Lisa Elaine Miller

Lisa Elaine Miller
(Courtesy photo Alexus Abney)

Lisa Elaine Miller

Cause of Death: Undetermined

Lisa Elaine Miller
15 YOA
Sullivan Slough Road
Burlington, Iowa
Des Moines County
Last Seen Alive: October 7, 1977
Body Found: October 9, 1977
Est. Date of Death: October 8, 1977

 

Case Summary compiled by Jody Ewing

 
On Sunday, Oct. 9, 1977, six days after her parents reported her as a runaway, Lisa Elaine Miller, 15, was found dead in a wooded area off lower Sullivan Slough Road near the Iowa Southern Utilities generating station 3-1/2 miles southeast of Burlington, Iowa.

The area, about 1-1/4 miles east of Summer Street Road, is a popular recreation spot.

The teen had been reported missing Oct. 3, 1977.

The Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Des Moines County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Patrol investigated the death.

1977-10-10-the-hawk-eye-lisa-miller-crime-sceneCourtesy photo Mark Gordon / The Burlington Hawk Eye
Burlington police officer Ed Sutcliffe and Larry Gospel (right), Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent, look over the area where the body (left) of Lisa Miller, Burlington, was found Sunday afternoon, Oct. 9, 1977. Sutcliffe and other Burlington policemen were called to the scene on Sullivan Slough Rd. southeast of the city in an attempt to identify the body.

Authorities said the girl’s body was discovered about 1:10 p.m. Sunday by two teenagers.

Donald Crandall, 1314 Perkins, and Phillip Nelson, 1300 Perkins, both 17, had been trying to push their vehicle out of a ditch along old Highway 61 south of Burlington when they spotted “what they thought looked like a body” in a clearing about 20 feet off a path, state trooper Bob Porter told the Hawk Eye in a story published Monday, Oct. 10, 1977.

Rather than stopping to investigate, Nelson and Perkins drove toward town to summon help and flagged down Porter, who was on routine patrol on Summer Street Rd. south of the airport.

The three returned to the scene about 20 minutes later, where Porter radioed Des Moines County Sheriff Robert D. “Bob” Glick.

Nature of Death ‘Suspicious’

The teen lay face down in the brush, clad in jeans, earth-type shoes, a hooded sweatshirt and a blue jean jacket, the Hawk Eye reported.

Des Moines County in Iowa
Des Moines County in Iowa
 
Burlington in Des Moines CountyBurlington in Des Moines County

Glick said there appeared to be bruises on the chest and throat and possibly some facial injuries, but said based on the preliminary investigation, there didn’t appear to be a “sexual connotation” to the death.

Because of the “suspicious nature” of Miller’s death, Glick said the department was treating it as a homicide. The teen’s body, he said, had apparently been lying in the woods for a couple of days before being discovered.

Glick said the body, which he described as “just sopping,” appeared to have been drug into the brush from the path.

In an AP story published Oct. 10, 1977 in the Muscatine Journal, officers said it appeared the girl had been beaten around the head, but an exact cause of death had not yet been determined.

Officials sealed off the area and waited for the BCI’s mobile crime lab team to arrive from Des Moines.

According to the Hawk Eye, a Burlington police officer on scene recognized the girl and summoned juvenile probation officer John Wauters to make a tentative identification.

Had noticed “something in the brush”

Deputies and state troopers searched the surrounding area and discovered some shotgun shells “some distance” from Miller’s body, but said it was unknown if they were connected to the crime as there were no apparent gun wounds on the girl, Glick said.

The Hawk Eye also reported:

During the search, four youngsters walked up from the Mississippi river where they had been fishing. They told officials they had noticed something in the brush about noon but had not gone over to take a look at what turned out to be the body.

BCI agents arrived about 8 p.m. and made a preliminary investigation before moving the body to Burlington Medical Center about an hour later, the Hawk Eye story said.

Deputies made a makeshift campfire and guarded the area overnight until investigators returned Monday.

A ‘very quiet girl’ with ‘runaway problems’

Burlington police said Miller, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald B. Miller of 648 S. Central, was a “repeated runaway,” and had been reported missing on Monday, Oct. 3, 1977.

In the Hawk Eye’s Oct. 10 story, juvenile probation officer Wauters, who had the girl under his supervision, said that although she’d been under “protective supervision” by the courts for more than a year, that she’d never been involved in crime.

“She was a very quiet girl that had runaway problems,” Wauters said. “We were never able to get to the real root of the problem.”

Wauters said Miller hadn’t attended school since the previous spring.

An autopsy was performed Monday, Oct. 10, 1977.

No suspects, no precise evidence of homicide

In a Des Moines Register story published Tuesday, Oct. 11, 1977, Glick said he was still uncertain whether or not the Burlington teen had been murdered.

Courtesy Des Moines Register, Oct. 11, 1977

Des Moines Register, Oct. 11, 1977

Glick said authorities wouldn’t be sure until they received the autopsy report and tests from the State Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) crime laboratory.

Although authorities originally believed Miller might have been beaten to death, Glick said further examination of the body showed “no extreme or severe injuries.”

Authorities had no suspects in the case, he said. And, though there was no precise evidence of a homicide, Glick said “we will continue to treat it as a homicide until we know the results of the tests.”

The sheriff couldn’t confirm how long Miller had been dead, but said there were a number of suspicious aspects about the case, including the remote area where the body was discovered, and with no indication of a means of transportation.

“There are a number of things about this that appear out of order,” he told the Register.

In a Hawk Eye article dated Oct. 11, 1977, State BCI agent John Jutte said test results from specimens taken during the autopsy should be returned from the state lab in Des Moines Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Jutte declined to comment further on the investigation.

Glick told the Hawk Eye that, pending results from the autopsy completed at Prugh’s Chapel Monday afternoon by Macomb, Ill., pathologist Dr. Edward Harrow, “We still do not have a homicide.”

Glick said initial observations were done under poor visibility conditions, and that later observations showed no injuries he’d call extreme or severe.

Glick asked that anyone who might have seen Miller or known of her whereabouts after she was reported as a runaway to contact his office.

Gerald Miller described his daughter as “real quiet” and a girl that “everybody liked. I still can’t believe it,” he told the Hawk Eye.

Gerald Miller said he last saw his daughter at supper time on Monday, Oct. 3, when she came home with a note from her boyfriend breaking off their relationship, he said.

She left to go to a girlfriend’s about 6 p.m. and never returned home, he said in the Hawk Eye’s Oct. 3 story. Two days later, he said he reported her as a runaway to her juvenile probation officer.

Wauters had the girl under supervision because of habitual runaway and school truancy problems, Gerald Miller said.

Lisa Miller had “pretty much settled down,” after she quit Apollo school in the spring, Wauters told the Hawk Eye. He said she’d previously been out of school while she was placed by the courts in the Quad Cities Children’s Center in Davenport for about nine months.

Also according to the Hawk Eye’s Oct. 11 report:

Wauters said he didn’t notify police of her absence, adding that it’s “a lot more effective” with runaways to go “through the grapevine” and reach her through friends that usually hid her from authorities.

“We thought she just may come back on her own,” Wauters said. “I never thought anything like that had happened.”

“What we call a ‘questionable death'”

“We have reason to believe that it wasn’t” a homicide, state BCI agent Sam Swain said in a Hawk Eye story published Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1977.

Swain said results from the state crime lab wouldn’t be back for at least four more days, but there was no evidence of a violent death.

“We are considering it at this time what we call a questionable death,” Swain said.

Swain said special tests were being done on specimens taken during the autopsy, which take longer than those usually performed. He said he didn’t know what all the tests involved.

BCI agent Larry Goepel said officials were “still appealing for help” from anyone with information about Miller’s whereabouts after she went missing, and that callers would not be required to identify themselves.

Victim’s little brother struck by pickup 2 days after funeral

On Friday, Oct. 14, 1977 — just two days after Lisa Miller’s funeral — her 2-year-old brother, Bradley, was struck by a pickup truck after running into the street to retrieve a ball.

1977-10-15-hawk-eye-lisa-miller-brother-struckCourtesy photo John Gram / The Burlington Hawk Eye
Mrs. Gerald B. Miller, left, holds her head in anguish as ambulance attendants treat her son Bradley, 2, after he was struck by a pickup truck Friday, Oct. 14, 1977 about 3 p.m. when he ran into the street after a ball. “I just buried my daughter,” Mrs. Miller said.

“I just buried my daughter,” Ila Miller sobbed as ambulance attendants treated her son on scene just after 3 p.m. in front of the Millers’ family home.

The boy was in good condition Saturday in University hospitals, Iowa City, where he’d been transferred an hour after the accident, the Hawk Eye reported on Oct. 15. The toddler had suffered a head laceration and other injuries.

Johnny R. Kennedy, 41, of Middletown, was heading southbound on S. Central and slowed when he saw the boy on the side of the street, but didn’t think the boy would dart in front of him, patrolman Carl Thomson told the Hawk Eye.

Thomson said Bradley N. Miller was struck by the pickup’s steel bumper and rolled underneath but missed the wheels. No charges were filed.

“There were no skid marks or anything that showed excessive speed. He, Kennedy, just couldn’t stop,” Thomson said.

Sheriff: “I’m not sure what we have.”

Laboratory results from Lisa Miller’s autopsy, returned to Sheriff Glick’s office on Monday, Oct. 17 from the state BCI lab in Des Moines, proved to be disappointing for all involved in her mysterious death.

“We don’t have a homicide. I’m not sure what we have,” Glick said in a Hawk Eye article dated Tuesday, Oct. 18, 1977.

Glick said autopsy findings and lab testing were “inconclusive” on cause of death, showing “nothing which would have been indicative of a homicide or violence.”

Nothing in the report, however, indicated just how Miller died.

Glick said blood seen on Miller’s face at the scene was thought to be the result of natural membrane breakdown in the nose and mouth area after death, and that a state toxicologist’s report showed no traces of drugs in Miller’s blood.

Glick said there are “a number of drugs that are not discernible in the bloodstream” and that evidence of fluid in Miller’s lungs was “not inconsistent” with conditions of death by drug overdose, viral pneumonia or exposure.

The investigation showed Miller was taken to the Sullivan Slough area by someone, Glick said, but officials didn’t know if she was dead or alive at that time. Rumor and conjecture, he said, had made the investigation that much more difficult.

“I’m satisfied that she didn’t get where she was by herself,” Glick said in the Oct. 18 story. “If the pathologists in the laboratory can’t explain the death, I’m at a loss to do so.”

Adding up the Facts: The Known, The Unknown

In her article “Authorities stymied in girl’s death,” published in the Hawk Eye Sunday, Oct. 30, 1977, reporter Elaine Oberlander summarized what the paper had learned so far through interviews with BCI agent Sam Swain, pathologist Dr. Edward Harrow, and others regarding Lisa Miller’s death.

Oberlander’s overview included the following bulleted lists (as printed by the Hawk Eye):

  • The death of Miller, 648 S. Central, was not a homicide victim (death at the hands of another).
  • No determinable natural causes for her death have been found.
  • The possibility exists that a crime or crimes were committed in connection with her death.
  • She was not sexually assaulted.
  • There was no alcohol in her blood.
  • There were no traces of drugs in her system. Not all drugs can be traced.
  • There was no evidence of bruises or injury. Body discolorations were attributed to post mortem lividity (settling of blood to lowest points). Other marks on the body were attributed to insect damage.
  • Some fluid was found in her lungs. Viral Pneumonia, overdose of drugs or exposure are among the possibilities that could cause fluid in the lungs.
  • She did not arrive at the spot where her body was found (3-1/2 miles south of Burlington) by herself.
  • Lisa left home with her purse Oct. 3, but the purse has not been found.
  • A death certificate, which could list the cause of death, had not been filed in Des Moines county district court by Friday afternoon (Oct. 28).

Among points of information that authorities are believed to know but refuse to disclose are:

  • Complete contents of the autopsy report.
  • Approximate time of death.
  • Where and by whom she was seen during the last week of her life.
  • What, if anything, was found by lawmen who combed the area where her body was found.

Points of information that lawmen apparently do not know are:

  • Whether Lisa was dead or alive when she arrived at the spot where her body was found.
  • How she died.
  • Who took her to the spot where her body was found.
  • How she was transported there.

The BCI’s Swain told the Hawk Eye the teen was last seen in Mel’s Food Store, 1000 S. Central, three blocks from her home, between 5-6 p.m. the Friday before she was found.

Dr. Harrow said autopsy reports don’t always pinpoint how someone died.

“Sometimes an autopsy doesn’t give you the answer,” the pathologist told the Hawk Eye. “We’re not certain exactly what happened. The agent that caused her death has not been determined.”

County Attorney Steve Hoth told the Burlington paper it was very possible there could be charges filed. He said a “wide array of possible charges” including drug-related charges or a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor might be involved.

The final 7-1/2-page autopsy report, released by Dr. Harrow to Des Moines county medical examiner Dr. Joseph Stoikovic, did little to clarify the mystery behind Miller’s death.

According to a Hawk Eye story published Nov. 9, 1977, the autopsy report said death was attributed to “circulatory failure of unknown etiology” — meaning that Miller died when her heart and other vital organs stopped functioning for an undetermined reason.

Miller’s estimated time of death was 30-36 hours before her body was found — sometime between 1:30 and 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, 1977.

Lisa would have celebrated her 16th birthday three weeks later on October 31.

Officials don’t believe two other deaths related

On Monday, Dec. 14, 1977, two months after Lisa Miller’s death, 18-year-old Jerri Lee Connelly was found face-down at the bottom of the Gunnison street flood gap, a storm and sanitary sewer between Washington and Agency streets in Burlington. Connelly died of a gunshot wound in the chest and severe head injuries.

Connelly and Lisa Miller knew each other.

BCI agent Sam Swain, involved in both investigations, said in a Dec. 14, 1977 Hawk Eye article he is convinced “there is no connection between this incident and the Miller case. And we’re not investigating it that way.”

Police chief Ted Behne, while saying he is not sure the deaths are related, said “we have to keep all of our options open, and that’s one of them.”

Connelly’s parents, Cecil and Wanda Connelly of 116 S. Gunnison, told the Hawk Eye they didn’t believe either of the teens’ deaths were suicides.

“I just hope it doesn’t take another kid’s death before they (the police) realize that,” Cecil Connelly said in the Dec. 14 article.

Four months later on April 16, 1978, Patrice Waddell, 18, also of Burlington, died of what the Des Moines county medical examiner’s office called a drug overdose. Waddell’s death was later linked to the seizure of records from Donnellson physician Dr. K.S. Kaboli and four area pharmacies.

In a Hawk Eye article dated April 12, 1979, Burlington police Capt. Jay Holley, whose office was involved in the investigation, said he didn’t know if the death of Lisa Miller was related to the current case.

About Lisa Miller

Lisa Elaine Miller was born Oct. 31, 1961, in Burlington, Iowa, to Gerald B. and Ila LaVon (Long) Miller.

Memorial services were held at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1977 at Prugh’s Chapel with the Rev. Norman Wenig officiating. Lisa was buried in Burlington’s Memorial Park Cemetery in Des Moines County.

In addition to her parents, survivors included three brothers, Terry Stephenson, Bradley Miller and Jerry Miller, all of Burlington; three sisters, Mrs. Ila Jacobs, Mrs. Diana Thompson and Mrs. Mary Stewart, all of Burlington; grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Brown, Oquawka, Ill., and Joseph Long, Keokuk.

Information Needed

If you have any information about Lisa Miller’s mysterious death, please contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at (515) 725-6010 or email dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us.

Sources:

 

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30 Responses to Lisa Miller

  1. Kelly Severado says:

    Lisa was one of my best friends Jerri was my cousin. I lost a lot of people that year including my grandmother. We were teenagers we were kinda wild. Evidently she had a whole life I knew nothing of. The most we did when I was with her was drink cheap wine in a graveyard lol She was a good person and an even better friend! Definitely was murdered! Rest in heaven all of you and I think of you often I hope one day this all gets solved but unfortunately I doubt it 😭🙏🏼

  2. Nanette Verrips says:

    Why would the father wait 3 days to report his daughter missing??
    She was not a Hooker, she wasn’t old enough to be anything but a child!! I wish someone would solve this case, but I bet the killers are dead! Still would be nice to understand, after all I wasn’t feeling to safe myself after lisa died! We were In school together. She was so shy, never saw her talk to anyone!!

  3. Tim says:

    rest in peace lisa

    • Tim says:

      I knew her a little bit when i was 7 and 8 (1976 and 1977).
      she was very nice and good to me and I would never believe she was a prostitute.
      If there was foul play involved then what does that mean with the other two friends named above “Jerri Lee Connelly” and “Patrice Waddell” as far as being related as that is pretty strange.
      they all new each other and within 4 months they all are dead.

      • Tim says:

        after more thinking i first new her at a different house by 12th street where i was even younger and the year was close to 1974

  4. Patrick Kerrgan says:

    I would assume, someone from law enforcement is still in the area, from that time period. I would think they would come forward and state yes that the police chief was corrupt, and protected this pimp, and others. Also, the BCI, was involved, would they tolerate a coverup. I wonder if her autopsy could be revewed by a pathologist today and maybe he or she might be able to pinpoint something on how she might have died.

    Also, how did she get to where she was found. It would have been nice to determine what caused her to runaway. Also, was the former boyfriend ever interviewed. What about her close friends.

    • Bill says:

      Where did the issue of a pimp come from? There is no mention of a pimp in any of the articles? What pimp?

      • Patrick Kerrigan says:

        Bill, individuals involved in human trafficking, normally target young women, who may be runaways. So, the term “Pimp”, was used by the commenter to describe an individual, who was involved in prostitution.

        She could have be targeted by this guy, since she was a regular runaway. We have her juvenile probation officer, sort of ignoring the fact that she had runaway again. He was going to work the grapevine.

        This was the mindset of law enforcement when teens disappeared. Here in the Chicago area, many years ago, a 11 year old boy was missing from home. The police figured he ran away, since the family was moving to Kentucky.

        Then they changed that mindset, when he his body was found in the woods. It was determined that some individuals had burglarized his home and found him in the process. So, one of the burglars killed the boy.

  5. Lisa says:

    Im curious about the shell casings at the scene of where Lisa’s body was found ..and the fact that the Connelly boy was shot to death. Could they have been linked in some way? Or perhaps the person who disposes of the evidence and bodies in the same place..
    I am sorry for the families loss… Truly a terrible thing! And to not have any answers or justice… And perhaps to never have justice served . RIP Lisa :(

  6. gregoria alvear says:

    Everyone is pointing fingers i have heard of a person and not the pimp who killed Lisa was i there did i see him do harm to Lisa no, I am sure Lisa did not get a ride 3 miles away from home to commit harm herself. Someone took her there where so died of an over dose and the person with her was scared and left her there to be found it is crazy. If this did happen then why has no one come forward with info. I feel it some one left her there they would have told someone and may regret living her there, but nothing has been come up. Now, if a person kills someone, then that would be a deep dark secret that will never be talked about.

  7. Alexus says:

    Did you know the guy’s name?

  8. Tdevol says:

    It was openly talked about and he wasn’t afraid to talk about it. He knew nothing would happen to him. I was in the heart of it all Chad. You have no clue how it was back then.

  9. Tdevol says:

    It wasn’t just about informing. It was also about money switching hands. The pimp was able to operate in full view out of the burlington hotel and was never arrested. I was on the streets then. I know what was going on. You don’t want to believe it but it was an Era of corruption everywhere and burlington was not immune.

  10. Tdevol says:

    Candy man is the pimp I mentioned before. The police knew him well. Shorty’s tap is a bar.

  11. Albert says:

    Wow. Such a long time ago. Last time I saw her was on main st by shorty,s tap, with a guy she referred to as candy man.

  12. Amber Marie Andrews says:

    What was the guy name that she refuse to work for

  13. Falon Gire says:

    I just found out today that Lisa was my father’s cousin.It’s makes me sick that they did not solve her murder. Why do people want to kill another human being?? Oh i know because they are sick people. Well who ever killed her may of got by with it for now but come judgement day they will be judged. Until then may she rest in peace.

  14. hevyn says:

    everyone knew at the time of the crime that the main pimp in Burlington did this. the police were told several times that he did it. she refused to work for him and he killed her. he suffocated her. the police have known this all along. but the pimp was also an imformant so he got covered by law enforcement. this was all known by all young people and THE POLICE. the pimp bragged about it and used it to intimidate girls for years.

    • niece wanting to know says:

      Who was the pimp then do u know ??

    • chad says:

      the police let a child pimp get away with murdering an innocent girl? who did he snitch on? hitler? sorry, this story isn’t believable. there were no crimes in burlington that were serious enough to allow a child-murdering pimp to get away. this is why you didn’t name the supposed pimp even though “everyone knew at the time.” please stop.

      • He worked out if Burlington hotel when it still had rooms and he was under protection of police chief benne (not sure spelling) money talks.

      • I swear to God on everything I love it was the truth. Chief benne was as corrupt as they come and no one was going to cross him or this pimp. I wish I could remember the pimps name because I would sure blast it. I was only about 13-14 at time. It’s been. 40 years but he was the only major pimp in Burlington. Then

      • Tracy says:

        “the police let a child pimp get away with murdering an innocent girl? who did he snitch on? hitler?”

        Thanks for the laugh.

        Oh and…..

        “Gerald Miller said he last saw his daughter at supper time on Monday, Oct. 3, when she came home with a note from her boyfriend breaking off their relationship, he said.”

        There’s the story…start there…it probably ends there…regardless of all these supposed pimps in downtown Burlington.

  15. Jodi Frye says:

    Who saw her alive on oct 7th? Must be missing where it says that in the article somehow.

  16. Falon Gire..this is ur dads cousin…sad story but not alot of info missing.

  17. Liz Amador says:

    It’s sad this story is so short no interviews with her parents or friends . I hope her story gets updated so more information is known and her case can be closed so sad. I have a daughter her age and always think of stories like this when she is out with friends.

  18. alexus abney says:

    I wish my aunt lisa was here because so i can meet her my grandma told me about this and i told my friends this and they said o my god they were shocked and they said did they ever find the person that killed my aunt and i said no they we better look out for the person and i love her rest in peace aunt lisa

  19. Kimberly Jacobs says:

    I loved My Aunt Lisa very much .Ill nerver forget her throughout my whole life,I wish and hope they find whoever did this to her.They should pay and if not someday they will get their true judgement.i FEEL THIS WASNT LOOKED INTO ENOUGH AND FOR HER SAKE SHE SHOULD REST IN PEACE

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