Laura Van Wyhe
Laura Van Wyhe
21 YOA
From Iowa City, IA
Johnson County
Found along NE Missouri highway
Near Kahoka, MO
October 26, 1996
On Oct. 26, 1996, a truck driver discovered Laura Van Wyhe, 21, alive but incoherent, alongside Highway 136 near Kahoka, Missouri. Van Wyhe died three hours later in a Quincy, Ill., hospital.
A coroner’s inquest determined Van Wyhe died of brain trauma, massive blood loss and blunt force trauma to the legs, and officials ruled her death as a homicide. Missouri Highway Patrol troopers said Van Wyhe may have been hit by a car, but the accident likely did not occur where she was found.
Kahoka in Clark County, MO
In a Cedar Rapids Gazette article dated December 14, 1996, Bruce Clemonds of the Missouri State Patrol stated that very little blood was found at the scene, though Van Wyhe had suffered massive blood loss. There were no marks in the gravel to indicate she’d pulled herself to the edge of the highway, and Clemonds said there was no vehicle debris, such as headlight pieces or chrome fragments, to indicate Van Wyhe had been struck there. Nor had paint chips found embedded in Van Wyhe’s clothing been matched to a vehicle, he said.
An autopsy showed no signs of drugs or alcohol in Van Wyhe’s body.
Iowa City in Johnson County, IA
The night before she was found in Kahoka, Van Wyhe and her 14-month-old son, Samson, had gone to Bonaparte, Ia., to visit the family of Donald Knight, Van Wyhe’s boyfriend and Samson’s father, to celebrate Van Wyhe’s birthday. Knight had family members living in both Kahoka and in Bonaparte, which is about a half-hour drive from Kahoka.
Van Wyhe, a licensed child-care provider in Iowa City who lived with her mother, Leanne Jonker Thomas, celebrated her birthday at the home of Knight’s mother, Rebecca Reynolds-Knight of Bonaparte, an Iowa House Representative who at the time represented Jefferson County and parts of Van Buren and Wapello counties. Reynolds-Knight said Van Wyhe went to spend the night with Tony and Sarah Bergman in nearby Kahoka because there weren’t enough beds for everyone in Bonaparte. Sarah Bergman is Reynolds-Knight’s daughter and Donald Knight’s sister.
Clemonds said his investigation revealed that Van Wyhe and her son rode with the Bergmans from Bonaparte to the Bergman home in Kahoka. At around 2 a.m., a truck driver discovered Van Wyhe’s body on the shoulder along Highway 136 just west of Kahoka.
Van Wyhe’s belongings were found in trees and in a cornfield near the highway where her body was discovered. Her young son was found naked at the Bergman residence in Kahoka.
Bruce Clemonds (courtesy The Gazette)
Clemonds said in the Dec. 14 Gazette article that when Van Wyhe was found, she had several items with her including baby food on a paper plate, a baby bottle and a blanket, and that the number of items suggested she’d had to leave in a hurry. Her purse and the diaper bag, however, had been left behind in Bonaparte.
A cocklebur branch was found lying next to Van Wyhe’s body, and cockleburs were stuck to her body. Clemonds said there was a cocklebur bush in the cornfield across the highway from where she was found, indicating a struggle may have occurred there. The Bergmans lived about one-tenth of a mile east and two-tenths of a mile north of the cornfield. One footprint found in the cornfield matched Van Wyhe’s shoes, though she was not wearing any shoes when found.
Clemonds detailed “suspicious” and bizarre elements surrounding Van Wyhe’s death, including his theory that she was in the process of fleeing; that she was found barefoot carrying baby items, with cockleburs stuck to her body; and that her tote bag was discovered in a nearby tree.
Also puzzling, he said, was the black jacket Van Wyhe was found wearing. It wasn’t scuffed or blood-soaked, as was the rest of her clothing, leading Clemonds to wonder if she was wearing it when injured.
Clemonds said he confirmed the black jacket belonged to Tony Bergman. A pocket knife, found open in the jacket pocket, also belonged to Tony Bergman, he told the Gazette.
“It’s a very difficult time, trying to adjust to the loss of a fantastic, dynamic member of our family,” Rep. Reynolds-Knight told the Gazette in an article published April 27, 1997.
In that same article, Clemonds expressed frustration that Tony and Sarah Bergman had not submitted to lie detector tests. The Bergmans declined to comment for the article, citing an unpleasant experience with another newspaper.
In December 1996, a judge awarded temporary custody of Laura Van Wyhe’s and Donald Knight’s son to Van Wyhe’s mother, Leanne Thomas of Iowa City, and in January 1997 she was awarded permanent custody with weekly visitation rights granted to Knight.
When Samson was three years old, Leanne Thomas abruptly left the state with him. Birthday cards and gifts, Christmas presents and other items Knight sent his son were soon returned with the postmark “Return to Sender.”
Knight — who is now married with a 9-year-old daughter — has spent years trying to track down his son without success.
Laura Van Wyhe’s survivors included her son, Samson Knight of Iowa City; her mother, Leanne Thomas and husband John of Iowa City; her father, William of Tacoma, Wash.; and her sister, Sarah of San Francisco.
Her murder remains unsolved.
If you have any information regarding Laura Van Wyhe’s unsolved murder, please contact the Iowa City Police Department at (319) 356-5280.
I was a friend of Laura and her mother. Laura was a beautiful, young woman and a natural mother. Laura babysat my children and her mother became a close friend of mine after Laura’s death.
I have no doubt the the Knight family know very well what happened to Laura. The Iowa family court does not grant custody to a grandmother over a parent without a very good reason. The decision was not made lightly. It serves nobody to go into the details, but there were very good reasons why Leanne was granted custody and Donny lost custody. Leanne was legally allowed to relocate to another state to be with her husband who had moved for his job. They deserve their privacy.
I have always hoped that someday her case would be re-examined and solved. Sam should have had the love and care of his mother and thank God his grandmother had the guts and energy to take on the courts and Donny to gain custody and raise him in a loving, safe and normal home.
Ann, I am guessing that you don’t want to “go into details”, because you don’t know any. If you do, they are probably either common knowledge, or don’t come off as dramatically as saying, “it serves no one to go into details..” Someone in Donny’s family may or may not know what happened, but I assure you, Donny doesn’t. He was a kind and loving father and was crushed when he lost his son, and Laura. He made mistakes as a teenager, like many of us do. He was not violent, and doesn’t deserve your innuendos. If you actually know why Donny didn’t get primary custody of Samson (he was awarded visitations), you know that the reasons weren’t that good. Just because you knew Laura (many of us did) and her mother doesn’t make it okay to demonize Donny. He was never under suspicion and he loves his son. Laura’s mom had no right to disappear with Samson. No matter how much she wanted to be the person to raise him in her daughter’s absence. Very, very wrong of her to do.
I would have to ask either of you two attackers: If this woman was a member of your family and was staying with someone’s sister. She goes missing withOUT her child, with baby food, no shoes, clothes strewn about, and nobody in that family has a clue why, what would you think? Would you think politics has taken over common sense? Where was sister and family if they drove her there? Huge pieces are missing and this family knows more than they are saying. I don’t blame grandma for getting out of Dodge. You must be family or you’d also wonder what happened.
Ann C you couldn’t be more wrong. You might want to watch your words, they boarder on slander. You have no more info then anyone else about this case. You probably have a lot less. And to put yourself out there as “someone who knows” is very irresponsible. If you are implying that Leanne told you that she believes what you said, well I would find that very interesting. Didn’t she sue a trucking co. for the wrongful death of her daughter?? Am I wrong? There is very incriminating evidence that the detectives have. It just needs to be matched to the right person. Thus far they have not found that match. What will you do when someone is convicted and you were wrong? Will you be able to sleep at night? I also find it strange that you are so quick to demonize Donnie, and you let Laura babysit your children. I knew Laura, Laura was a fantastic mother and she was great with children, but she also had the same if not worse past as Donald did. Maybe that is why they fell in love?? Sam did not deserve to be taken away from his father that loves him. The courts did not award Leanne full parental rights. Donald was granted the right to see, spend time with, talk to, and guide his son. What Leanne did was wrong. She will have to live with that.
Not responding to Ann. She seems to think like I do and also lots of people who are not related to this family.