Homicide
Janet LaFratte
35 YOA
Norwalk, IA (Warren County)
Case # 7300272
June 20, 1973

On June 20, 1973, Janet LaFratte was reported missing by her husband at 5:30 p.m. At 8 p.m. her body was found floating in a farm pond behind the LaFratte home.

Undetermined
Tamara Lynn Lass
10 days old
Norwalk, IA
March 1, 1988

On Tuesday, March 1, 1988, Teri Lass claimed she found her 10-day-old daughter, Tamara Lynn, unresponsive, and the child was later pronounced dead. Though authorities believed the baby died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, State Medical examiner Thomas Bennett said "In any of these cases of a sudden death for a very small child, anyone less than three weeks of age, you have to be very suspicious because usually SIDS doesn't occur in that first two- or three-week period of life." Bennett listed the cause of death as "undetermined."

Homicide
Shane Alex Lass
6 days old
Norwalk, IA
February 19, 1992

On Wednesday, February 19, 1992, Teri Lass claimed her 6-day-old son, Shane, was kidnapped from her unlocked car outside the Norwalk post office while she was inside buying stamps. The baby's body – clothed only in a diaper despite the freezing temperatures – was discovered the following afternoon in a garbage bag placed inside a cardboard box in a rural ditch just south of Norwalk. A magazine located near Shane's body bore a subscription label with his mother's name. Shane died from injuries to the head.

Homicide
Arlys Darlene Ponce
42 YOA
Norwalk, IA (Warren County)
Case # 9710958
October 8, 1997

On October 8, 1997 at approximately 3:15 p.m., Arlys Ponce was seen lying on the floor when her son peered through a window. The son contacted a neighbor, telling her he couldn't get into the house but that he could see his mother lying on the floor. The neighbor contacted the police, who entered the residence and discovered Arlys Ponce had been beaten and stabbed.