Welcome to Iowa Cold Cases

Welcome to the Iowa Cold Cases (ICC) website, the U.S.’s first public database to document unsolved murders and suspicious missing persons cases on a statewide basis.

Courtesy Weekender

A Weekender series on Sioux City’s unsolved murders and missing persons cases served as the genesis for the Iowa Cold Cases (ICC) website. The first in the series ran in May 2004, and the ICC website launched in December 2005.

The site includes victim case summaries cross-referenced by name, the victim’s city or county, the year the crime occurred or by decade. It also includes a list of cases solved since ICC launched in December 2005.

Our goal is to create public awareness about unsolved homicides and missing persons cases and present information that might help solve a crime.

ICC incorporated as an Iowa nonprofit organization in April 2010. Though we are not affiliated with any law enforcement agency, we may at times serve as a liaison between them and individuals who provide ICC with tips, leads, or other information.

All official investigations are conducted solely by law enforcement agencies that may include a combination of local, state, and/or federal authorities.

Somebody knows something in every cold case. If you believe you have information that might help solve a case, we strongly encourage you to contact the investigating agency/agencies listed on each victim’s case summary page.

Thank you for taking time to visit our site.

We Remember: Upcoming Cold Case Anniversaries

Listed below are upcoming cold case anniversaries and, where noted, birthdays the victims would have celebrated.
 

George J. Massouris
30 YOA
Orchard Road
Councils Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
November 18, 1950

Larry Wells, 25
(Double Homicide)
Johnson County
Died Aug. 26, 1975
Would have celebrated
69th birthday Nov. 19

Brian R. Blachut
30 YOA
Missing From:
Scarville, IA
Winnebago County
November 21, 1993

Martha Erickson
47 YOA
Avon/Des Moines, IA
Polk County
Case # 95-13479
November 21, 1995

Leland J. Harris
34 YOA
500 blk of 10th St. SW
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Case # 2017-18948
November 21, 2017

John Robert Hill
51 YOA
Ottumwa, IA
Wapello County
Case # 76-00925
November 22, 1976

Arthur Ransford
36 YOA
Lee County
Case # 84-02367
Body found 5/13/1984
DOD: Nov. 22, 1983

Double Homicide: John R. Green, 3 yrs
Mark E. Green, 18 mos.
1512 Belle Avenue
Davenport, IA
November 24, 1984

Leonard Blair
Age at Report: 20
Missing From:
Davenport, IA
Case # 2012-95138
November 24, 2012

Dorothy Jenine Rose
43 YOA
206 12th St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
Linn County
November 25, 2006

Dr. William Hamilton
33 YOA
Liberty Township
Marysville, IA
Marion County
November 26, 1900

Paul Joseph Knockel
Age at Report: 53
Missing From:
Dubuque, IA
Case # 90-31654
November 26, 1990