Description : White male, 28-48 years of age, 5’7″ to 5’9″, approximately 150 lbs., brown hair, medium build, right handed, surgical pin implanted in right knee.
Details : Skeletal remains found 2/28/84, in brushy area along a dirt trail in Des Moines, Iowa.
Clothing : Faded blue denims with 31″ waist, dark leather belt, brown socks, low cut TRAX sneakers brown/blue in color.
Possessions : Plastic comb, plastic Copenhagen snuff box and a pocket knife.
Cause of Death : Blunt trauma, sometime during the summer of 1983.
Agency : Des Moines Police Department – 515-283-4811
Story by Aaron Brilbeck , WHOtv Channel 13 , Des Moines
November 4, 2010
Courtesy photo WHO-TV, Des Moines DES MOINES — It’s been nearly 27 years since police found the badly decomposed body of a man in a watery area on the southeast side of town. Still, Des Moines police are no closer to figuring out who the man is or what happened to him.
On February 28, 1984, the remains were found in a wooded area just north of Maury Street near Scott, partially submerged in the water. The body’s condition led police to believe it may have been there since spring of 1983.
“(The) body was found and appeared to be kind of on its side in sort of a fetal position type, wearing nothing but blue jeans, a belt and tennis shoes,” said Des Moines Police Sergeant Jeff Edwards.
Courtesy photo WHO-TV, Des Moines The body did show signs of trauma and some broken ribs, but police are not sure of a cause of death or whether it was accidental, natural or murder.
“The suspicion is that the body had been [there] for some time,” Edwards said. “Probably, at least at some point, the body was partially submerged which did deteriorate the body considerably so that what was discovered in February — the remains were mostly just bones and just a small patch of skin.”
That small patch of skin may hold the clues to solving this case. The man, who police say was white with brown hair and stood about 5-foot-8, had several tattoos.
Courtesy photo WHO-TV, Des Moines On the victim’s right arm, there was a tattoo of a red flying bird carrying a streamer that said “MOTHER.” The word “DAD” is above the bird. Also on the right arm was a tattoo of a Nazi storm-trooper wearing a German helmet. The face under helmet is skull-like.
A third tattoo on the right bicep shows a laughing skull with a top hat and cigarette with the words Born To Die” encircling the design.
On the right side of the chest there was a profile of a woman with a gear with a wrench through it for an earring.
Near the center of the chest, a spotted snake appears to be coiled around a tree.
WHO-TV Channel 13′s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the unidentified body of a white male found in Des Moines
on February 28, 1984. Air date: November 4, 2010
“It’s been very difficult in going back now with this particular person because we don’t have a missing person that we can match up to the body that was recovered or to the remains recovered,” Edwards said. “We don’t have any identification. Nothing. Very little in the way of identifying marks other than the tattoos.”
The spot where the body was found is well known to police. It’s so remote, meth producers often cook drugs there and car thieves will ditch stolen vehicles.
Investigators say it’s important to identify the remains to give a family, somewhere, some closure and possibly get a killer off the streets.
“Whoever they are and whoever this person is, they deserve to know what happened to their loved one,” said Edwards. “And obviously, if it does turn out that it’s a homicide, we have someone out there that’s committed a homicide. We need to bring that person to justice.”
Anyone with information about the body is asked to call Des Moines Police at 515-283-4811.
Right Arm Side Profile
Right Front Profile
Right Rear Profile
Tattoo 1
Tattoo 1 : Flying bird carrying streamer in its beak. Written inside streamer is “MOTHER”. The word “DAD” is above bird. The bird is in red-orange ink. Back of streamer is in green ink. Located right upper-arm near shoulder-tip. Dimensions: Approximately 3 inches from “DAD” to bottom of streamer. Approximately 2 1/2 inches from beak to tail.
Tattoo 2
Tattoo 2 : Nazi storm-trooper. Wearing German Helmet, iron cross, SS on collar tabs. Face under helmet is skull-like. Has appearance of wearing leather coat. Dark-colored ink. Located on side and extending to rear of right upper-arm. Dimensions: approximately 6 inches tall by 3 inches wide. Runs parallel to tattoos three and four.
Tattoo 3
Tattoo 3 : Laughing skull with top-hat and cigarette. The words “BORN TO DIE” encircling design. Red ink inside eyes. Green ink inside nose. Located on right arm/inside bicep. Approximately 1/2 inch above tattoo no. four. Total size approximately 1 3/4 inches wide at brim of hat by 2 inches long.
Tattoo 4
Tattoo 4 : Female face with dark hair under a sombrero. Fancy design on brim of sombrero. It’s believed that the sombrero was put on after the female’s features were tattooed. An additional tattoo of “JOHN” is visible under the design inside the sombrero brim. From top of hat to chin of female face is approximately 2 1/2 inches. The brim of the sombrero is approximately 2 1/4 inches wide. Located inner-arm approximately 3 1/2 inches. Located inner-arm approximately 3 1/2 inches from elbow joint. (right side) Approximately 1/2 inch below the skull in top-hat design.
Tattoo 5
Tattoo 5 : Female facial-profile/left side. Located on right side of chest above nipple. Tattooed so that female’s hair appears light-colored. NOTE: A distinctive feature is that female has a “gear” with a wrench through it for an earring. Dimensions: Tattoo would take up most of subject’s right breast-area.
Tattoo 6
Tattoo 6 : Appears to be a spotted snake coiled around a tree. Dark ink. Located in middle of chest; along the sternum, from the xiphoid process to the angle. Majority of this tattoo is indistinguishable due to skin deterioration.
Tattoo 7
Tattoo 7 : Dark-colored ink. No combination for colors. Believed that skin-section from abdominal area/right side between navel and chest. Approximate dimensions: (male cartoon figure minus head due to skin deterioration.) Toe to toe – 3 inches; sole to upper-chest – 3 3/4 inches.
Tattoo 8
Tattoo 8 : Dark-colored ink. No discernible color combinations. Butterfly pattern. Located on rear of right-side shoulder; towards collarbone area. Dimension: approximately 1 1/2 inches long. NOTE: No pattern distinguishable on rearward wing (possible due to skin deterioration).
Location Where Found: 200 Block of S. Lewis Blvd.
Highway 75
Sioux City, Iowa
Woodbury County
Date Found: March 25, 1986
Estimated Date of Death: March 24, 1986
NamUs-UP #: 2621
Description: White male, 40-49 years of age, 5’6″ to 5’8″, 145 to 155 lbs., medium build, blood type A+.
Clothing: Subject was wearing white cotton gloves, brown western shirt, blue jeans, blue cotton socks and tan western boots.
Possessions: Tube of contact cement.
Cause of Death: Apparent suicide; burned body was found doused with gasoline.
Investigating Agency: Sioux City Police Department 712-279-6365
At approx. 9:42 a.m. on March 25, 1986, Sioux City Police responded to a report of a man down under a bridge of an abandoned river channel near Marx Trucking at 220 S. Lewis Blvd.
Marx employees had observed smoke and a noxious odor coming from the area the day before at approximately 5 p.m. Investigators located the body of man — believed to be between 40-50 years of age — burned beyond recognition, with a gas can located between the victim’s legs.
The death is believed to have been caused by thermal injuries suffered during an act of self-immolation (setting one’s self on fire). The body was found doused with gasoline. The decedent’s blood type was determined to be A+.
The Sioux City Police did obtain dental records from the victim’s teeth, which have been compared to numerous missing persons across the country.
As of this date, the subject’s identity is unknown and the case remains open.
Sioux City in Woodbury County
Woodbury County in Iowa
Rev. George Haddock
Homicide
Rev. George Haddock
56 YOA
Corner of 3rd and Water streets
Sioux City, IA
Woodbury County
August 3, 1886
Just after 10 p.m. on August 3, 1886, the Reverend George Haddock of Sioux City, Iowa, was shot as he left his buggy at the stables. He lay dead in the gutter on the southwest corner of 3rd and Water streets.
Jimmy Bremmers
Homicide:
Jimmy Bremmers
8 YOA
2701 Cottage Ave.
Sioux City, IA (Woodbury County)
Body Found in Plymouth County
Estimated Date of Death: August 31, 1954
Eight-year-old Jimmy Bremmers disappeared on August 31, 1954, after visiting friends on the block where he lived on Sioux City’s west side. His body was found by county workers almost one month later on Sept. 29. Ernest Triplett — an itinerant music salesman for Flood Music in Sioux City — was arrested, charged and convicted in Jimmy’s death, but the conviction was overturned in 1972.
Donna Sue Davis
Homicide
Donna Sue Davis
22 months of age
715 Isabella Street
Sioux City, IA
July 10, 1955
Donna Sue Davis, 22 months old, was abducted from her crib in her Sioux City, Iowa, home the evening of July 10, 1955. Her battered body was found the following day at the edge of a South Sioux City, Nebraska, cornfield.
Homicide
Hilda Fletcher
53 YOA
Sioux City, IA
Woodbury County
December 15, 1958
Hilda Fletcher was found beneath a blood-soaked bed in her Sioux City, Iowa, home on December 15, 1958. The 53-year-old died of a brain hemorrhage and there were abrasions and contusions over much of her body.
Thomas “Myles” Dougherty
Missing Person
Thomas Myles Dougherty
45 YOA
Sioux City, IA
January 12, 1961
Forty-five-year-old Thomas Myles Dougherty, a WWII double amputee fitted with prosthetic metal “hooks” on both arms, disappeared on January 12, 1961, after an early morning breakfast at the Metropolitan Café in Sioux City, Iowa. He was last seen driving a 1954 dark green Tudor Ford with white sidewalls in front and black mud and snow grips on the rear, Iowa license plate number 97-11426.
Jesse Hanni
Billy Isom
Triple Homicide
Ernest William (Billy) Isom II, 27;
Jesse James Hanni, 26;
Freta Fawn (Bostic) Isom, 24
117 Morningside Avenue
Sioux City, IA
Woodbury County
December 3, 1974
At 11:22 a.m., the bodies of three persons were found brutally murdered in a rented two-story home in Sioux City, Iowa. The mother of victim Ernest William “Billy” Isom discovered the bodies.
Freta Bostic
Freta (Bostic) Isom — pregnant at the time — was found on the dining room floor, wearing only a housecoat, shot once through the back.
Billy Isom — shot five times in the head and body — lay naked on a mattress on the living room floor.
Jesse Hanni was found fully clothed, wearing a winter jacket, and had been shot once through the back and once behind the left ear in execution style.
Maurice Kneifl
Missing Person
Maurice Kneifl
58 YOA
Sioux City, IA
February 14, 1983
On Feb. 16, 1983, the Sioux City Police Department received a report of a missing person — 58-year-old Maurice Kneifl — by Kneifl’s girlfriend, Joyce Fish, and her daughter Lori. Maurice was reportedly last seen on Feb. 14, 1983, driving his 1981 dark brown Fleetwood Cadillac, bearing Iowa license plate HIZ379. He had left Joyce’s residence around 9:30 p.m. Kneifl owned and operated Fethke Cleaners located at 1209 W. 26th Street. An exhaustive search has turned up no leads as to his whereabouts.
Terri McCauley
Homicide:
Terri McCauley
18 YOA
33rd & Pavonia St.
Sioux City, IA
October 6, 1983
On Oct. 1, 1983, 18-year-old McCauley was reported missing by her mother. She was reported last seen alive on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 1983, at approximately 2:15 a.m. in the area of W. 7th & Omaha in Sioux City. At approximately 8:15 a.m. on Oct. 6, 1983, her partially decomposed body was located in a wooded area in the vicinity of 33rd & Pavonia Street by a local resident walking his dog. The victim had died from a shotgun wound to the face.
Ronald Zellmer
Missing Person
Ronald Leroy Zellmer
31 YOA
Sioux City, IA
April 6, 1985
At approximately 5:50 a.m., South Sioux City Police located a 1984 Chevy Cavalier – registered to Zellmer — parked on the south end of the Veterans Memorial Bridge. Sioux City Police were called to check Zellmer’s residence at 1003 Pierce Street, Apt. B-3, and found it empty with nothing unusual within the apartment. Family members reported he had suffered from depression for years. A search of the Missouri River proved unsuccessful.
Unidentified White Male:
John Doe
200 Block of S. Lewis Blvd. (Hwy 75)
Sioux City, IA
March 25, 1986
At approximately 9:42 a.m., Sioux City Police responded to a report of a man down under a bridge near Marx Trucking. Marx employees had observed smoke and a noxious odor coming from the area the day before. Investigators located the body of man — believed to be between 40-50 years of age — burned beyond recognition, with a gas can located between the victim’s legs. A nationwide search has not determined the man’s identity.
Homicide
Kevin Clark
26 YOA
1514 Villa Avenue
Sioux City, IA
December 8, 1991
Just after climbing into the back passenger seat of friend’s vehicle after a party, Kevin Clark was shot at approximately 5:19 a.m. on Dec. 8, 1991, by a black male subject who approached the 1981 Chevy Citation with 9 millimeter rifle, shouted an obscenity and then began firing into the vehicle. Clark – who had in his possession a 38 Titan Special revolver – returned the gunfire, but was struck three times in the torso.
Homicide
Betty Swetnam
73 YOA
1610 West 19th St.
Sioux City, IA
Woodbury County
January 1, 1994
Betty Swetnam was found dead at the bottom of her basement steps on January 1, 1994. The 73-year-old grandmother had been stabbed multiple times.
Kenneth Harker
Missing Person
Kenneth Harker
34 YOA
Sioux City, IA
October 9, 1996
On October 9, 1996, Marie Harker contacted the Sioux City Police Department to report her adult son, Kenneth Harker, as missing. According to Marie, Kenneth suffered from a head injury he’d received several years earlier that had left him disabled. Four days earlier on October 5, Harker’s 1977 white Chevy Suburban, while parked on a gravel road, had been tagged by the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office as an abandoned vehicle.
David Redowl
Homicide:
David Redowl
27 YOA
610 West 3rd St.
Sioux City, IA
April 26, 1997
At approximately 2:00 a.m., David Redowl and his 24-year-old sister, Sonja, had a physical altercation in the back yard of their mother’s residence on West 3rd St., which both Redowl and his sister listed as their home. Sioux Police were contacted about 2:07 a.m, and found Redowl with a stab wound to the chest.
Wilbur Brown
Homicide
Wilbur Brown
47 YOA
603 West 5th St.
Sioux City, IA
Sept. 14, 1997
Wilbur Brown was found lying on the ground between a curb and the sidewalk at 603 West 5th St. in Sioux City, Iowa, about 5:30 a.m. on Sept. 14, 1997. An autopsy revealed he’d been beaten about the head and body and died as a result of those injuries.
Patricia Jauron
Homicide
Patricia Jauron
45 YOA
1516 Old Highway 141
Sioux City, IA (Woodbury County jurisdiction)
Case # 98-06160
May 26, 1998
Patricia Jauron’s body was discovered by her husband Gene at their former home across the road from where they’d just moved after she left to show someone a waterbed and didn’t return home. Patricia had been stabbed multiple times with such force the blade broke off in her chest.
Missing Person
Greg Stover
44 YOA
DOB: 7/20/54
White male
Missing From: Sioux City, IA
Missing since: March 8, 1999
Greg Stover was reported missing to the Sioux City Police Department, in Sioux City on March 8, 1999.
Adrian Reuwsaat
Missing Person
Adrian Reuwsaat
69 YOA
Missing From: Sioux City, IA
Woodbury County
Missing since: November 3, 2002
Adrian Reuwsaat was reported missing to the Sioux City Police Department in Sioux City on November 3, 2002.
Helen Kelly
Missing Person
Helen J. Kelly
83 YOA
Missing From: Sioux City, IA (Woodbury County)
Missing Since: May 18, 2005
Helen Kelly of Sioux City, Iowa, was reported missing by her husband on May 18, 2005. Kelly left behind her purse and had not mentioned plans to travel anywhere. She has never been heard from again. Her gold 2000 Honda Accord with Iowa license plates numbered 953EDK also remains missing.
Manuel Ramirez
Homicide
Manuel Ramirez
6 YOA
1417 Virginia St.
Sioux City, IA
Woodbury County
March 7, 2011
On Monday night, March 7, 2011, Sioux City police responded to a 911 call from 1417 Virginia Street, where they found 6-year-old Manuel Ramirez dead in the bathtub. Officers administered CPR but were unable to revive the Irving Elementary School first-grader. Officers at the scene were told Manuel had drowned, but Sioux City Police Chief Doug Young said evidence did not point to drowning.
Tony “T-Bone” Canfield
Homicide
Tony Ray Canfield
52 YOA
1401 George St.
Sioux City, Iowa
Woodbury County
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Late on Sunday, May 1, 2011, Tony Ray “T-Bone” Canfield, 52, was shot in the head outside a Sioux City apartment house he shared with his wife, Dana, in what police say began as a home invasion.
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