Four Little Sisters

Dead on Arrival — Undetermined/Questionable Deaths

  • Of the four Nitcher sisters, two died in Waverly, Iowa, and two in Abilene, Texas.

 

Bremer County in Iowa
Bremer County in Iowa
 
Waverly in Bremer CountyWaverly in Bremer County
Tammy Rachel Nitcher
2-1/2 months old
Rt. 1.
Waverly, Iowa
Bremer County
Date of Death: Friday, January 7, 1972
Sarah Marie Tenery Nitcher
2 years old (27 months)
Rt. 1.
Waverly, Iowa
Bremer County
Date of Death: Wednesday, March 15, 1972
Crystal Dawn Nitcher
3 months old
Abilene, Texas
Date of Death: Tuesday, August 10, 1976
Misti Ann Nitcher
5 weeks old
Abilene, Texas
Date of Death: Saturday, August 13, 1977
Case Summary compiled by Jody Ewing, with very special thanks to Andrea Olmanson

First, it was 2-1/2-month-old Tammy in January 1972. Two months later in March, 2-year-old Sarah. Fast forward four years — and to another state — to 3-month-old Crystal. And finally, almost a year to the day after Crystal’s death, the youngest of them all — Misti, just 5 weeks old.

One by one, Helen Nitcher’s daughters all died under mysterious circumstances.

Abilene, Texas, in XX County

Abilene in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas

Patterns got missed. Medical examiners struggled with inconclusive autopsy reports. But Helen C. (née Tenery) Nitcher, later known as Crystal Price, had two dead daughters within 2-1/2 months — in Iowa, that is — until Nitcher relocated and the pattern repeated in Abilene, Texas.

Two more dead infant daughters followed.

News reports on the four girls’ successive deaths also had a strikingly familiar ring; officials reported all three infants, as well as the 2-year-old, dead on arrival.

The mother’s explanations for the short-lived lives were conflicting at best; the stories varied depending on the city and state where the obituaries appeared, leaving astute readers as mystified as Iowa and Texas medical examiners, who never could quite pinpoint exact causes or manners of death.

Iowa coroners had no way of knowing Nitcher left Iowa after her first two daughters’ deaths, only to have two more infants die in Texas. And Texas officials apparently were unaware of the two previous Iowa deaths.

Sympathy and condolences poured down over Nitcher from northeast Iowa to west central Texas.

Laddonia, Mo., in XX County

Laddonia in Audrain County, Mo.

The girls’ burials hid the pattern well; only one — Misti Ann — was buried in Texas (Abilene), while the other three were buried in Laddonia, Missouri, a tiny town in Audrain County with fewer than 1000 people and notorious for its high murder rate and other violent crimes.

Though Jerry Nitcher was born in Charles City, Iowa, he’d moved to Laddonia as a teen. He died March 23, 2007, in Oregon where he’d been living with his second wife and family.

Helen Nitcher stayed one step ahead of inquisitive minds and questions, but she won’t be providing any answers, either; the Texas native, formerly of Waverly, Iowa, died March 17, 2009 in Midlothian, Texas. Her own obituary reads more like an editorial error than a tribute to one’s legacy.

Preceding her in death: one infant brother, four infant sisters, four infant daughters.

What got missed, and by whom? Is it too late for justice? Didn’t somebody know something? Do they know it, still?

Tammy

On Friday evening, Jan. 7, 1972, Helen Nitcher took her 2-1/2-month-old baby, Tammy Rachel Nitcher, to a Waverly, Iowa, hospital, stating she’d found the infant unconscious. The baby was pronounced dead on arrival.

tammy-nitcher-gravestone-findagraveCourtesy photo Donna Barnes, findagrave.com
Tammy Nitcher’s was buried in Laddonia Cemetery in Audrain County, Missouri.

According to a Waterloo Sunday Courier article dated Jan. 9, 1972, Tammy had lived at Route 1 in rural Waverly with her parents, Helen and Gerald “Jerry” Dean Nitcher, and a 2-year-old sister, Sarah.

Bremer County Medical Examiner Dr. James Rathe could find no cause of death — all results appeared inconclusive — and the infant’s body was taken to Waterloo for an autopsy at St. Francis Hospital.

Memorial services for Tammy were held Saturday, Jan. 8, 1972, at the Cleveland Funeral Home in Waverly. Tammy’s survivors, the Courier reported, included her parents; one sister, Sarah Marie at home; her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Pauline Tenery of Texas; her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Harriet Nitcher of Waverly; and her paternal great-grandmother, Mrs. Josephine Miller of Plainfield.

After the Saturday services in Waverly, Tammy’s body was then transported to Missouri, where graveside services were held in Laddonia on Monday, Jan. 10, 1972, with burial following the services.

Four days after Tammy’s burial, while the Iowa medical examiner awaited autopsy reports from St. Francis Hospital in Waterloo, the Abilene (TX) Reporter-News published Tammy Nitcher’s obituary as had been provided to them by family members.

The Abilene obituary — published both in the Reporter-News’ morning and evening editions on Friday, Jan. 14, 1972 — stated that Tammy Rachel Nitcher, the granddaughter of local Abilene resident Mrs. Pauline Tenery, had been “ill with a respiratory ailment.”

The Abilene paper said the Nitchers were “stationed recently at Dyess AFB” (located about 7 miles southwest of Abilene).

The Abilene obituary’s final sentence read:

“Other survivors include a sister, Sarah Marie of the home.”

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be for long.

Sarah

On Wednesday, March 15, 1972 — just two months and one day after the Abilene paper published Tammy Nitcher’s obituary — a Nitcher family member called the Waverly Police Department at 11:45 a.m. and requested an ambulance.

sarah-nitcher-gravestone-findagraveCourtesy photo Donna Barnes, findagrave.com
Sarah Nitcher was the second of the sisters buried at Laddonia Cemetery in Audrain County, Missouri.

Waverly police dispatched an ambulance to the Nitchers’ Bremer County home, where officials found 2-year-old Sarah Marie Nitcher unresponsive.

Helen Nitcher said she’d found her daughter “dead after a nap.”

Sarah Marie, 27 months old, was pronounced dead on arrival after being transported to the Waverly hospital.

There were no obvious signs of trauma or injury. Sarah’s death, like her sister’s, made no sense.

On Thursday, March 16, 1972, in a story that otherwise might have made Page One, the Waterloo Courier published — on Page 13 — that Bremer County officials were “investigating the death of a two-year-old rural Waverly girl, whose 2-1/2-month-old sister died in January.”

No one yet had answers to explain the infant’s death, let alone her now dead 2-year-old sister, and nobody wanted to accuse a grieving mother of foul play.

In the Courier’s March 16 story, the confusion over the two girls’ deaths was clear, as indicated in the article’s second and third paragraphs:

Bremer County Medical Examiner Dr. James Rathe said he had not yet received a report on an autopsy performed on Sarah Marie Nitcher, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Nitcher of Rt. 1, Waverly.

Dr. Rathe said Thursday he had seen “nothing so far” that leads him to believe the death was other than a natural one.

For Sarah? Or for Tammy?

1972-3-16-thurs-investigate-death-sarahCourtesy Waterloo Daily Courier
Officials were reluctant to speculate on causes of death for either Tammy or Sarah Nitcher. The Courier published this story Thursday, March 16, 1972, after officials found the second sister dead in the Nitchers’ rural Waverly home in Bremer County.

According to the Thursday, March 16 story, Dr. Rathe said an autopsy on Tammy Nitcher was inconclusive and no cause of death was determined. The article said Bremer County Sheriff James Leemon was out of his office Thursday morning and unavailable for comment.

One day later on Friday, March 17, 1972 — the same day Sarah Nitcher’s funeral services were held — Bremer County Attorney Richard Kemming said in a Courier article that the death of Tammy Nitcher “was eventually ruled a crib death.”

In the same article, Dr. Rathe said there was no evidence of foul play, yet also acknowledged he still had not received a report on the autopsy performed on the girl.

On Saturday, Sarah Nitcher was laid to rest after graveside services at Laddonia, Mo.

On Tuesday, March 21, 1972, the Courier said Rathe had also ruled 2-year-old Sarah Nitcher’s death as a “crib death.”

Rathe also said his investigation into Tammy Nitcher’s death had not been closed by the “crib death” ruling.

The Abilene Reporter-News reported that same day that 27-month-old Sarah had “died in her sleep.” The child’s aunt, Mrs. Vanita Gary of 1458 Woodard, said an autopsy in the death showed no apparent cause for death and that an investigation was continuing.

An autopsy in Sarah’s death, according to the Reporter-News, attributed her death to “crib suffocation.”

Survivors in Sarah’s death also included an uncle, S. Sgt. Charles E. Tenery Sr., of Ft. Bliss, the Reporter-News said.

According to a Waterloo Sunday Courier story published July 15, 1973, Gerald D. Nitcher of rural Waverly filed a bankruptcy petition in Cedar Rapids’ District Court, listing debts of $25,881.60, and assets of $65.

He had no exemptions, the article said.

The Courier reported on Nov. 2, 1973, that a real estate judgment was filed against Gerald D. and Helen C. Nitcher for just over $10,000 on the first mortgage note for a property described as part of Lot no. 11 in Thrift Acres in Black Hawk County, Iowa.

crystal-nitcher-gravestone-findagraveCourtesy photo Donna Barnes, findagrave.com
Crystal Nitcher became the third Nitcher sister buried at Laddonia Cemetery in Audrain County, Missouri.

The couple divorced in 1974. Helen Nitcher relocated to Abilene, Texas, where she’d give birth to two more daughters, Crystal and Misti.

Crystal

Under “Deaths and Funerals,” the Abilene Reporter-News published the following on Wednesday evening, August 11, 1976:

Crystal Nitcher

Crystal Dawn Nitcher, infant daughter of Helen Nitcher of 2226 N. 6th, died at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Hendrick Memorial Hospital after a 10-day illness.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Elliott-Hamil Chapel of memories, 542 Hickory.

J.W. Rives will officiate. Burial will be in Laddonia, Mo.

The child was born April 23, 1976, in Abilene.

Survivors include her mother; her maternal grandmother, Pauline Tenery of 1434 Woodard; an aunt, Vanita M. Nappier of 1458 Woodard and an uncle, Charles E. Tenery of Fort Benning, Ga.

Misti

One year later.

Nearly to the day.

The Abilene Reporter-News published the following on Monday evening, August 15, 1977, under Deaths and Funerals:

Misti Nitcher

Misti Ann Nitcher, five-week-old daughter of Mrs. Helen Nitcher of 5298 S. 7th, was dead on arrival at Hendrick Medical Center Saturday night.

Police, who were called to escort Mrs. Nitcher and her daughter to the hospital, said the baby apparently died of natural causes.

Graveside services were to be at 2:30 p.m. Monday at Elmwood Memorial Park.

Ira Harrison was to officiate. Burial was to be directed by Elliott-Hamil Funeral Home.

The infant was born July 8 in Abilene.

Survivors are the mother of the home; maternal grandmother, Pauline Tenery of 1434 Woodward; one aunt and one uncle.

misti-nitcher-gravestone-findagraveCourtesy photo Jim and Judy Harlan, findagrave.com
Misti Nitcher — the fourth sister and the only one not buried in Missouri — was laid to rest at Elmwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Abilene, Texas. It is unknown why she wasn’t buried with her three sisters.

Helen Crystal Tenery Nitcher later married Donald K. Price of Midlothian, Texas, and began going by the name “Crystal Price.”

She would give birth to one more child — a son — Jason Allan Price. Jason and his wife, Kazanna, became the parents of twins, Seth and Chase.

Helen Tenery Nitcher Price died March 17, 2009, at age 59.

Her “Life Legacy” page at a website for Boze-Mitchell-McKibbin Funeral Home in Waxahachie, Texas, stated that she was preceded in death by her father in 1963, her mother in 1990, brother, Dalton Tenery in 1966, one infant brother, four infant sisters, one nephew and her four infant daughters.

Her obituary did not — even once — reference her four daughters’ names or the name “Nitcher.”

About Tammy, Sarah, Crystal and Misti

Tammy Rachel Nitcher was born October 22, 1971. She died January 7, 1972.

Sarah Marie Nitcher was born November 24, 1969. She died March 15, 1972.

Crystal Dawn Nitcher was born April 23, 1976 in Abilene. She died August 10, 1976.

Misti Ann Nitcher was born July 8, 1977 in Abilene. She died August 13, 1977.

Information Needed

If you have any information regarding the deaths of Tammy and Sarah (in Iowa), please contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at (515) 725-6010 or email dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us. If you have any information concerning Crystal or Misti’s deaths, please contact the Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division at (512) 424-2130.

Sources:

 

38 Responses to Four Nitcher Sisters

  1. Melanie Wood says:

    Evidence now. No. I am sure she smothered them. No marks. Looks like SIDS. MSBP wasn’t diagnosed then. Yes there was a mother finally caught after many babies died. They were all considered a genetic problem. But she killed the last one. Adopted. I can’t remember her name.

  2. Melanie W says:

    This is a very strange case. I believe that “Munchausen Syndrome” was passed down rather than Helen killing her siblings. Or she was traumatized by her siblings natural deaths. But that many doesn’t seem natural to me. And it doesn’t seem like the grandmother raised any alarm bells for her grandchildren’s deaths. So tragic and evil. Just think. Helen’s daughters would be in their 40’s now. One would have been turning 51 in a few days. So strange all the girls died, But one son survived.

  3. Penny Jean says:

    Would it be possible for the mother Helen to have killed her siblings? If not, could Munchausen Syndrome have been passed from mother to daughter? Does any pattern of infant death extend to other relatives of the mothers family? This is a lot of deaths, with no conclusive evidence. You’d think a family member would insist on resolution.

  4. Shelley says:

    Actually sids sometimes is used as a cause when they couldn’t find a cause. Genetic things can be passed on from just the mother, but it is odd that 4 died since logically it is a 50/50 chance something can be passed on to each child. Is there any way to test the bodies to see if it was something genetic? I’m not saying it wasn’t murder, but it should really be looked at since the grandmother also had so many babies die. Personally, I find it odd that no police or doctors noticed that she already had 2 dead children when the 3rd one died. Everything should be reviewed and if possible, exhume the kids bodies and look again.

  5. Mike Byrne says:

    Strange….very strange.

  6. Christy Coons says:

    My Mother was married to Jerry Nitchers brother Larry Nitcher. They had a Daughter born in 1978. Larry wanted to name her Crystal Dawn Nitcher. When Crystal, my Sister was just a baby, we were visiting the Laddonia, MO cemetary and my Mother noticed a tombstone that bore the same name as my Sister. Needless to say she was very upset and demanded to know why he would want to name his child after a dead Niece. Larry Nitcher said that his Brothers children all died suspiciously and they were brought back to Missouri in the trunk of Jerry Nitcher’s car from Iowa to be buried in Laddonia. Larry Nitcher shot and killed himself when I was 11 years old. Earl Nitcher drowned and Jerry Nitcher died from MS. I can say that they all met the end they deserved. They were a violent, perverse group of brothers.

  7. I think there’s got to be something in the genes..the mothers 5 infant siblings also died , but she lived and so did her son.

    • andrea says:

      They weren’t all infants. Again, lies in the obituary that obfuscated the truth. Each of Helen’s siblings who died did so on a weekday, while, presumably, in the care of Helen’s mother. Three were newborn infants. One was 7 months old, past the age for SIDS, and his death certificate reports no cause of death (I wonder if the authorities were getting suspicious of her by then). Then a five year old sister of Helen died (I have a copy of the death certificate) and it said “said to have worms of stomach.” Interesting how no other Texans were dying of “worms of stomach” in the 1930’s. The doctor just took the woman’s word for it. Munchausen By Proxy in two generations.

  8. Sounds genetic health issues

  9. Kassandra McKown, thank you for your input. I haven’t seen any reports about the arsenic, but know the girls’ mother was not incarcerated at the time of her March 17, 2009 death (at age 59). None of the girls’ obituaries mentioned whether or not they’d been cremated (the practice wasn’t so frequent back in the ’70s), but even if they were, arsenic can be detected from cremated remains. Would love to hear more if you have further information about the four sisters’ mysterious deaths. Jody at ICC

  10. I thought it was found that arsenic was the cause of these murders

  11. Could have been an undetected genetic disorder or many other things…

    • andrea olmanson says:

      Statistically impossible, especially since there were at least three different biological fathers involved, possibly four. Also, toddlers do not die of crib death.

  12. S Dollens says:

    I just happened across this page because I was searching for a girl who lived near us for two years. Her name was Crystal (or Chrystal, not sure of spelling) Nitcher and she would have been about 6 years old in 1983 or 1984. Her single mother had a different last name, had two other girls with different last names, and they had moved to Mexico, MO from Laddonia, MO. She would not have been directly from this family because of her age, but might have been a relative. Crystal was friends with our daughter, we took her to church with us from time to time, but we lost track of her after we moved.

    • Christy Coons says:

      Crystal was my Sister and just passed away on September 18, 2016 from septic shock due to pneumonia. I remember you. My sister, Stormy and I were Christy & Stormy Hahn. We were originally from Mexico and Crystal’s Dad, Larry was from Laddonia. My Grandparents Ralph & Barbara Shoemaker lived in Laddonia, but we did not. Crystal would have been a Cousin to the deceased Crystal Dawn Nitcher, who died two years before she was born.

  13. Terri Landt says:

    The son lives and the daughters die….MSBP seems likely.

  14. Crazy, there has to be test they can do now that would hopefully get some answers

    • andrea says:

      There was testing available back then, and if the medical examiners had done their jobs they would have revealed suffocation. Helen serially suffocated her four children. There were at least three, possibly four, different biological fathers. Moreover, two-year-old children do not die of crib death.

  15. Man this is a weird article. It mentions that the infants were buried in a Missouri town with a higher than average violent crime rate. Wonder if this is significant? Especially in light of that fact that FIVE or her siblings died?

  16. old sayiing “it takes a village to raise a child”, guess the village(s) wasn’t paying any attention either. sadly.

  17. Okay, my curiosity got the best of me, and it turns out he died in 2007. The children were buried in Laddonia because he was from there; my guess it that it was a family plot. Here’s his obituary:

  18. Mandie El says:

    Someone in that house killed the lil girls and its just sad now that no one took a sec look. This isnt the first mother to kill her kids. Its a desorder where one parent kills to get attention. There was a lady who killed 6 I believe before she was caught. She is serving life with no parole. To good for her if I do say myself. Both are guilty one for doing it n the other for allowing this to happen not just one but 4 x. N yeah it may run I. The family but someone should have stopped this with her mom then. Not cool at all. Innocent children killed n no justice this is a shame

  19. What a tragedy makes me sick

  20. It was all girls that died except for the infant brother… This is so sad poor babies..

  21. Wonder where the father of the 2nd two was…

  22. So sad….I am also curious about the 4 infant sisters.

  23. Does anyone know what happened to the girls’ father?

  24. Killing must run in the family since she had 4 infant sisters that also “died”! WTF?

  25. Kris Starks says:

    I read about this not too long ago. Of course, back then no one knew anything about Munchausen’s (sp?) syndrome. This makes me so sick! This was a VERY deeply disturbed woman!

  26. Jodi Frye says:

    very strange. wonder if evidance can be found still on what happen?

  27. Im so sorry. My heart is so broking . It makes me cry.

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