Pottawattamie County in Iowa

Cold Cases in Pottawattamie County, Iowa

*Please Note: The cases listed below are within Pottawattamie County but may fall under a city police department’s jurisdiction. They are included here for cross-reference purposes. More specific information may be found on each victim’s individual page.

George Massouris

Homicide
George James Massouris
30 YOA
Orchard Road & Highway 6
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
November 18, 1950

On November 18, 1950, George Massouris, 30, was shot in the taxi he drove part-time. His body was dumped in a ditch on Orchard Road near Highway 6 two miles east of Council Bluffs.

Gloria Slump

Homicide
Gloria Fay Slump
24 YOA
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Case # 67-00368
March 3, 1967

On March 6, 1967, the body of Gloria Fay Slump was found under a railroad trestle located three miles south of Council Bluffs, Iowa. The deeply religious Omaha, Neb., brokerage house worker had been beaten, stabbed 14 times in the throat with a dull knife or an instrument similar to a beer can opener, and left under the trestle to bleed to death.

Homicide
Joe Junior Floyd
42 YOA
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Case # D67-18
July 1, 1967

On July 1, 1967, Council Bluffs Police were called to 10th Street and 10th Avenue to investigate a report of a man lying in the water. There, they discovered Joe Junior Floyd, 42, who had been shot by a small caliber handgun.

John Stephens

Paul Rayer

Double Homicide:
Officer John L. Stephens, 32, and
Paul J. Rayer, 51
Case Number: 67-01188
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Pottawattamie County
December 5, 1967

Officer John L. Stephens and Paul J. Rayer were shot and killed on Tuesday, December 5, 1967, during a robbery of a local restaurant where Officer Stephens moonlighted as a security guard. Officer Stephens was accompanying the manager (Rayer) as he counted the day’s receipts in preparation for a night deposit.

Judith Pleas

Homicide
Judith Kaylene Pleas
17 YOA
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Case Number: MP-73-226
August 10, 1973

Judith Kaylene Pleas, 17, disappeared from Council Bluffs, Iowa, on August 10, 1973. On October 14, 1973, a farmer discovered her remains near his cornfield outside Council Bluffs’ city limits. An investigation concluded the teen had been strangled.

Homicide
Edward Leroy Hickson
32 YOA
Case # B78-1173
1500 block of So. 6th St.
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
February 15, 1978

On February 15, 1978 at 4:14 a.m., Council Bluffs Police Department officers responded to a fire call in the 1500 block of South 6th Street, where the fire department advised them there was an unresponsive male inside the Rock Island Bunkhouse #27. The victim was taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival and identified as Edward Leroy Hickson.

Linda Mayfield

Homicide
Linda Mayfield
21 YOA
3320 West Broadway
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Case Number: D82-0713
April 9, 1982

On April 9, 1982 at 2:18 a.m., officers were called to the Starlite Motel at 3320 West Broadway in Council Bluffs, regarding a disturbance involving a man with a knife. When officers arrived at the scene, Linda Mayfield, 21, was found lying face down by the north office door. The responding officer said the victim had several stab wounds to her face, chest, stomach, hand and foot.

Lee Rotatori

Homicide
Lee Rotatori
32 YOA
2216 27th Avenue
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Case Number: F82-2558
June 25, 1982

On June 25, 1982, Council Bluffs Police officers were sent to investigate a death at the Best Western Motel at 2216 27th Avenue in Council Bluffs. There, they discovered Lee Rotatori, 32, who had died from a stab wound to the chest.

Homicide
John P. Adams, Jr.
23 YOA
Case # G82-1088
2400 block of West Broadway
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
July 11, 1982

On July 11, 1982, John P. Adams, Jr., 23, was found lying on the road in the 2400 block of West Broadway Street in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He had been shot one time in the face by a man on a Kawasaki KZ900 motorcycle.

Johnny Joe Shields

Missing Person:
Johnny Joe Shields
Age at Report: 32
Missing From: Carter Lake, IA
Pottawattamie County
Case Number: 89-00081
Missing Since: December 16, 1988

Johnny Shields was reported missing to the Carter Lake Police Department in Carter Lake, Iowa, on December 16, 1988.

Missing Person
Bernadene Ann Sealine
Age at Report: 67
DOB: April 24, 1926
Weight: 170 lbs.
Height: 5’09″
Race: White
Hair: Grey
Eyes: Blue
Sex: Female
Incident Type: Missing after a catastrophe
Missing From: Pottawattamie County
Council Bluffs, IA
Missing Since: July 10, 1993

Bernadene Sealine, 67, of Dexter, Iowa, was reported missing to the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on July 10, 1993 after the vehicle that she was in was swept away by flood waters. She is presumed to have died, but her body has never been recovered.

Homicide
Humberto Cortez
Carter Lake, IA
Pottawattamie County
Case # 96-06859
June 21, 1996

On June 21, 1996, a partially decomposed male body was discovered in a rail car by a Paxton Verling Steel employee. The body was identified in December 2009 as that of Humberto Cortez.

John Conaway

Missing Person:
John Steven Conaway
Age at Report: 36
DOB: September 15, 1961
Case # 98-008374
Missing From: Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Missing Since: February 9, 1998

John Steven Conaway was reported missing to the Council Bluffs Police Department on February 9, 1998.

Kimberly Ratliff

Homicide:
Kimberly Ratliff
22 YOA
1414 West Broadway
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
January 12, 1999

On January 12, 1999, Kimberly Ratliff, 22, was found in a car left in the parking lot of People’s Natural Gas at 1414 West Broadway in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Her throat had been slashed. An employee clearing snow from the sidewalk found Ratliff inside her white 1988 Plymouth Sundance at about 10:40 a.m.

Dennis Addlesberger

Missing Person:
Dennis R. Addlesberger
Age at Disappearance: 46
DOB: March 8, 1953
Missing From: Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Missing Since: March 16, 1999

Dennis Addlesberger was reported missing to the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office in Council Bluffs on March 16, 1999.

Nelson “Selena” Alvarez-Hernandez

Homicide
Nelson “Selena” Alvarez-Hernandez
33 YOA
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Case # 03-004354
July 31, 2003

In the early morning hours on July 31, 2003, Nelson “Selena” Alvarez-Hernandez, 33, was stabbed to death in front of an apartment building located at 1613 So. 13th St. in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Mohama Baba

Missing Person:
Mohama Samsoudina Baba
Case # 05-055443
Date of Birth: September 19, 1983
Age at Report: 22
Missing From: Council Bluffs, IA
Date Missing: December 3, 2005

Mohama Baba, 22, was reported missing to the Council Bluffs Police Department on December 3, 2005. If you have any information concerning this case, please contact Det. Brandon Danielson at the Council Bluffs Police Department at 712-326-2508.

Linn Snyder

Missing Person
Linn Allen Snyder
Age at Report: 44
Date of Birth: 1962
Missing From: Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Date Missing: September 9, 2006

Linn Snyder was reported missing to the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on September 9, 2006. Snyder was last seen on his Harley Davidson motorcycle on September 3, and has not answered his cell phone. His wallet and medications were found in his home.

Bob Hatcher

Homicide
Robert Scott Hatcher
38 YOA
Iowa Riverfront Trail
Beneath Interstate 480 Bridge
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
March 8, 2007

On March 8, 2007, Robert Scott Hatcher, 38, was shot seven times as he stood on the Iowa Riverfront Trail beneath the Interstate 480 Bridge on the western edge of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Robert Bates III

Homicide
Robert Bruce “Kip” Bates III
39 YOA
Jump Start Conoco Station
109 Locust St.
Carter Lake, IA
Pottawattamie County
September 27, 2007

Around 10 p.m. on the night of September 27, 2007, Robert Bruce “Kip” Bates was shot twice while working at the Carter Lake “Jump Start” convenience store. Bates was working alone at the store when he went out the front door to take a break. There, he was shot twice in about two seconds.

Larry Murillo

Missing Person:
Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada
Case # 09-039818
Aka: Marlon Murillo
Age at Report: 25 YOA
Missing From: Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Date Missing: November 28, 2009

Larry Murillo, 25, was reported missing to the Council Bluffs Police Department on November 30, 2009. If you have any information concerning this case, please contact Det. Brandon Danielson at the Council Bluffs Police Department at 712-326-2508.

Missing Person
Bridgette Destiny Bowman
Age at Report: 16
DOB: July 11, 1996
Weight: 110 lbs.
Height: 5’05″
Race: White
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Sex: Female
Incident Type: Juvenile
Case # 12-031486
Missing From: Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
Missing Since: August 14, 2012

Bridgette Bowman was reported missing to the Council Bluffs Police Department in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on August 14, 2012.

Missing Person
Danielle B. Galica
Age at Report: 16
DOB: October 20, 1996
Weight: 109 lbs.
Height: 5’05″
Race: White
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Sex: Female
Incident Type: Juvenile
Missing From: Council Bluffs, Iowa
Pottawattamie County
Case Number: 13-004642
Missing Since: January 29, 2013

Danielle Galica was reported missing to the Council Bluffs Police Department in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on January 29, 2013. She is considered a continuous runaway.