A Hit-and-Run Homicide

On May 6, 2011, in Anniversaries, The Families, by Eileen Meier

My sister Valerie Peterson was killed 40 years ago today. It is still my hope that a task force pulled from Iowa law enforcement, legislators and community groups will be formed in Iowa, as it has been done in other states, to examine and put forth best practices in Iowa for the prioritization of cold cases, evidence extraction and bulk evidence […]

Breaking Through Walls of Silence and Shame

On May 6, 2010, in Anniversaries, The Families, by Eileen Meier

My only sister, Valerie Peterson, was killed 39 years ago today on a Thursday afternoon.  She was just 8 years old. We had been late that morning — in a rush out of the car for school with no foreshadowing of the terrible events that would happen that afternoon. No goodbyes or looks backward. The […]

Today’s Cold Case Anniversaries: Valerie Peterson and Barbara Lenz

On May 6, 2009, in Anniversaries, Young Women, by Jody Ewing

Today marks the anniversaries of two Iowa cold cases — that of eight-year-old Elna Maria “Valerie” Peterson in 1971 and 31-year-old Barbara Lealyn Lenz in 1989. Valerie Peterson of Manson, IA, was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding her bicycle along the road at the Manson Lutheran Church. One other girl riding ahead of […]