Ruth Kingery-Pohlmeier

Ruth Ann Kingery-Pohlmeier had an abundant smile and zest for life, always looking to find the good in all who crossed paths with her. Her trusting heart may have been what led to her death.

On Sunday evening, April 25, 2004, her body was found wrapped in a blanket next to the AMF Des Moines Lanes bowling alley on the city’s northeast side — just two blocks away from the apartment where Pohlmeier lived. According to police, the 37-year-old Kingery-Pohlmeier was the victim of a brutal attack and died from severe blunt trauma injuries to her head and face.

One of 11 siblings, Pohlmeier also had a brother who’d been murdered five years earlier. Police Sgt. Tony Steverson said Samuel John Kingery, 42, of Ames, was killed August 25, 1999, by his friend Patrick L. Curnes during a dispute. Curnes, 44, of Nevada, Iowa, was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison for Samuel Kingery’s slaying.

Steverson said there appeared to be no connection between the two homicides, though hope remains that Ruth’s killer will one day also be brought to justice.

There is a $3,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction in Ruth’s murder. If you have any information that might help solve this case, please contact the Des Moines Police Department at (515) 283-4864, Crime Stoppers at (515) 223-1400, or Iowa Cold Cases via our Contact form.

One Response to Ruth Kingery-Pohlmeier: Can a Family Find Justice a Second Time?

  1. Alice Kingary says:

    It was confirmed that Sam and Ruthie’s murders were not related; maybe one day we will believe that. It was suggested that Ruthie knew her murderer and quite possibly her death was an accident. If this is the case, haven’t you suffered enough without a moment’s peace wondering when you will be caught? Please come forward and find peace of mind.

    If this is not the case and it was cold blooded murder without any thought for her or those she would leave behind, I pray for justice on this earth which is far less intense than that of eternity. If you are relaxed enough to believe you have gotten away with murder, please know, you haven’t. No one can escape the final Judge.

    Please, if you [or someone who knows you] know anything of the circumstances in her death come forward and bring some sort of closure for her family.

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