Harrison County in Iowa
Vietnam veteran John Lee Erickson, 48, of Council Bluffs was shot in the head April 30, 1997, near Mondamin, Iowa, in Harrison County.
Erickson’s body was found by a truck driver near the Mondamin exit along Interstate 29 in west-central Iowa on Wednesday morning.
An Iowa State Patrol trooper found Erickson’s truck at the Bellevue, Neb., exit on Interstate 29 the following morning, the (Council Bluffs) Daily Nonpareil reported on May 3, 1997.
Iowa Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Bennett said Erickson died from a gunshot to the head and ruled the death a homicide.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, and the Council Bluffs Police Department worked on the case together.
Bob Henderson, a special agent with the DCI, said officials were uncertain about how Erickson’s truck got to the Bellevue exit. He said investigators believed Erickson had been shot at the location where his body was found, but declined to comment on whether there were any indications of a struggle.
A husband and father of four, Erickson worked as a meat cutter and owned and operated the Fifth Avenue Meat Shoppe in Council Bluffs. The military veteran served as an SP4 with the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
His death came exactly one week before his 49th birthday, and his murder remains unsolved.
John Lee Erickson was born in Council Bluffs on May 7, 1948, and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1966.
Courtesy photo Dan E. W at findagrave.comMr. Erickson and his wife, Perlene, had been married for 15 years.
In addition to his wife, survivors included a daughter, Sarah, of Council Bluffs; three sons, Josh, Zack and John Jr., all of Council Bluffs; a stepson, Jeff, of Council Bluffs; his parents, John and Jerene Erickson, of Council Bluffs; a sister, Carolyn Erickson, of Savannah, Ga; a brother, Steve, of Council Bluffs; nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. Monday, May 5, 1997, at Beem-Belford Funeral Home.
Visitation with the family was held Sunday, May 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the funeral home.
John was laid to rest in the Garner Township Cemetery with military rites conducted by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 737.
The family asked that memorials be offered to the Josh and Zack Erickson Educational Fund.
His wife, Perlene Jo (Floerchinger) Erickson, died without answers on Monday, December 13, 2010, at Jennie Edmundson Hospital, where she’d worked for the past 33 years as a Physical Therapy Technician.
If you have any information about John Lee Erickson’s unsolved murder please contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Council Bluffs, at (712) 322-1585.
I remember John Erickson… we called him the Butcher. He was friends with Tom Tomish …killed his wife. Found in barrel. I understood they both delt coke .suppliers Carter Lake boys. I was close to both at the time. I heard they owed money.