by police. He told them he thought he talked to her there on Wednesday night, but the employees said it was Monday. He was interrogated, polygraphed, and released.
A total of 50 persons were questioned by detectives — who publicly called the murder “heinous” — and the case was publicized statewide, but it eventually went cold.
Funeral services for Jan were held Saturday, April 17, 1965 at the First Presbyterian Church and she was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery. She was survived by her parents, Bill and Betty Snow; her brother, Kenneth; her paternal grandmother, Edith Moberg Snow; and her maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Stark. After Jan’s death, Bill and Betty had another daughter, Cynthia Snow (Ball).
In 2009, Bill Snow passed away, never knowing what had happened to his daughter.
Questions and information about the unsolved 1965 murder of Janice Snow should be directed to the Des Moines Police Department at 515-283-4864 or to Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.
Just a quick correction of a fact in this article. It says the family lived in a subdivision of northwest Des Moines. It actually is northeast Des Moines. I grew up in this neighborhood and this case scared the heck out of all of us.
Dear Joanne, thanks so much for contacting ICC about Janice Snow. We always welcome information like this because our goal is to be as complete and correct as possible. I have made the necessary change.
I’m sure it was a scary and difficult time for the neighborhood and entire city. And very sad.
Would you happen to have a photo of Janice? The one we have is from a newspaper and doesn’t do justice to her youth and vitality. Of course, we would give you credit. Your own memories and recollections are also welcome.
I apologize if you found Janice’s Case Summary in a confused format. We are upgrading at present and “things” can sometimes go wrong. It should be more readable soon.
All best,
Nancy Bowers, Co-Administrator
Iowa Cold Cases
Sally and Jack are my cousins I was only about 8 years old then but I remember it well. Iwalked to school then by Park Avenue all though quite aways from where shewas found I know I was afraid because I was so young. I often wondered if they ever solved this crime.
Our condolences, Bob. Janice’s death is so sad and frustrating. Do you have a photo of her we might use? The one we have out of the newspaper is rather poor. Thank you for writing. Nancy Bowers, Co-Administrator
Please email me followup comments
Nancy,
This is the first time I have read this particular article, I happen to be thinking of Jan and wondered if there was anything on the internet about her case. I knew it was never solved, which has always been a mystery to me and one that I would give anything to know what actually happened. The story is mostly correct and I’m sure some of the details are what has been related by press accounts or law enforcement. I had a lot of conversations with one particular Lt. at the time and a whole lot of what happened left a lasting impression on me. I just wanted to say the picture of course doesn’t do her justice she was such a cute, sweet person. I’m sure her parents were very proud and they should of been commended for the great job they did she had so much potential. I could ramble on about all that is missing in this article and comment on what is in the article. As you get older your memory fades but in Jan’s case I remember almost every little detail and am still haunted by the fact that it has never been solved. You now have my e-mail so if anything ever comes up please keep me informed. I wish I had a better picture for you, but in those day’s we didn’t take a lot of random pictures.
I am Bob’s older sister and Sally’s cousin. I remember this too…I have no info to provide or pics…just that it was a scary time as we lived on the south side at that time.
Please email me with any updates.
Jan lived behind one street north of me and two houses over. I remember her and also when it happened. We were terrified. I didn’t go outside at night any more. Our bubble of safety in our quiet little neighborhood was gone. We had a neighborhood sexual predator at that time also who called the neighborhood women. His identity however was never found.