Matt Pusateri
Matthew Pusateri
26 YOA
800 Block of Sixth St. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Nov. 12, 1988
Matt Pusateri, a cab driver for Yellow Cab in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was shot in the head about 3 a.m. on November 12, 1988, while sitting inside his cab in a parking lot in the city’s 800 block of Sixth Street SW.
Police speculate that two assailants tried to rob Pusateri, 26, and when he refused to hand over any money, they shot him.
Linn County in Iowa
Police have compared Pusateri’s murder to that of Brian Schappert, 22, also of Cedar Rapids, who was stabbed to death less than one year later as he worked at the Kum & Go convenience store at 2743 Mount Vernon Rd. SE.
Both victims were described as “good kids,” and robbery most likely was the motive in both homicides.
There was also the possibility that in each case, the young man died because he recognized the robber and could have identified him to police.
Both cases remain unsolved.
Brian Schappert
Brian Lee Schappert
22 YOA
Kum & Go Store
2743 Mount Vernon Rd. SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Linn County
Case Number: 92-08179
September 8, 1989
Linn County in IowaBrian Lee Schappert, a 22-year-old Coe College senior, was killed September 8, 1989, while working the midnight shift alone at a Cedar Rapids Kum & Go convenience store. Schappert, still in the first week of his senior year at Coe, apparently was a victim of a robbery at the 2743 Mount Vernon Rd. SE store.
Brian was stabbed numerous times in the back and his throat was slashed.
A cab driver who stopped to buy gas discovered Schappert’s body around 3:30 a.m.
Later that day, police released a sketch of a white male in his 20s, about 6 feet tall and 170 pounds, with shoulder-length, dark brown hair. Witnesses told police they saw the man in the area shortly before Schappert’s body was found.
Cedar Rapids Police also had one crucial lead: a van a witness placed at the store near the time the murder occurred.
Police checked on more than 400 such vans registered in the Cedar Rapids area, but admitted the van driver could simply have been making a delivery at the store.
Following Schappert’s murder, Marion city leaders insisted surveillance cameras be installed in convenience stores, and by mid-1990, every store had at least one. The efforts paid off; in January 1992, a skinny robber who held up Marion’s Coastal Mart found his image flashing on televisions all throughout Eastern Iowa’s viewing area.
Not long afterward, Cedar Rapids also had surveillance cameras in the city’s all-night businesses.
Courtesy photo Schappert Family websiteThen, out of the blue, an anonymous woman phoned Brian Schappert’s parents on Thursday, September 23, 1993, and told them about a van she felt might have been involved in their son’s murder. The caller spoke at length with Laura Schappert, telling her why she thought the van might be the one witnesses had seen and why its owner might have been the murderer. She knew who owned the van, the caller said, and knew the individual frequented the convenience store.
Still, the caller would not provide her name, nor would she provide the van owner’s name.
“But she promised to call detective (Sam) McClurg the next day,” Laura Schappert is quoted as saying in a Cedar Rapids Gazette article dated Sept. 30, 1993.
The call hadn’t arrived by the next evening.
“Maybe she’s afraid. Maybe she doesn’t want to get involved,” McClurg said.
The anonymous woman did, however, phone Det. McClurg the following week and told him where police could find the van, which she said had not been driven since the murder.
Arnold Schappert told the Gazette he believes his son was acquainted with his murderer. Two weeks prior to Brian Schappert’s slaying, he’d been promoted to assistant manager and given the combination to the store’s safe, his father said.
Brian’s body was found near the convenience store’s open, emptied safe.
Mr. Schappert said his initial desire for revenge eventually gave way to a hope his son’s murderer will yet be brought to justice. Schappert told the Gazette:
“I’ve kind of put the hate part behind. But someday, before I die, I hope I know who did it, and I see him in the witness box trying to argue his way out of it. There might still be a little bitterness there, I don’t know.”
One witness did lead police to the owner of a white van; the van’s owner admitted being near the store around the time of the murder but said he saw a brown van there at about the same time.
A Gazette update published Sept. 23, 1996, quoted Assistant Cedar Rapids Police Chief Bruce Kern as saying detectives had interviewed a potential witness as recently as in the past few months, but that the lead turned out to be a dead end.
“It’s still active,” Kern said of Schappert’s murder investigation.
Less than two months later, two men and a 17-year-old girl were arrested just minutes after the men allegedly robbed the same convenience store where Schappert was killed. According to a Gazette article dated Nov. 15, 1996, Christopher J. Kibler, 18, of 1022 Friendly Ave., Iowa City, and Derome M. Robertson, 19, of 1409 Washington Ave. SE, were found within 15 minutes of the Nov. 14 robbery at the Kum & Go store at 2743 Mount Vernon Rd. SE, said police Lt. Kenneth Washburn. A 17-year-old female from Iowa City also was arrested. The Gazette reported:
Officers were a few blocks from the store when the clerk called police at 3:59 a.m. to report she’d been held up by two men wearing ski masks and armed with a sawed-off shotgun. An officer noticed someone slumping down as if to hide in a car parked in the 2900 block of Seeley Ave. SE, and all three occupants were arrested.
The shotgun, ski masks and cash taken from the store were found in the car, according to the complaint against Robertson. The suspects’ shoes matched footprints at the store. Kibler and Robertson also were identified through videotape from the store’s surveillance camera.
The robbery was the third at the Kum & Go store in less than one year. At the time of the Nov. 14 robbery, Danny Hodges, 35, was awaiting trial on charges of robbing the store Nov. 26, 1995. Damien Medulan, 17, was charged with holding up the store June 3, 1996.
Kibler and Robertson were later convicted by a Linn County District Court jury of first-degree robbery and possession of an offensive weapon. Both faced up to 30 years in prison and would have to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence.
In 1998, Cedar Rapids police began conducting seminars with business owners and employees, with topics covering how to react during a robbery, evidence preservation and preventing shoplifting.
“If you’re getting robbed and they have a gun that looks real, just assume it’s real,” Officer Glenn Kieler said in one of the seminars held Jan. 29, 1998. “If a robbery does happen, think about your safety first. You need to remain calm and you need to keep that robber calm.”
The convenience store where Brian Schappert was killed is now a tattoo parlor.
Courtesy photo Schappert FamilyBrian Lee Schappert was born on March 2, 1967 at St. Lukes Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the first of two children born to Arnold and Laura (Kinsel) Schappert. He attended Garfield Elementary, Franklin Jr. High, and Washington High Schools, all in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He worked one year at a Kum & Go convenience store before enrolling in classes at Coe College, where he was double majoring in Political Science and History. He continued working at the Kum & Go while in college to help pay for his education, and would often work the late night and early morning shifts because there was less activity and he could sometimes work in some studying.
At some point during his college years he met a young lady named Connie, and they became great friends. While they never made it official, the two planned to marry once Brian graduated from college. At the beginning of his senior year, Brian was murdered at the Kum & Go convenience store on September 8, 1989.
Brian had a strong work ethic, and during his short life never gave up when the going got tough. His mother described him as “quiet, shy, but smart.”
In 1990, Arnold and Laura Schappert established the Brian L. Schappert Memorial Prize in History at Coe College. The award recognizes a senior history or political science major who has demonstrated a serious interest in his or her studies. The Schapperts established the memorial prize through contributions of friends and neighbors.
In addition to his parents, Brian was survived by a brother, Darrin, and Darrin’s wife Angie.
No one has ever been charged in Brian’s slaying.
When the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) established a Cold Case Unit in late 2009, Brian’s murder was one of approximately 150 cases listed on the Cold Case Unit’s new website as those the DCI hoped to solve using latest advancements in DNA technology. Although the Cold Case Unit closed down in December 2011 due to lack of funding, the DCI continues to investigate the cases where progress already was being made. They also follow up on any new leads provided in these cases.
If you have any information about Brian Schappert’s unsolved murder, please contact the Cedar Rapids Police Department at (319) 286-5396 or the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at (515) 725-6010, or by e-mail at dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us.
Linn County in Iowa
Homicide
Nathaniel Carnagy
39 YOA
Marion, IA
Linn County
April 4, 1847
Nathaniel Carnagy, 39, was brutally attacked by James Reed on March 20, 1847 in Linn County and died on April 4 of a skull fracture. Reed was tried and found not guilty. Carnagy’s murder was the first in the history of Linn County.
Marlene Padfield
Homicide:
Marlene Padfield
17 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
February 19, 1959
Between 12:15 and 12:30 a.m. on February 19, 1959, Marlene Padfield, 17, left the Kozy Inn restaurant in Cedar Rapids, with 18-year-old Arthur Scott, Jr., a part-time Coe College student involved in community theater. Marlene was never seen alive again, and her remains were discovered April 29, 1959, by a farmer traveling an isolated dirt road between Cedar Rapids and Mt. Vernon-Lisbon.
Frederick Coste
Homicide
Frederick L. Coste
47 YOA
312 Second Avenue SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
October 15, 1959
Frederick “Fred” Coste, 47, was found October 15, 1959, lying face-up in a pool of blood inside his loan interview cubicle at the Family Finance Corporation in Cedar Rapids where he worked. He had been punched in the left eye and then stabbed six times in the chest.
Geraldine Maggert
Homicide:
Geraldine Lempke Maggert
25 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
March 22, 1968
The nearly nude body of Geraldine Maggert, 25, of Cedar Rapids was discovered in a wooded ravine near the Coralville reservoir on April 6, 1968. The victim — who was approximately three months pregnant — was last seen alive on Friday, March 22, 1968; and an autopsy showed she died from a beating and exposure.
Charles R. Gearhart: 1880-1970
Homicide
Charles Rufus Gearhart
89 YOA
422 First Street SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
May 13, 1970
Charles Gearhart was stabbed to death at his 422 First St. SW apartment in Cedar Rapids sometime during the evening of May 13, 1970.
Paula Oberbroeckling
Homicide
Paula Jean Oberbroeckling
18 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
July 11, 1970
Paula Jean Oberbroeckling disappeared on Saturday night, July 11, 1970, after going out on a date and then later leaving her Cedar Rapids apartment in a powder blue bra dress. Her body was discovered November 29, 1970 in a ravine near the Cedar River six miles from the apartment she shared with Debbie Kellogg.
Maureen Farley
Homicide:
Maureen Farley
Maiden Name: Maureen Brubaker
17 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Approx. Date of Death: September 21, 1971
On Sept. 24, 1971, the body of 17-year-old Mrs. Maureen Farley was found atop the trunk lid of an abandoned car in a wooded ravine near the southwest edge of Cedar Rapids. The Linn County medical examiner ruled Farley had been dead no less than 48 hours and no more than 96 hours.
Lynn Schuller
Homicide (presumed murdered but body never found)
Lynn Schuller
26 YOA
3100 30th St. Dr. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
August 5, 1972
When Keith Schuller reported his wife Lynn Schuller missing in August 1972, police suspected murder from the very beginning. Nearly four decades later, they still believe Schuller is responsible for her death, but don’t ever expect to find Lynn Schuller’s body. Why? The answer sounds so much like that of local folklore and legends that even police were reluctant to acknowledge Keith Schuller could have committed such an abhorrent act.
Guy Heckle
Missing Person:
Guy Heckle
Age at Report: 11
Missing From: Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Missing Since: February 3, 1973
Guy Heckle was reported missing to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office in Cedar Rapids on February 3, 1973, after disappearing while on a Boy Scout camp-out near the Duane Arnold Energy Center.
Dennis Stastny
Homicide
Dennis L. Stastny
30 YOA
222 Tenth St. NW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
August 9, 1977
Dennis Stastny was reported missing on Tuesday, August 9, 1977, by his mother, Mary White. Two days later, Stastny’s body was pulled from the Cedar River near downtown Cedar Rapids after two young fishermen discovered the body in the west spillway near the F Avenue bridge about 11 a.m.
Michelle Martinko
Homicide:
Michelle Martinko
18 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Case Number: 85-06117
December 19, 1979
On the evening of December 19, 1979, police found 18-year-old Michelle Martinko — her face and chest stabbed repeatedly — in her family’s car in the Westdale Mall parking lot in Cedar Rapids. She had been Christmas shopping.
Naomi Wilson
Missing Person:
Naomi Wilson
Age at Report: 32 YOA
Missing From: 1618 13th Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Missing Since: April 12, 1981
Naomi Wilson was reported missing on April 12, 1981. She was last seen at her Cedar Rapids home at 1618 13th Ave. SE, about 4 p.m. by her boyfriend.
Denise Fraley
Missing Person:
Denise Ordene Fraley
30 YOA
Missing From: Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Date Reported Missing: September 12, 1982
Denise Fraley was reported missing to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation on September 12, 1982, by her family. Her husband David had filed for divorce in May 1982 and a judge granted a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Denise or their child. The child stated she had seen her mother weighted down with rocks and thrown in a river.
Dennis Chaffee: 1945-1983
Homicide
Dennis W. Chaffee
33 YOA
914 28th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
July 17, 1983
Dennis Chaffee, a 33-year-old Vietnam veteran, was shot to death in his Cedar Rapids home on Sunday, July 17, 1983, while his 1-1/2-year-old twin children were in another room. His parents discovered his body Monday evening.
Homicide
Danny Baker
617 18th St. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
November 28, 1983
Danny Baker was shot in the back in the driveway of his southwest Cedar Rapids home on Monday, November 28, 1983.
Ronald Novak
Homicide
Ronald Lee Novak
24 YOA
Center Point, IA
Linn County
December 24, 1983
On Christmas Eve day, 1983, Ronald Lee Novak, 24, was found bound with his hands tied behind his back, beaten with golf clubs and firewood, shot in the chest, and then left in an unheated storeroom of his rural Center Point residence. His three devoted golden retrievers lay huddled close around him, trying to keep their dead master warm.
Matt Pusateri
Homicide:
Matt Pusateri
26 YOA
800 Block of Sixth St. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Nov. 12, 1988
Matt Pusateri, a driver for Yellow Cab, was shot in the head while sitting in his cab about 3 a.m. in a parking lot in the 800 block of Sixth Street SW in Cedar Rapids.
Brian Schappert
Homicide:
Brian Lee Schappert
22 YOA
Kum & Go Store, Mt. Vernon Rd.
SE Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Case # 9208179
September 8, 1989
Brian Schappert, 22, was stabbed during an apparent robbery at the Kum & Go store in southeast Cedar Rapids on September 8, 1989.
Barbara Elms
Missing Person:
Barbara L. Elms
50 YOA
Missing From: Cedar Rapids
Linn County
Date Reported Missing: August 25, 1993
Barbara Elms was reported missing on August 25, 1993. The 50-year-old Cedar Rapids woman had a history of leaving for days at a time, but vanished without a trace on August 25.
Louis Chambers, Jr.
Homicide
Louis H. Chambers, Jr.
32 YOA
1400 blk Fifth Avenue SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
February 7, 1994
Louis Chambers was shot in the stomach in the 1400 blk. of 5th Ave SE in Cedar Rapids in the early morning hours of February 19, 1994. He died that afternoon at a local hospital of the single gunshot wound.
Homicide
Rylee M. Gray
2 YOA
1614 Park Towne Ln. NE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
December 23, 1994
Two-year-old Rylee Gray died on Christmas Day in 1994 after suffering injuries to her head, buttocks, and extremities, following an argument between her mother, Elise Gray, and Elise’s live-in boyfriend, Matthew Lewis.
Traci Evenson
Homicide
Traci Evenson
22 YOA
438 Ninth Ave. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 21, 1997
Traci Evenson, 22, was found beaten viciously in the face and suffocated in her Cedar Rapids Apartment on June 22, 1997. An autopsy revealed she died about 9:30 the night before.
Michael Reed
Michael William Reed
19 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
April 17, 1998
Michael William Reed, 19, of 43 20th Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids on Friday, April 17, 1998. Reed’s mother, Deb (Peal) Evans, told Iowa Cold Cases that police believed her son’s death was a suicide, but that it was well known around [Cedar Rapids] what really happened to her son. Those involved, Evans said, never have been brought to justice.
Judith Weeks
Homicide
Judith Weeks
44 YOA
1319 Second Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
April 4, 1999
On April 5, 1999, the body of Judith Weeks, 44, was found nude from the waist down in the back yard at 1319 Second Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids. Weeks suffered a wound to her forehead caused by a bladed object.
Jamar Magett
Homicide
Jamar Magett
19 YOA
1400 Block of Fifth Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
May 10, 1999
Jamar Magett, 19, of Chicago was shot in the head and chest while standing in the 1400 block of Fifth Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids on May 10, 1999. A Linn County jury acquitted Paul Gilbert, 18, of Cedar Rapids, in the slaying.
Willie Junior Brocks
Homicide
Willie Junior Brocks
49 YOA
400 Block of 15th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
November 27, 1999
On Nov. 27, 1999, Willie Junior Brocks, 49, was shot in the head in the 400 block of 15th St. SE in Cedar Rapids.
Erin Pospisil
Missing Person:
Erin Kay Pospisil
Age at Report: 15 YOA
Missing From: Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Missing Since: June 3, 2001
Fifteen-year-old Erin Pospisil was last seen at a friend’s home in the 100 block of 12th Street SE in Cedar Rapids at 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, June 3, 2001, getting into a dark-colored Chevrolet Cavalier with tinted rear windows.
Tyrone Gilbert
Homicide
Tyrone Gilbert
28 YOA
412 15th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 21, 2001
On June 21, 2001, Tyrone Gilbert, 28, was found fatally shot in the abdomen on the front porch at 412 15th St. SE in Cedar Rapids.
Joseph Harris
Homicide:
Joseph Harris
23 YOA
3600 block of Wenig Rd. NE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
January 6, 2003
On January 6, 2003, Chicago resident Joseph Harris, 23, was found dead of gunshot wounds to the head in the front passenger seat of a burning green 1995 Lincoln in the 3600 block of Wenig Road NE in Cedar Rapids.
Jay Grahlman
Jaymie Grahlman
Double Homicide:
Jay Grahlman, 38, and
Jaymie Grahlman, 6
3755 H. Ave. NE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
April 5, 2003
Jay Grahlman, 38, and his six-year-old daughter, Jaymie, died from injuries suffered in a late-night fire set at their Cedar Rapids home on Saturday, April 5, 2003. Jaymie suffered brain damage and died Sunday after being removed from life support, and Jay died the following Wednesday morning from burns he’d sustained in the fire.
Anthony Posley
Homicide
Anthony Posley
22 YOA
1600 Blk of Sixth Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
July 23, 2006
Anthony Posley, 22, of 3333 Pioneer Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids was shot in the 1600 block of Sixth Avenue SE about 2:27 a.m. on July 23, 2006. He was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center and pronounced dead a short time later.
Dorothy Rose
Homicide
Dorothy Jenine Rose
43 YOA
206 12th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
November 25, 2006
Dorothy Jenine Rose, 43, was strangled to death inside her southeast Cedar Rapids apartment on or around November 25, 2006. The building’s landlord discovered her decomposing body — an electrical cord still wrapped around her neck — on November 28, 2006. Police said Rose had been dead three to four days.
Dennis First
Homicide
Dennis First
64 YOA
2249 C St. SW #5
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
May 11, 2007
Dennis Lee First, 64, died early Friday morning, May 11, 2007, after being stabbed and beaten at his Cedar Rapids efficiency apartment, located at 2249 C St. SW.
Aubrey Young
Homicide
Aubrey Dwayne Young
35 YOA
200 blk. of 16th St. SE
Near Redmond Park
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 15, 2008
Aubrey Young, 35, was found shot to death near Redmond Park in Cedar Rapids in the early morning hours of June 16, 2008. Investigators found his body, lying face down on the ground, between two parked cars in the 200 block of 16th Street SE. Young had been shot once in the head.
Homicide
Dominique Mosby
22 YOA
Cedarwood Hills Apartments
2030 Glass Rd. NE, No. 105
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 26, 2009
Twenty-two-year-old Dominique Mosby was shot in the head on Friday, June 26, 2009 as he sat outside on an apartment deck playing dice for money with a group of men.
Dexter Meeks
Homicide
Dexter Lashun “Big Ham” Meeks
22 YOA
211 15th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 26, 2011
Dexter Lashun Meeks, known to his friends as “Big Ham,” was shot in the early morning hours on Sunday, June 26, 2011, near the front door of his apartment building at 211 15th St. SE in Cedar Rapids.
Missing Person
Alberto Hernandez
Age at Report: 28
Weight: 110 lbs.
Height: 5’00″
Race: Unknown
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Sex: Male
Incident Type: Endangered / Physical
Missing From: Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Missing Since: October 11, 2011
Alberto Hernandez was reported missing to the Cedar Rapids Police Department in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on October 11, 2011. He sometimes goes by the name Ivan.
Linn County in Iowa
Cedar Rapids in Linn County
Marlene Padfield
Homicide:
Marlene Padfield
17 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
February 19, 1959
Between 12:15 and 12:30 a.m. on February 19, 1959, Marlene Padfield, 17, left the Kozy Inn restaurant in Cedar Rapids with 18-year-old Arthur Scott, Jr., a part-time Coe College student involved in community theater. Marlene was never seen alive again, and her remains were discovered April 29, 1959, by a farmer traveling an isolated dirt road between Cedar Rapids and Mt. Vernon-Lisbon.
Frederick Coste
Homicide
Frederick L. Coste
47 YOA
312 Second Avenue SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
October 15, 1959
Frederick “Fred” Coste, 47, was found October 15, 1959, lying face-up in a pool of blood inside his loan interview cubicle at the Family Finance Corporation in Cedar Rapids where he worked. He had been punched in the left eye and then stabbed six times in the chest.
Geraldine Maggert
Homicide:
Geraldine Lempke Maggert
25 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
March 22, 1968
The nearly nude body of Geraldine Maggert, 25, of Cedar Rapids was discovered in a wooded ravine near the Coralville reservoir on April 6, 1968. The victim — who was approximately three months pregnant — was last seen alive on Friday, March 22, 1968; and an autopsy showed she died from a beating and exposure.
Charles R. Gearhart: 1880-1970
Homicide
Charles Rufus Gearhart
89 YOA
422 First Street SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
May 13, 1970
Charles Gearhart was stabbed to death at his 422 First St. SW apartment in Cedar Rapids sometime during the evening of May 13, 1970.
Paula Oberbroeckling
Homicide
Paula Jean Oberbroeckling
18 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
July 11, 1970
Paula Jean Oberbroeckling disappeared on Saturday night, July 11, 1970, after going out on a date and then later leaving her Cedar Rapids apartment in a powder blue bra dress. Her body was discovered November 29, 1970, in a ravine near the Cedar River six miles from the apartment she shared with Debbie Kellogg.
Maureen Farley
Homicide:
Maureen Farley
Maiden Name: Maureen Brubaker
17 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Approx. Date of Death: September 21, 1971
On Sept. 24, 1971, the body of 17-year-old Mrs. Maureen Farley was found atop the trunk lid of an abandoned car in a wooded ravine near the southwest edge of Cedar Rapids. The Linn County medical examiner ruled Farley had been dead no less than 48 hours and no more than 96 hours.
Lynn Schuller
Homicide
Lynn Schuller
26 YOA
3100 30th St. Dr. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
August 6, 1972
Lynn Schuller disappeared from her Cedar Rapids home on August 6, 1972. Police suspected murder from the very beginning, and most believe her husband, Keith Schuller, cut up Lynn’s body and fed it to his 6-foot-long pet alligator, Pogo, and two pet snakes he owned.
Guy Heckle
Missing Person:
Guy Heckle
Age at Report: 11
Missing From: Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Missing Since: February 3, 1973
Guy Heckle was reported missing to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office in Cedar Rapids on February 3, 1973, after disappearing while on a Boy Scout camp-out near the Duane Arnold Energy Center.
Dennis Stastny
Homicide
Dennis L. Stastny
30 YOA
222 Tenth St. NW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
August 9, 1977
Dennis Stastny was reported missing on Tuesday, August 9, 1977, by his mother, Mary White. Two days later, Stastny’s body was pulled from the Cedar River near downtown Cedar Rapids after two young fishermen discovered the body in the west spillway near the F Avenue bridge about 11 a.m.
Michelle Martinko
Homicide:
Michelle Martinko
18 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Case Number: 85-06117
December 19, 1979
On the evening of December 19, 1979, police found 18-year-old Michelle Martinko — her face and chest stabbed repeatedly — in her family’s car in the Westdale Mall parking lot. She had been Christmas shopping.
Naomi Wilson
Missing Person:
Naomi Wilson
Age at Report: 32 YOA
Missing From: 1618 13th Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Missing Since: April 12, 1981
Naomi Wilson was reported missing from Cedar Rapids on April 12, 1981. She was last seen at her home at 1618 13th Ave. SE, about 4 p.m. by her boyfriend.
Denise Fraley
Missing Person:
Denise Ordene Fraley
30 YOA
Missing From: Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Date Reported Missing: September 12, 1982
Denise Fraley was reported missing to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation on September 12, 1982, by her family. Her husband David had filed for divorce in May 1982 and a judge granted a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Denise or their child. The child stated she had seen her mother weighted down with rocks and thrown in a river.
Dennis Chaffee: 1945-1983
Homicide
Dennis W. Chaffee
33 YOA
914 28th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
July 17, 1983
Dennis Chaffee, a 33-year-old Vietnam veteran, was shot to death in his Cedar Rapids home on Sunday, July 17, 1983, while his 1-1/2-year-old twin children were in another room. His parents discovered his body Monday evening.
Homicide
Danny Baker
617 18th St. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
November 28, 1983
Danny Baker was shot in the back in the driveway of his southwest Cedar Rapids home on Monday, November 28, 1983.
Matt Pusateri
Homicide:
Matt Pusateri
26 YOA
800 Block of Sixth St. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Nov. 12, 1988
Matt Pusateri, a driver for Yellow Cab, was shot in the head while sitting in his cab about 3 a.m. in a parking lot in the 800 block of Sixth Street SW in Cedar Rapids.
Brian Schappert
Homicide:
Brian Lee Schappert
22 YOA
Kum & Go Store, Mt. Vernon Rd.
SE Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Case # 92-08179
September 8, 1989
Brian Schappert, 22, was stabbed during an apparent robbery at the Kum & Go store in southeast Cedar Rapids on September 8, 1989.
Barbara Elms
Missing Person:
Barbara L. Elms
50 YOA
Missing From:
Cedar Rapids
Linn County
Date Reported Missing: August 25, 1993
Barbara Elms was reported missing on August 25, 1993. The 50-year-old Cedar Rapids woman had a history of leaving for days at a time, but vanished without a trace on August 25.
Louis Chambers, Jr.
Homicide
Louis H. Chambers, Jr.
32 YOA
1400 blk Fifth Avenue SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
February 7, 1994
Louis Chambers was shot in the stomach in the 1400 blk. of 5th Ave SE in Cedar Rapids in the early morning hours of February 19, 1994. He died that afternoon at a local hospital of the single gunshot wound.
Homicide
Rylee M. Gray
2 YOA
1614 Park Towne Ln. NE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
December 23, 1994
Two-year-old Rylee Gray died on Christmas Day in 1994 after suffering injuries to her head, buttocks, and extremities, following an argument between her mother, Elise Gray, and Elise’s live-in boyfriend, Matthew Lewis.
Traci Evenson
Homicide
Traci Evenson
22 YOA
438 Ninth Ave. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 21, 1997
Traci Evenson, 22, was found beaten viciously in the face and suffocated in her Cedar Rapids Apartment on June 22, 1997. An autopsy revealed she died about 9:30 the night before.
Michael Reed
Michael William Reed
19 YOA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
April 17, 1998
Michael William Reed, 19, of 43 20th Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids on Friday, April 17, 1998. Reed’s mother, Deb (Peal) Evans, told Iowa Cold Cases that police believed her son’s death was a suicide, but that it was well known around [Cedar Rapids] what really happened to her son. Those involved, Evans said, never have been brought to justice.
Judith Weeks
Homicide
Judith Weeks
44 YOA
1319 Second Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
April 4, 1999
On April 5, 1999, the body of Judith Weeks, 44, was found nude from the waist down in the back yard at 1319 Second Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids. Weeks suffered a wound to her forehead caused by a bladed object.
Jamar Magett
Homicide
Jamar Magett
19 YOA
1400 Block of Fifth Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
May 10, 1999
Jamar Magett, 19, of Chicago was shot in the head and chest while standing in the 1400 block of Fifth Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids on May 10, 1999. A Linn County jury acquitted Paul Gilbert, 18, of Cedar Rapids, in the slaying.
Willie Junior Brocks
Homicide
Willie Junior Brocks
49 YOA
400 Block of 15th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
November 27, 1999
On Nov. 27, 1999, Willie Junior Brocks, 49, was shot in the head in the 400 block of 15th St. SE in Cedar Rapids.
Erin Pospisil
Missing Person:
Erin Kay Pospisil
Age at Report: 15 YOA
Missing From: Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Missing Since: June 3, 2001
Fifteen-year-old Erin Pospisil was last seen at a friend’s home in the 100 block of 12th Street SE in Cedar Rapids at 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, June 3, 2001, getting into a dark-colored Chevrolet Cavalier with tinted rear windows.
Tyrone Gilbert
Homicide
Tyrone Gilbert
28 YOA
412 15th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 21, 2001
On June 21, 2001, Tyrone Gilbert, 28, was fatally shot in the abdomen on the front porch at 412 15th St. SE in Cedar Rapids.
Joseph Harris
Homicide:
Joseph Harris
23 YOA
3600 block of Wenig Rd. NE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
January 6, 2003
On January 6, 2003, Chicago resident Joseph Harris, 23, was found dead of gunshot wounds to the head in the front passenger seat of a burning green 1995 Lincoln in the 3600 block of Wenig Road NE in Cedar Rapids.
Jaymie Grahlman
Jay Grahlman
Double Homicide:
Jay Grahlman, 38
Jaymie Grahlman, 6
3755 H. Ave. NE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
April 5, 2003
Jay Grahlman, 38, and his six-year-old daughter, Jaymie, died from injuries suffered in a late-night fire set at their Cedar Rapids home on Saturday, April 5, 2003. Jaymie suffered brain damage and died Sunday after being removed from life support, and Jay died the following Wednesday morning from burns he’d sustained in the fire.
Anthony Posley
Homicide
Anthony Posley
22 YOA
1600 Blk of Sixth Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
July 23, 2006
Anthony Posley, 22, of 3333 Pioneer Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids was shot in the 1600 block of Sixth Avenue SE about 2:27 a.m. on July 23, 2006. He was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center and pronounced dead a short time later.
Dorothy Rose
Homicide
Dorothy Jenine Rose
43 YOA
206 12th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
November 25, 2006
Dorothy Jenine Rose, 43, was strangled to death inside her southeast Cedar Rapids apartment on or around November 25, 2006. The building’s landlord discovered her decomposing body — an electrical cord still wrapped around her neck — on November 28, 2006. Police said Rose had been dead three to four days.
Dennis First
Homicide
Dennis First
64 YOA
2249 C St. SW #5
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
May 11, 2007
Dennis Lee First, 64, died early Friday morning, May 11, 2007, after being stabbed and beaten at his Cedar Rapids efficiency apartment, located at 2249 C St. SW.
Aubrey Young
Homicide
Aubrey Dwayne Young
35 YOA
200 blk. of 16th St. SE
Near Redmond Park
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 15, 2008
Aubrey Young, 35, was found shot to death near Redmond Park in Cedar Rapids in the early morning hours of June 16, 2008. Investigators found his body, lying face down on the ground, between two parked cars in the 200 block of 16th Street SE. Young had been shot once in the head.
Homicide
Dominique Mosby
22 YOA
Cedarwood Hills Apartments
2030 Glass Rd. NE, No. 105
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 26, 2009
Twenty-two-year-old Dominique Mosby was shot in the head on Friday, June 26, 2009 as he sat outside on an apartment deck playing dice for money with a group of men.
Dexter Meeks
Homicide
Dexter Lashun “Big Ham” Meeks
22 YOA
211 15th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
June 26, 2011
Dexter Lashun Meeks, known to his friends as “Big Ham,” was shot in the early morning hours on Sunday, June 26, 2011, near the front door of his apartment building at 211 15th St. SE in Cedar Rapids.
Missing Person
Alberto Hernandez
Age at Report: 28
Weight: 110 lbs.
Height: 5’00″
Race: Unknown
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Sex: Male
Incident Type: Endangered / Physical
Missing From: Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
Missing Since: October 11, 2011
Alberto Hernandez was reported missing to the Cedar Rapids Police Department in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on October 11, 2011. He sometimes goes by the name Ivan.
BY ERA: Up through 1899 | 1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000 – present | Missing Persons
The cases below include unsolved Iowa homicides from 1980 – 1989, and are listed in chronological order. If you know of a case not listed here or have information you’d like included with an existing page, please contact us with relevant details and we’ll respond to your inquiry as soon as possible.
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