Des Moines in Polk County
Lois Arlene Bradley, 74, was found dead in her Des Moines apartment on Saturday, June 29, 1991.
Bradley, who occupied Apt. # 204 in the Argonne Apartments at 1729 Grand Avenue, lived alone and had been strangled.
Courtesy photo Google mapsAccording to a Des Moines Register article published July 1, 1991, police would not comment on whether or not Bradley’s apartment had been ransacked or whether she had been sexually assaulted, but were working with Bradley’s friends and neighbors to determine if anything was missing.
It is unknown as to why various publications provide different dates for Bradley’s death; it has been reported as early as June 15 and in other documents as late as June 27. The dates June 20 and June 21 also have been referenced as possible dates of death.
In his autopsy ruling, State Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Bennett said Bradley died of ligature strangulation two days prior to her body’s discovery. This places Bradley’s death as having occurred sometime on Thursday, June 27, 1991, though the Social Security Administration Death Index gives the official date of death as June 15, 1991.
The June 27 date is also consistent with records by Des Moines police, who were assigned the case Saturday, June 29, 1991 — the date Bradley’s body was found inside her apartment. The police case file number is 1991-27537.
Iowa Cold Cases’ Jody Ewing spoke with Des Moines police Lt. Camden Moran on July 10, 2009, and Moran faxed Ewing a report showing Bradley’s case remained unsolved.
Courtesy Katie Lou, findagrave.comLois Arlene Bradley was born April 10, 1917 in Des Moines to Benjamin and Elsie (Johnson) Bradley. Her only sibling, Robert, died as a child.
According to the Register’s July 1991 article, Lois Bradley was a lifelong Des Moines resident who cared for her parents until they passed away in the ’70s. Known as a “quiet” woman who seldom ventured from her Des Moines apartment, Bradley preferred to stay at home and read.
She was buried at Highland Memory Gardens Cemetery in Des Moines.
Anyone with information regarding Lois Bradley’s unsolved murder is asked to contact the Des Moines Police Department Detective Bureau at 515-283-4864.
The earliest newspaper reports state the coroner’s estimated date of death for Lois Bradley as Thursday, June 27, 1991. Neighbors reported an odor in the hallways that following Saturday. When interviewed, neighbors said Lois would leave her door unlocked or open in the hopes of talking to neighbors as they walked in the hallway. Her aunt said she struggled with living alone and had moved into the apartment when she was no longer able to keep up with her childhood home. Hopefully someone knows something.
Hopefully not forgotten. How sad no neighbors heard or saw anything. Someone who never hurt none and kept to herself to become a victim.
I pray that they find that person. My thoughts with the family and friends. God bless.