Lisa McCuddin

Lisa McCuddin

Lisa Ann McCuddin

Homicide

Lisa Ann McCuddin
23 YOA
Near Holiday Inn
Fort Dodge, IA
Webster County
October 2, 2004

 

 

Update

Jennifer McCuddin, Lisa’s sister, has recently established a new Facebook page for Lisa. Please take a moment to visit Justice for Lisa McCuddin.

Case Summary by Jody Ewing

On October 2, 2004 — just four days before her 24th birthday — Lisa Ann McCuddin was shot while riding with a friend on the way to breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Webster County in Iowa
Webster County in Iowa
 
Fort Dodge in Webster CountyFort Dodge in Webster County

Officers initially responded to a call from Trinity Regional Medical Center, also in Fort Dodge, where a man had gone after suffering a gunshot wound at the Holiday Inn. When police went to the hotel to investigate the shooting, another car pulled into the parking lot, driven by a man who said he and a female passenger had just been shot while driving to the hotel.

The driver, 29-year-old Fred Murray, and 23-year-old McCuddin were taken to the hospital, where McCuddin died. Murray was treated and released for minor injuries.

The first gunshot victim, Isaac Givens, 23, told police a man wielding a gun at the hotel earlier that night shot him in the shoulder when he tried to run. Givens, like Murray, sustained a non-life-threatening injury and was treated and released.

Police later said the two shooting incidents were related and believed it started when a fight broke out after a dance at the Fort Dodge Eagles Lodge; some of the people involved in the fight allegedly were later involved in the shootings.

WHO-TV Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the unsolved murder of Lisa McCuddin. Air date: July 15, 2010

On October 22, a judge agreed to the Fort Dodge Police Department’s request to jail a potential witness, Morquette Jackson, 19, on a material witness warrant.

The following Monday, October 25, police arrested two more men — Jimmy Dilliard, Jr., 20, and Darrin Foy, 20, both of Fort Dodge — and charged them with aiding and abetting. Morquette Jackson was then charged with attempted murder, willful injury, going armed with intent and rioting. All three were held in the Webster County Jail with bail set at $58,500.

A fourth man, Draper McDonald, 27, also of Fort Dodge, was arrested in November, and on November 19 charged with aiding and abetting attempted murder, aiding and abetting willful injury, and aiding and abetting going armed with intent in connection with the first shooting that injured Isaac Givens. Police said Givens’ shooting was linked to the shooting that killed McCuddin, but that the charges against McDonald were unrelated to McCuddin’s shooting.

And Then Came Hedlund

In a Fort Dodge Messenger article dated October 2, 1008, Becky McCuddin told reporter Katie Williams how frustrated she’d become in the year following her daughter’s death; it appeared to Mrs. McCuddin little was being done in the investigation.

“It got to the point where I wasn’t sleeping at night,” Becky McCuddin said. “I would call up the investigator who was assigned to the case and he would tell me he was just too busy to work on it.”

Becky began writing letters to everyone she thought might be able to help, all the way from the local mayor to [then] President George W. Bush.

“I actually got a letter back from the vice president (Dick Cheney),” Becky McCuddin told the Messenger, “but of course he couldn’t do anything.”

larry-hedlund-courtesy-dmrCourtesy Des Moines Register
Former DCI Special Agent Larry Hedlund now works for the Fort Dodge Police Department.

Special Agent Larry Hedlund, a 25-year veteran with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), had initially assisted Fort Dodge police in the days following McCuddin’s murder, but was not the primary investigator. As weeks turned into months, the Fort Dodge Police Department, Webster County Crime Stoppers and McCuddin’s family joined forces and offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Lisa’s death.

The reward went unclaimed.

And then, in 2006, two years after McCuddin’s murder, something happened that suddenly gave the family new hope; Agent Hedlund was assigned to the DCI’s Fort Dodge area — and to Lisa’s case.

Hedlunds’s personal commitment to solving Lisa McCuddin’s murder was about to change how one family, and a community, perceived and understood the investigative and judicial process.

“Something’s being done every week”

Hedlund maintained regular contact with the McCuddin family, keeping them apprised of any new developments in the case. Lisa’s sister, Jennifer McCuddin, told Iowa Cold Cases that phone calls to Hedlund were always promptly returned, and that he truly cared about seeing justice served in her sister’s murder.

Her assessment of Hedlund’s commitment was right on target.

In a Fort Dodge Messenger story published October 2, 2009, Hedlund told Messenger reporter Angela Burch the case was nowhere near a cold case.

“It’s not a dead case, it’s not a cold case,” Hedlund said. “Something’s being done every week to make the case stronger.”

Hedlund said investigators know “who the people are” who were involved in the shooting, but that suspects’ names were not being released. One of the persons involved is currently in prison for other crimes, said Hedlund, who also told the Messenger:

“That person is under the false impression that he will serve his time and get released from prison. It’s my goal to see that before he’s released that he and the other person involved will be arrested and charged with first-degree murder.” — Iowa DCI Special Agent Larry Hedlund

Hedlund said he was confident the other person involved would end up reading the [Messenger’s October 2009] article, and that he didn’t have a high level of respect for either of the suspects.

“I don’t think they care about (Becky McCuddin’s) loss of her daughter because I don’t think they care about their own children,” Hedlund told the Messenger. “I don’t think that they have a sense of guilt over what they did and I think they think they got away with murder.”

Suspects Try to Destroy Evidence

The vehicle investigators believe was used in McCuddin’s killing was later found in a remote setting in Webster County.

car-in-lisa-mccuddin-killingCourtesy photo Fort Dodge Messenger
Investigators believe this is the car that bullets flew from, killing Lisa McCuddin, a Fort Dodge mother of two. The car was found in a remote setting in Webster County. “Our investigation shows that this is the vehicle that was used by the individuals involved in the murder of Lisa McCuddin,” said Special Agent Larry Hedlund of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

“Our investigation shows that this is the vehicle that was used by the individuals involved in the murder of Lisa McCuddin,” said Hedlund. “When law enforcement attempted to locate this vehicle in 2006, the investigation shows that almost immediately steps were taken to completely destroy the car – by setting it on fire and other steps taken in an attempt to prevent law enforcement from being able to identify the car.”

Hedlund said the person responsible for killing Lisa should be concerned about how officials recovered the vehicle.

“It wasn’t random luck,” he said.

Officials continued to gather other supporting evidence in hopes of presenting a solid case to jurors.

Investigators “didn’t give up on cases” Hedlund said, and weren’t about to give up on [McCuddin’s] case.

In the October ’09 Messenger interview, Becky McCuddin said the family wasn’t giving up, either.

“I have faith that they’ll get him and they’ll arrest him,” Becky McCuddin said. “A lot of people always say ‘forget it, they’re not doing it, it’s over with,’ but they only see the outside. I truly believe that when that time comes, (Hedlund) will have them arrested and put in jail. The answers will all be there.”

Hedlund told the Messenger he had a strong message for the person who killed Lisa McCuddin.

“I think the person who pulled the trigger that killed Lisa McCuddin is a little coward, who thinks he got away with murder,” Hedlund said.

They haven’t, he insisted.

Hedlund now works full-time for the Fort Dodge Police Department.

Lisa McCuddin with son DavontrezCourtesy photo Becky McCuddin
Lisa McCuddin with son Davontrez “Trez.”
About Lisa McCuddin

Lisa Ann McCuddin, the daughter of Mark Alan and Rebecca (Dahl) McCuddin, was born October 6, 1980, in Sioux City, Iowa.

She graduated from Fort Dodge Senior High School, loved children, and was employed at the PS Academy for Children in Fort Dodge.

Her interests included swimming and listening to music, and she loved spending time with her two children, her many friends and her family.

She died Saturday, October 2, 2004, at Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge.

Survivors included her two children, Markasia Cabbell and Davontrez Tyson; her parents, Becky (Buck Boring) McCuddin of Fort Dodge and Mark (Vicki) McCuddin of Sioux City; two sisters, Jennifer McCuddin and Contessa Stotz of Fort Dodge; a brother, Jason Hoogland-Boring of Fort Dodge; a stepsister, Mandi Porsch of Sioux City; her grandmother, Delores McCuddin of Sioux City; great-grandfather, Arthur Crabtree of Portsmouth, Ohio; seven aunts, five uncles, a niece and five nephews.

Lisa McCuddin with son Davontrez and daughter MarkasiaCourtesy photo Becky McCuddin
Lisa McCuddin with her son Davontrez and daughter Markasia.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Robert and Rose Dahl and Eldon McCuddin.

Memorial services were held at 11 a.m. Saturday, October 9, 2004, at Bruce-Graham Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Fort Dodge. A lunch was served at the Veterans of Foreign Wars following the service. Visitation was held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

In a July 2007 MySpace blog post, Jennifer McCuddin made an appeal to those her sister once called “friends,” urging them to come forward and report to police what knowledge they had about Lisa’s death. In August 2007, Jennifer posted information about the reward and provided Agent Hedlund’s contact information, and in April 2009 posted a link to the Webster County Crime Stoppers site where readers could get more information about her sister’s case.

On March 23, 2013, Jennifer McCuddin established the Facebook page “Justice for Lisa McCuddin.” The page not only provides information about her sister’s unsolved murder, but serves as a forum for posts about Iowa’s other unsolved murders and missing persons cases.

Information Needed

If you have any information about Lisa McCuddin’s unsolved murder, please contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at (515) 725-6010 or email dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us, or contact the Fort Dodge Police Department at (515) 573-1426, or Webster County Crime Stoppers at 515-573-1444 (toll free at 1-800-542-9702).

Sources, References and Related Articles:
  • Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation
  • Personal correspondence with Lisa McCuddin’s family members
  • Fort Dodge Police Department
  • Webster County Crime Stoppers
  • Lisa Ann McCuddin (1980 – 2004) — Find a Grave Memorial
  • Facebook Page: Justice for Lisa McCuddin
  • ‘Gone Cold’: Lisa McCuddin case,” The N’West Iowa Review, Part of the GONE COLD: EXPLORING IOWA’S UNSOLVED MURDERS series, Wednesday, November 18, 2015
  • Larry Hedlund honored by Crime Stoppers — Bruner: ‘This community lost a wonderful public servant,’ “by Peter Kaspari, The Fort Dodge Messenger, September 13, 2013
  • Daughter wants to know who killed her mother 34 years ago in Fort Dodge,” by Barbara Wallace Hughes, The Fort Dodge Messenger / Globe Gazette, September 12, 2015
  • Larry R. Hedlund vs. State of Iowa (and three IDPS employees individually)
  • “Fired DCI agent sues for wrongful termination,” The Des Moines Register, August 8, 2013
  • “Crime Stoppers snags local most wanted,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, March 8, 2012
  • “Crime Stoppers helps keep us safe,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, September 21, 2011
  • “Fisherman turns in shotgun,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, September 16, 2011
  • “DCI wants gun found by FD fisherman,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, September 9, 2011
  • “Crime Stoppers helps solve cases,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, September 4, 2011
  • “McCuddin case still active,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, July 15, 2010
  • Who is Responsible?” WHO-TV Channel 13 Des Moines, July 15, 2010
  • “Time will tell,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, October 2, 2009
  • “‘Coward’ thinks he got away with murder,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, October 2, 2009
  • “We Remember: Fort Dodge Cold Cases,” MyFortDodge.com, September 28, 2009
  • “Never giving up hope,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, October 2, 2008
  • “CSI class helps with murder investigation,” The Ft. Dodge Messenger, October 20, 2007
  • “Unsolved Fort Dodge Murder,” WHO-TV Channel 13 Des Moines, October 2, 2007
  • “4th Man Arrested In Fort Dodge Shooting,” KCCI Channel 8 Des Moines, November 22, 2004
  • “Another Two Men Arrested In Fort Dodge Shooting,” KCCI Channel 8 Des Moines, October 26, 2004
  • “Witness Jailed In Fort Dodge Shooting,” KCCI Channel 8 Des Moines, October 22, 2004
  • “Fort Dodge Police Need Leads In Shooting Death,” KCCI Channel 8 Des Moines, October 7, 2004
  • Obituaries: Lisa A. McCuddin,” The Sioux City Journal, October 6, 2004
  • “Earlier Fight May Have Led To Shooting,” KCCI Channel 8 Des Moines, October 4, 2004
  • “Police Release Names Of Shooting Victims,” KCCI Channel 8 Des Moines, October 3, 2004
  • “Lisa McCuddin Obituary,” Bruce’s Funeral Home
  • “Fort Dodge Police Investigate Early Morning Murder,” KCCI Channel 8 Des Moines, October 2, 2004
  • “Investigation Continues In Shootings,” KCCI Channel 8 Des Moines, October 2, 2004

 

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9 Responses to Lisa McCuddin

  1. Vicki mccuddin says:

    It’s still so sad to me that there are people that were her so called friends know who pulled the trigger and took this beautiful life. She was love just plain love and she lived these people that are suppose to be her friends. For God’s sake someone who knows needs to come forward. They need closure the kids need closure. Someone who knows find the strength to come forward. Have the courage to say it’s been to long. Lisa deserves this. We all do. If you truly loved her say something be strong it’s time.

  2. Just a person says:

    Has anyone talked to Jeremiah Kubat? He was busy telling people he was there when the shooting happened. Pretty sure he either saw the shooting or saw the shooting and knows who did it. He was pretty detailed about what he was saying. He has a long criminal history and is in and out of prison. Mother and stepfather live in I believe Pocahontas, last name Mccullough. His mother use to work at the Jack links company. They will lie for him, they have in the past. Jeremiah’s last known address is 2110 Fourth Ave. N in Fort Dodge, his date of Birth is 10/22/1980. Hope this helps.

    • A concerned friend says:

      I truly hope this is a lead they need. Lisa’s family needs closure and justice and all of us who care for her want to know what happened ☹ it is heart breaking to not have answers. Lisa was one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. My heart continues to go out to her family and especially her children. My prayers continue for her family for healing, closure, justice and for her children to be strong and live out their life knowing how much their Mom was loved and take that knowledge and move forward honoring their mom and spread her love and happiness to others. I pray they can help others with what they have gone through in honor of their mom because Lisa was so happy, full of life and love. She was so positive with a huge heart and I know she would do everything in her power to help others get through such tragic grief because she was always helping others the best way she could and always with a smile on her face. She is definitely missed by many 💔😢

  3. Pam says:

    They may think they got away with this. They think the law can’t get them but know this: Karma will find you. It always does. Keep looking over your shoulders guys cuz Karma is following you and you never know when it will reach out and grab you.

  4. Happy Birthday in Heaven. Praying for justice!

  5. Very ssd. I’m so sorry. This is breaking my hesrt.

  6. Jody Ewing says:

    Jenn, thinking of you and all your family on what would have been your sister’s 35th birthday. I like to think of a family commemoration celebrating all the wonderful things Lisa accomplished and the many lives she changed in her all-too-short life. May justice soon be served. All my best, Jody at ICC

  7. Tanya Dufault says:

    We are thinking of you & your family, Jenn, and praying everyday!

  8. Jennifer McCuddin says:

    I miss you every day. Thinking of all that you have missed over the years is very hard to deal with and I just hope that someone will come forward and do the right thing.

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