Angela Buck

Angela Buck (photo courtesy Korene Shelton)

Angela Renee Buck

Homicide

Angela Renee Buck
37 YOA
North Pilot Grove Road
Waterloo/Dunkerton, IA
Black Hawk County (jurisdiction)
August 9, 1995

 

Case Summary by Jody Ewing

 
On Friday, August 11, 1995, two men hunting for turtles discovered a body in a ditch near a creek on North Pilot Grove Road in Black Hawk County, Iowa.

The body — clad in a greenish halter top, jean shorts and muddy white socks but no shoes — lay just below a short bridge in a wooded area about one and one-half miles east of Independence Avenue in Waterloo and south of Dunkerton.

Black Hawk County in Iowa
Black Hawk County in Iowa
 
Waterloo in Black Hawk CountyWaterloo in Black Hawk County

Black Hawk County sheriff’s office officials on Saturday identified the body as Angela Renee Buck, 37, of Waterloo, Iowa, after comparing fingerprints and dental records. They believed she had been dead not more than two days, and released her identity on Sunday after contacting Buck’s relatives.

State Medical Examiner Dr. Francis Garrity conducted the autopsy at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines on Saturday, and ruled cause of death as a single gunshot wound to the chest. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.

No Attempt to Hide Body

According to an August 12 story published in the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, Jeff Edgar, 33, of Waterloo, and Brad Hague, 34, of Jesup, worked together at Eagle Tanning Co. in Waterloo and had just finished working the third shift about 10 a.m. Friday when they decided to go looking for places to set turtle traps.

As they crossed the North Pilot Grove Road bridge around 10:45 a.m., they saw the body lying about six feet from the water.

“We just kind of looked at each other, with goosebumps,” Hague told the Courier about the discovery, adding that neither of them went near the body. “We stayed away,” he said.

The men went to Laura Hansen’s nearby farmhouse to call police, and later provided officials with written statements.

Angela Buck articleCourtesy Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
From August 12, 1995

Hague said the woman lay in a fetal position, and there was no apparent attempt to hide the body because it could easily be seen from the bridge. He said he didn’t notice a large number of footprints in the area, but that it appeared a nearby pool of shallow water might have held a trace of blood.

Twenty investigators worked the scene until nightfall Friday, searching the creek, fields and ditches, and carrying away bags of what appeared to be evidence, the Courier reported.

Jim Anderson, who lived at a farmhouse in sight of where Buck’s body was found, told the Courier he was called to the scene Friday and asked if the creek had been flooded recently.

“I think they were wondering if she had washed down the creek,” Anderson said.

Two deputies were stationed at the scene on Saturday, stopping cars and recording names and license plate numbers of passing motorists.

On Sunday, August 13, the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office announced it was handling the case as a homicide, but did not identify any suspects or a motive.

[Then] Black Hawk County Sheriff Mike Kubik said officials weren’t sure if the body had been dumped at the creek or if the death occurred there, and no arrests have been made in the case.

Officials said Buck did not have a permanent address, but was from the Waterloo area. She had worked as a nurse’s aid and later worked at Ravenwood Health Care Center, but recently had been attending school to become a radio announcer.

Eight investigators were assigned to work Angela Buck’s murder.

Family Deaths “Difficult” for Buck

“She had a big heart, she cared about people, she worried about things, the stress of life and things like that,” Buck’s cousin, Rick Luchtenburg of Shell Rock, said in a Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier article published Monday, August 14, 1995.

Angela Buck with her mother, LoreneCourtesy photo Korene Shelton
Angela Buck with her mother, Lorene Buck, in 1958. Family said Angela began to drift after her mother’s 1992 death.

Luchtenburg said the death of Buck’s mother, Lorene, had been difficult for Angela. Lorene (Crowley) Buck, a former Evansdale City Council member, had passed away three years earlier in 1992 after a lengthy illness. Angela’s cousin, Mike, had passed away a year before.

The family, Luchtenburg said, was shocked after learning of Buck’s death.

According to Buck’s aunt, Pauline Huisman of Grundy Center, Angela had been living with her mother in Evansdale, but began to drift after her mother’s death.

“Her whole life has been sad”

The Courier reported on August 15 that Betty Stewart of Waterloo had rented part of a duplex at 110 Prince St. to Buck the previous summer.

Stewart described Buck as a lonely person with a fast-paced lifestyle. According to the August 15 article, Buck rented out the bottom three rooms of Stewart’s duplex for about four months in 1994, leaving in the fall. Stewart lived in the top four rooms.

“She was just a good person mixed up,” Stewart told the Courier. “I think she needed help. I think she needed more counseling than she received. I think if she could have gotten that, then maybe she wouldn’t have been around some of the people she was and she would be here today.”

By that time, Buck had let her children go to live with their father, and Stewart said Buck missed them terribly. Buck spoke of her children often and wanted to introduce them to Stewart, but moved away before Stewart got to meet them.

“It is sad, it’s real sad what happened — her whole life has been sad,” Stewart said.

Michael KubikCourtesy photo Matthew Putney/WCF Courier
When Black Hawk County Sheriff Michael Kubik retired in Dec. 2008, he said he still thought about two cases that went unsolved; that of Dale Redman of LaPorte City and Angela Buck. He said investigators hadn’t given up on bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Connection Studied, Ruled Out

Three days before finding Buck’s body, officials found the body of 24-year-old Connie Jo Choate Bodensteiner, Des Moines, in the basement storage unit of a Des Moines south side apartment. Bodensteiner had been strangled. Both women had records of prostitution and at one time had worked for Greg Peterson, a “John” who operated a prostitution service out of his Urbandale, Iowa, mobile home.

Authorities investigated possible connections between the two murders, but later said they were not connected.

“Their paths had crossed, but there’s nothing we found at all that these were related,” Des Moines Police Sgt. Tom Trimble told the Cedar Rapids Gazette in an article published August 18, 1995. “There were no real similarities at all in the method.”

A business rival beat Peterson to death in August 1994, a year before Buck’s murder.

An August 12 article in the Courier — before officials had formally identified Buck’s body — had confirmed the body found in Black Hawk County was not that of missing Mason City anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit, 27, who’d apparently been abducted from her Mason City apartment six weeks earlier.

Kubik retired in December 2008 after spending almost four decades in law enforcement and five terms leading the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office.

In a WCF Courier article dated December 26, 2008, Kubik said that for all the cases solved over the years, he still thought about the two that remained open — that of Dale Redman of La Porte City, and Angela Buck’s August 1995 death.

Investigators, Kubik said, still haven’t given up on bringing the perpetrators to justice.

About Angela

Angela Renee Buck was born April 17, 1958, in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Richard and Lorene (Crowley) Buck. Lorene, who served on the Evansdale City Council, died in 1992 after a lengthy illness.

Angela married Dwight R. Shelton in Waterloo on October 22, 1976, and the couple had two daughters and a son before divorcing November 30, 1984; Angela took back her maiden name at that time.

She and her ex-husband shared joint custody of the children, who lived with their mother. Angela would later have another son.

Family and friends described Angela as a woman with a big heart who loved her four children, but who fell upon hard times and in with the wrong crowd.

Angela was voted as the Evansdale Junior Miss in 1970 at age 12, played the violin with her school orchestra, and loved horseback riding. Prior to her death, she’d been working toward getting her life back together and been attending school in Madison, Wisconsin, to become a radio announcer.

Angela Buck headstoneCourtesy photo Korene Shelton
Angela Buck is buried at the Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery in Black Hawk County.

Survivors included her two sons: Damien Spooner of Evansdale and Nathaniel R. Shelton of Marshalltown; two daughters, Renee R. Shelton and Korene C. Shelton, both of Marshalltown; her father and stepmother, Richard and Nora Buck of Waterloo; two sisters, Alana R. Buck of Waterloo and Amanda M. Tix of Rochester, Minn.; two brothers, Aaron E. Buck of Layton, Utah, and Anthony R. Buck of San Luis Obispo, Calif.; and two stepbrothers, Jeffery and Daniel Schatz, both of Waterloo.

Her mother and a cousin preceded her in death.

Memorial services were held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, August 17, 1995 at the Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery chapel, with burial in Memorial Park.

Visitation was held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, August 16, at Kearns, Huisman-Schumacher Chapel on Kimball and for an hour before Thursday’s services.

The family asked that memorials be directed to the Waterloo DARE program.

Reward Offered for Information

Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,500 reward for information in Angela Buck’s unsolved murder.

Launched in June 2012, Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers’ goal is to help keep Cedar Valley neighborhoods safer. The program allows citizens to report suspicious and criminal behavior while allowing them to remain anonymous. No calls are traced, and if a tip leads to an arrest the caller is eligible for a cash reward.

CV Crime Stoppers believes “someone other than the criminal has information that can help solve a crime,” and works to help the community overcome two major issues in crime reporting: fear of reprisal, and the reluctance to get involved.

Anyone with information about Angela Buck’s unsolved murder is asked to call the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office at 319-291-2587 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers at 855-300-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be sent with TipSoft or by texting the word CEDAR plus the information to CRIMES (274637). Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt out at any time. Text HELP for more information.

Anyone with information leading to an arrest is eligible for a cash reward.

You may also submit tips anonymously through the Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers Confidential Web Tip Information System.

Sources:

 

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60 Responses to Angela Buck

  1. Debbie Poyer says:

    Why have they not done reverse DNA? I heard they had a person of interest and this may have been a murder for hire. She was a good person and did not deserve this.

  2. Kristi says:

    Sheriff Mike Kubik….a good man. May God Bless all who have been directly effected. RIP Angela Buck.

  3. Brenton says:

    Why did someone mention Julie Anne DaBillo in the thread below? Who is she and what does she have to do with this case? Who is the crazy old black prostitute lady around these parts in Iowa? Somebody knows.

    • Julie DaBillo says:

      Hmmm, I don’t know why Jennifer mentioned my name here. Maybe she thought it would tag me and I’d read all this? I knew Angie way back back and also were in the Facility together. She said I looked like her Mom but Angie and I were about the same age but seeing the photo here of her Mom, I understand why she said that. Anyway, she was an incredibly funny and sweet girl that had a wild spirit and beautiful singing voice. I think of her every year that she’s gone. Her loss to the people who knew her is huge and I doubt I’ll ever meet another like her..

  4. Notelling says:

    In the period of time there were several suspected prostitutes murdered like her.

    I read somewhere that there was a lead. A madam / insane prostitute. She is allegedly the killer of all of them. A black woman. she has managed to remain a suspect for a long time but there is no solid evidence to link the black prostitute to them for sure.
    But she is in fact the common denominatorin almost all of the Iowa unsolved prostitute murders.

  5. Melody Collins says:

    Angie was a Beautiful girl ,she may not lived a perfect life but she Loved her children, an would do anything for anybody, She had a heart of gold! RIP Sweet Angel

  6. I remember a sleepover at her house when we were kids. Her mom taught us to make tissue flowers.

  7. Angie was a beautiful woman with a contagious laugh. Her family needs closure. Lets help spread the word to bring Angie justice. Peace my friend~

  8. Angela and my mom grew up together . i last remenber we was in the womens facility and i was 17. We was friends there

  9. Donna Schick says:

    I hope they find, however did this what evil

    • Karen Rees says:

      I pray for you Korene , and your sister & brothers that you can find closure on the terrible death of your mother. It had been a while since I seen her last, but I sure thought I would see her again. ‘GOD’ seen who did this to her, so one day the person is going to answer for it. Amen!

  10. Kathy Greene says:

    She was a sweet heart,an boy could she sing like a angel ?,really need justice for her ,Happy Heavenly Birthday,love ❤.ox.

  11. Judy Huntley says:

    Angie was such a pretty girl. A very sad ending of her life

  12. If anyone has information or memories to share, please feel free to message me on facebook. I am her second born daughter. Thank you.

    • Jody Decker says:

      I have never forgot about your mom,and from time to time would wonder whatever happened and why they never caught the person. She rented a basement apartment from my neighbor. She would come outside and walk around and smoke her cigarettes and make small talk. She was always pleasant and nice to our family! I hope they find closure for your family,it’s been way to long in coming! My thoughts and prayers are with you and yours.

    • Alana Harter says:

      I would….. if you would let me.

  13. I just hope someone comes forward, who did this to this young lady should be punished. This breaks my heart for the family and friends.

  14. Jodi Zimmer did you ever tell the cops your encounter with her? Maybe someone in the bar that night had something to do with her death.

    • Jodi Zimmer says:

      I always thought that. I told cold cases about it. They said they would have someone contact me..never did.

    • That is just weird that they never contacted you. I don’t know , maybe contact the FBI if you have any memories at all of the night that you saw her. Sometimes a little information goes a long way. This victim and her Family needs closure.

    • I would think that if no one contacted back they would have a different kind of lead on it. Cuz that’s just too wierd.

    • Jodi Zimmer We can pass along information to different law enforcement officials and ask them to contact the writer, but we have no control over what they do with the information after that point. I now go through a specific contact person at the Waterloo PD and will send your Aug. 11, 2013 message directly to him. (Yes, I keep all emails and correspondence. :-) Jodi, could you PM me with either your email address or phone # so they know how to reach you? Jody at ICC

  15. Diana Wilson says:

    No matter her problems, no one deserves to die like this. Jodi, that’s kind eerie.

  16. Jodi Zimmer says:

    I met her at a bar and week before her murder. She was in bad shape. I felt so sorry for her. I offered to give her a ride home. They called her a taxi instead. I’ll never forget my encounter with her and I hope they find who murdered her

  17. tina says:

    I don’t know her… wow she was a beautiful woman… Just wondering… those who found her said she was laying in a fetal position… to me that would indicate she was harmed in that area… unless she had water in her lungs… possible she was in the creek… stil alive, got out, got in fetal position…

  18. Nathaniel Shelton says:

    Thank you I appreciate it.

  19. Amanda says:

    I wondered the same thing Nathaniel,. Thanks for clearing that up Jody;)

  20. Nathaniel says:

    Comments have been deleted from here, but yet it’s supposed to uncover a cold case. Doesn’t make much sense to me.

    • Jody Ewing says:

      Nathaniel, I just recently upgraded ICC’s website security from http to https, and once the pages were converted, I realized the Facebook comments had disappeared. The “Facebook Comments for WordPress” plug-in (which we’d been using) is now deprecated, so I’ll be installing a new FB Comments app. Once it’s up and running, the previous FB comments that appeared on pages & posts should be re-imported and available for viewing/commenting on the respective pages.

      During the transition from http to the secure https, I’ve also had to reorganize some files, and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you or other readers. The end result — having an https secure site — will hopefully prove worth the efforts. Thanks in advance for your understanding and patience.

  21. Wendy Holman says:

    you are not forgotten Angela Buck

  22. Korene, I never knew this and I am so very sorry to learn of it. Keep doing what you’re doing; I think you’re a great mother and you’re making a great life for the two of you.

  23. Thoughts and prayers with u and your family!

  24. Thank you. I’m struggling a bit with it all lately and I appreciate your thinking of me. Please pray for forgiveness for my heart.

  25. Korene C Shelton I seen this on my feed and thought of you❤

  26. She deserves justice and her children deserve to know who’s deprived them of their mother.

  27. Please help this family to find out who did this. My thoughts and prayers with the family.

  28. Amanda Tix says:

    Someone knows something, of that I'm sure. Any bit of info is helpful. Even if it doesn't seem significant, all pieces will come together to form the BIG picture. Please help get justice for Angie. Please give my family the peace we need to be whole again.

  29. Alana Harter says:

    Jesus. I just read this again. They have added so much information. I picked out that marker. When did they add the picture of the marker?

    So unjust. So horrifying. We miss you, Angie Baby. Still. You were unique and beautiful and loving and I wish I knew who did this to you. I sure wish I knew who did this to you.

  30. Kathy McGrew says:

    Bless her heart! such a sad deal, yes awful big heart and great friend! Hope one day her case will be solved.

  31. She sure was a great friend with an awful big heart. Sure wish they could solve this so all of us could find more closure to this terrible tragedy.

  32. She was so pretty… She was funny….. I remember she had that widows peak….. you are so right lee ann….

  33. Dee Campbell says:

    I remember this well. It's funny you would post this as I was just thinking of her not so long ago.

  34. Lorna Davis says:

    I remember Angie very well. She was very popular in school and liked by many. To bad they couldn't of found her murderer. Maybe in time something will turn up.

  35. This is sad that a person or persons can get away with murder and is probably walking amongst us. I hope the guilt is with them every awaking minute of their lives.. Angie was a funny

  36. Al Miller says:

    try watching mark myers at the waterloo police force he knew her he was always trying to get her to give him some sex he is a bad cop.

    • Victoria Burens says:

      For some reason I thought of it as an inside job right away…. As if not being solved on purpose.

  37. rick says:

    near her in her teen years. i ask almighty God to bring forth the person who committed this crime in the name of mercy.

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