Keokuk in Keokuk County

Keokuk in Keokuk County

Lee County in Iowa

Lee County in Iowa

Cold Cases in Keokuk, Iowa

 

 

 

 

*Please Note: The cases listed below may fall under the jurisdiction of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and are included here for cross-reference purposes. More specific information may be found on each victim’s individual page.

 

Homicide
Cecil Earl Paris
31 YOA
Iowa Fiber Box Company
Keokuk, IA
Lee County
February 18, 1928

Iowa Fiber Box Company nightwatchman Cecil Earl Paris, 31, was shot while on duty on February 18, 1928.


Richard Buchanan

Richard Buchanan

Willard Woodring

Double Homicide
Willard Charles Woodring and
Richard B. Buchanan
Case # 60-00902
Keokuk, Iowa (Lee County)
October 9, 1960

On October 9, 1960, Willard Charles Woodring, 42, owner and operator of a house of prostitution, commonly referred to as the “Hawkeye Hotel,” and Richard B. Buchanan, 49, a customer, were shot and killed during a robbery by a young male gunman in a black leather jacket who was accompanied by a young red-head in a lavender dress.


Homicide
Arthur Leon Ransford
36 YOA
Case # 84-02367
Disappeared from Keokuk Nov. 22, 1983
Body found south of Montrose
Lee County
May 13, 1984

Thirty-six-year-old Vietnam vet Arthur L. Ransford went missing from Keokuk, Iowa, November 22, 1983. On May 13, 1984, his remains were found enclosed in a large yellow bag someone had buried under cement blocks in a wooded area south of Montrose overlooking the Mississippi River.


Eric Redinbo

Eric Redinbo

Suspected Homicide
Eric Scott Redinbo
18 YOA
Keokuk, IA
Lee County
February 12, 1999

Eric Scott Redinbo, 18, died Friday night, February 12, 1999, from a single blast to the head from a 12 gauge shotgun at a Keokuk, Iowa home. Officers said they were called to Susan Anderson’s house on Keokuk’s west side around 8:40 p.m. Friday, where they found Redinbo’s body. Police said the 12 gauge had accidentally gone off inside the home, hitting Redinbo once in the head. They ruled his death an accident. Barely two days later, Dolores “Toni” Hornung, 48, died early on Valentine’s Day after being shot with a 30-30 rifle. The two homes, less than 100 feet apart, had adjacent back yards. Horning’s death was ruled a homicide, and some believe the two cases are connected.


Dolores Hornung

Dolores Hornung

Homicide
Dolores Antonia Hornung
(aka Toni Martinez)
48 YOA
Case # 99-01605
Keokuk, IA (Lee County)
February 14, 1999

Dolores A. “Toni” (Martinez) Hornung, 48, was shot to death in her Keokuk, Iowa home with a 30-30 rifle early Sunday morning on Valentine’s Day, 1999. Less than two days earlier, 18-year-old Eric Scott Redinbo was killed by a single blast to the head from a 12 gauge shotgun in a house that shared an adjacent back yard to Hornung’s home. Some believe the two cases are connected.


Bonnie Callahan

Bonnie Callahan

Homicide — SOLVED
Bonnie Jean Callahan
73 YOA
111 S. Second St., Apt. 10
Mississippi Terrace
Keokuk, IA
Lee County
June 15, 2004

Bonnie Jean Callahan, 73, of 111 S. Second St., Apt. 10, Mississippi Terrace in Keokuk, was last seen alive at 10:30 p.m. Monday, June 14, 2004. A fisherman discovered her body Tuesday afternoon in the Mississippi River, floating in a small cove near the Southside Boat Club. According to an email from Callahan’s granddaughter sent to Iowa Cold Cases on Jan. 12, 2014, her grandmother was bludgeoned and placed in the river.

In a press release dated Tuesday, May 5, 2020, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) announced the arrest of a suspect in the June 2004 death of Bonnie Callahan, 73, of Keokuk.

According the release: In April of 2017, the Division of Criminal Investigation’s (DCI) Major Crime Unit and the Keokuk Police Department reopened the investigation into the June 2004 death of Bonnie Callahan, 73, of Keokuk.

On June 15, 2004, family members reported Callahan missing. Later in the day, Callahan’s body was found along the bank of the Mississippi River front in Keokuk. The circumstances surrounding Callahan’s death were considered suspicious. The investigation identified Nathanial Leo Ridnour, 34, as a suspect in Callahan’s homicide.

The Keokuk Police Department and the DCI ‘s Major Crime Unit provided an updated case briefing to the Lee County Attorney’s Office and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office (Area Prosecutions). On May 4, 2020, an arrest warrant was issued for Ridnour for the murder of Callahan. Murder in the First Degree is a violation of Section 707.2(1) of the Code of Iowa, a Class A Felony. If convicted, the charge carries a life sentence without the possibility of parole. On May 5, 2020, Ridnour was taken into custody by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office on the arrest warrant.

Read the full press release here.

One Response to Keokuk

  1. Re:Eric Redinbo this is his mother Carolyn Robinson if you have any questions here is email address carrob21@yahoo.com

Comment Policy

We encourage thoughtful discussion here but ask that comments remain civilized and constructive … i.e. without personal attacks or name-calling. Be respectful of others and remember that victims' family members visit these pages, too. If you'd like to provide us with information regarding a suspect or have other sensitive details to relay, please email us directly. Thank you in advance.

Leave a Reply to Carolyn Redinbo RobinsonCancel reply