Worth County in Iowa

Northwood in Worth County

Lowell Thomas Stumo

Homicide

Lowell Thomas Stumo
48 YOA
Northwood, IA
Worth County
Case # 9713243
December 8, 1997

By Nancy Bowers

On Monday morning, December 8, 1997, Lowell Thomas Stumo, 48, was shot to death near his farm home southwest of Northwood.

Stumo’s wife Marie discovered her husband’s body lying next to his pick-up truck.

Because the Stumo farm borders Elk Creek Marsh, a state-owned property where hunting is allowed, authorities initially believed the death was a hunting accident.

It was later termed a homicide and is still an open case in Worth County.

The Life of Lowell Stumo

Lowell Thomas Stumo was born March 19, 1949 in Worth County to Lillian Johnson and Peter M. Stumo. He had three brothers — Paul, Nelson, and John Stumo — and two sisters, Judy Stumo Lee and Elizabeth Stumo Reichl.

Courtesy photo Iowa Gravestone Photo Project

The grave of Lowell Thomas Stumo in Elk Creek Cemetery.

He served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army in Viet Nam.

Lowell Stumo married Marie Medlang and they had two sons, Thomas and Timothy Stumo.

Funeral services were held at Zion Lutheran Church near rural Lake Mills, and Lowell Stumo was buried in Elk Creek Cemetery in rural Kensett.

Information Needed

Questions and information about the unsolved 1997 murder of Lowell T. Stumo should be directed to the Worth County Sheriff’s Office at 641-324-2481 or Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.

Sources

• Ancestry.com.
• “Iowa Cold Case proposal in the running for funds,” globegazette.com, August 17, 2008.
• Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
• “More North Iowa Cold Cases,” globgazette.com, June 27, 2010.
• North Central Iowa Genealogical Society.
• “Obituary,” Mason City Globe-Gazette, December 10, 1997.