Denise Fraley
Denise Ordene Fraley
30 YOA
DOB: April 4, 1952
Weight: 115 lbs.
Height: 5′ 04″
Incident Type: Involuntary disappearance
Missing From: 107 24th Ave. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
NCIC Number: M-141931927
Date Reported Missing: September 12, 1982
Denise Fraley was reported missing to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation on September 12, 1982.
Denise was last seen in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on September 12, 1982. She and her husband, David Fraley, were in a band and played at a private party in Cedar Rapids that evening. She disappeared afterwards and has never been heard from again.
David did not report his wife missing; Denise’s family did so over a month after her disappearance when all their efforts to contact her had been in vain.
These maps show where Denise Fraley vanished in Sept. 1982, where Jane Wakefield disappeared in Sept. 1975 and where Lynn Schuller went missing in Aug. 1972. All three women were in volatile marriages with divorce proceedings pending. Detectives are certain all three were murdered, and though they’ve long had a prime suspect in each case, have never been able to find enough evidence to convince a prosecutor to charge any of the suspects with murder. (Maps courtesy Cedar Rapids Gazette)Denise and David had been married for five years prior to her disappearance and have a daughter. There were episodes of violence in the marriage and at least once, Denise was hospitalized after claiming David attacked her. David filed for divorce in May 1982 and a judge granted a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Denise or their child.
Several of Denise’s relatives in her home state of Missouri received a note from David shortly after her disappearance. The message stated “Denise Fraley: Don’t mess with the Mafia.” David explained to Denise’s family that she had tried to run off with several thousands of dollars in drug money that was not hers, and he was afraid the Mafia wanted to kill her. He stated that her family should not travel to Iowa as a result.
Denise’s family members stayed away for six months after she was reported missing as a result of David’s warning. Her mother and sister made several trips to Cedar Rapids starting in March 1983, and hired an attorney to get temporary custody of Denise and David’s daughter. While the child was living with her aunt, she stated she had seen her mother weighted down with rocks and thrown in a river.
Investigators are uncertain if the story is true, as the girl was only a toddler when her mother disappeared. The Fraleys’ divorce became final in 1984 and David was granted permanent custody of the child.
Authorities indicated that David was considered the prime suspect in his wife’s case, but he has never been charged due to a lack of evidence.
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at (515) 725-6010, e-mail dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us, or contact the Cedar Rapids Police Department at (319) 286-5375. You may also send information to Iowa Cold Cases via our Contact form.
Lynn Schuller
Lynn Schuller
26 YOA
3100 30th St. Dr. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
August 6, 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 her body. Why? The suspicions surrounding her disappearance sounded so much like that of local folklore that even police were reluctant to acknowledge Keith Schuller could have committed such an abhorrent act.
Linn County in Iowa
The tale began in a Minneapolis suburb, where Lynn Tickner had been born and raised. Barely a teen, she met Keith Schuller — five years her senior — while the two families were vacationing in northern Minnesota. A long-distance relationship culminated in Lynn and Keith’s marriage in 1967.
The two made their home in Cedar Rapids, and Lynn gave birth the couple’s first and only child in 1969. By all outward appearances, they seemed like a happy couple until 1971, when Keith abruptly announced he wanted a divorce. Lynn, however, wasn’t ready to break up their new family and refused to grant the divorce.
“She always indicated to me that she was hopeful they would resolve it because of the child,” Lynn’s mother, Eloise Tickner, told the Cedar Rapids Gazette in a March 1992 interview.
Keith continued to press for a divorce, and in 1972, Lynn wrote a letter to her mother stating that Keith had threatened to kill her. Keith owned a 6-foot-long alligator, Pogo, and two pet snakes.
“You never believe anything like that is going to happen in your own family,” Eloise Tickner told the Gazette, “So I threw the letter away.”
A few months later, while vacationing at the same lake where their daughter and Keith had met, the Tickners received a call from their son-in-law. Lynn had disappeared, he told them, and he didn’t know where she was.
Harry and Eloise Tickner immediately headed south for Cedar Rapids, where Keith Schuller told them he’d last seen Lynn while she was sleeping. He said that around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6, 1972 [sic- that date was a Sunday] that he and their 3-year-old son had left the home and returned about five hours later to discover both Lynn and her bicycle were gone.
These maps show where Lynn Schuller went missing in Aug. 1972, where Jane Wakefield disappeared in Sept. 1975 and where Denise Fraley vanished in Sept. 1982. All three women were in volatile marriages with divorce proceedings pending. Detectives are certain all three were murdered, and though they’ve long had a prime suspect in each case, have never been able to find enough evidence to convince a prosecutor to charge any of the suspects with murder. (Maps courtesy Cedar Rapids Gazette)Schuller said he’d decided then to take his son swimming at Bever Park. Before they’d gone, he said, he’d left a note for Lynn.
The “swim” was short-lived, and Schuller and his young son returned home about an hour later. This time, however, he said Lynn’s bicycle was there but that she was missing.
The home showed no signs of forced entry and nothing was disturbed. Lynn’s purse and all her belongings were still there.
Later that same day, Keith Schuller had contacted his wife’s parents — along with several others — to report his wife was missing. Those he’d called arrived at the couple’s home and helped conduct searches in and around the surrounding area.
The following afternoon — approx. 24 hours after Keith Schuller said he first realized something was wrong — he called the sheriff’s office to report Lynn missing. Dozens of volunteers helped conduct a more extensive search, while detectives got a search warrant and seized several items from the Schuller home. State investigators were also called in to help.
Keith Schuller was asked to assist in the investigation — particularly to help search the nearby woods for his wife’s body — but he refused to do so and was arrested for refusing to assist an officer. Schuller said he’d refused because he’d already checked out the woods himself. The charge was later dismissed for lack of evidence.
Infrared aerial photos were taken of the home’s surrounding areas to determine if the ground had recently been dug up, but they produced no positive results.
Lynn’s parents offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to Lynn’s body or her whereabouts, but no one came forward. Everyone seemed to hold the same option — that Keith Schuller had killed his wife, chopped up her body, and then fed the pieces to Pogo and the snakes.
Keith Schuller continued with efforts to obtain a divorce — this time on the grounds that his wife had deserted him. When Lynn’s parents hired an attorney to represent their daughter, Schuller dropped the case. He would file again and again — a total of seven times in Linn County District Court — but each time when it became apparent he’d have to testify about circumstances surrounding his wife’s disappearance, he would drop the case.
Without his in-laws’ knowledge, Keith Schuller finally went to Dubuque County District Court to file the papers, the divorce was granted in July 1976. Less than two years later on March 20, 1978, a Dubuque District Court judge granted Schuller’s request to have Lynn Schuller declared legally dead; the decree listed their son as the sole heir of Lynn’s life insurance benefits, with Keith the conservator.
Keith would later marry a woman he’d met in Cedar Rapids before his wife’s unexplained disappearance, but that relationship also ended in a divorce.
Schuller left Iowa — taking the 6-foot-long alligator with him — and moved to Fruitland, Idaho, where he taught sixth grade children for more than 10 years. A 1992 article in the Gazette stated that “Pogo” had become a favorite of Schuller’s students, and that Schuller also had recently been featured on a local television news program.
Anyone with information about Lynn Schuller’s unsolved disappearance/murder is asked to contact the Cedar Rapids Police Department at (319) 286-5375.
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 1970 – 1979, 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.
Unidentified White Male
Tommy Morris
Mary K. Senne
BY ERA: Up through 1899 | 1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000 – present | Missing Persons
Recent Comments