Story County in Iowa
*Please Note: The cases listed below are within Story County but may fall under a city police department’s jurisdiction. They are included here for cross-reference purposes. More specific information may be found on each victim’s individual page.
Henry Chavis
Homicide
Henry William Chavis
55 YOA
Highway 69
Ames, IA
Story County (jurisdiction)
November 8, 1948
On Nov. 8, 1948, Henry Chavis, the owner and operator of Ames Canning Company, was shot to death near the rear door steps of his rural Ames farm home.
Sheila Collins
Homicide
Sheila Jean Collins
18 YOA
ISU Student
Case # 68-00287
Last seen in Ames, IA
Found near Colo and Nevada, IA
Story County (jurisdiction)
January 26, 1968
On Sunday, January 28, 1968, Sheila Jean Collins, 18, of Evanston, Ill., was found lying face-down in a ditch off a gravel road four miles east of Nevada, Iowa, about 20 miles east of Ames. Miss Collins — an Iowa State University coed who was headed home for the weekend — had been strangled with a nylon cord knotted around her neck. A father and son out fox hunting near the town of Colo in Story County found Collins’ body after the son spotted a foot in the shallow ditch.
Homicide
Terry Lee Vanden Hull
20 YOA
2 1/2 miles SE Maxwell, IA
Story County
February 24, 1975
On April 17, 1975, the body of Terry Lee Vanden Hull, 20, was found behind a corn crib on a vacant farm two-and-a-half miles southeast of Maxwell. His throat was cut. He was last seen on February 24, 1975. Authorities believed the murder was drug related.
Ronald Westwick
Missing Person
Ronald E. Westwick
34 YOA
DOB: Oct. 26, 1944
Height: 6’02”
Eyes: Brown
Missing from Ames, IA
Story County
Incident Type: Mental/physical disability
March 12, 1979
Ronald Eugene Westwick, 34, was reported missing to the Ames Police Department in Ames, Iowa, on March 12, 1979.
Homicide
Newborn infant
Rural Route
Story County
Case # 83-01277
March 13, 1983
On March 13, 1983, the body of a newborn infant was found in Story County.
Homicide
James “Jimmy” Morris
a.k.a. “Jimmy Morise”
58 YOA
203 E. Lincoln Way
Ames, IA
Story County
October 27, 1991
Four days before Halloween in 1991, James “Jimmy” Morris was found beaten to death in his bedroom at 203 E. Lincoln Way in Ames.
Chad James Schwab
30 YOA
Near I-35 Rest Area
Story County
Found: August 10, 2004
On August 10, 2004, a white male’s badly decomposed body was discovered several hundred yards behind the Southbound Interstate 35 rest area north of Ames in a wooded location. DNA tests later identified the body as that of Chad James Schwab, 30, of Snowmass, Colorado, though the state Medical Examiner’s Office and the Story County Sheriff’s Office ruled the cause of death undetermined.
Aaron Marr
Homicide
Aaron Marr
37 YOA
210 S. Second St.
Ames, IA
Story County
September 22, 2007
At 9:53 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, the Ames Police Department took a call for an ambulance assist at 210 S. Second St., about a man who had a neck laceration. When officers got there, they found Aaron Marr suffering from several stab wounds to his neck and back. He had enough time to tell the first responders that he knew who had attacked him, but he wasn’t going to tell. He was transported to Mary Greeley Medical Center but died on the way, his chance to name his murderer gone forever.
Another murder should be on Story County’s list. In November, 1965, 18 Month Old Kenneth Eugene Clapp was murdered in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald E. Quillen of rural Story City. The newspaper article reads:
No Charges in Death of Baby NEVADA—Story County officials
have decided no charges will be filed in connection with
the death of Kevin Clapp, 18 months, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Harold Clapp of Des Moines.
The child died early Thursday morning at Blank Memorial
Hospital in Des Moines of head injuries. He was being cared
for by Mr. and Mrs. Ronald E. Quillen of rural Story City.
The Polk County medical examiner’s office said an autopsy
showed the child died of brain damage and noted the body also
had a number of bruises.
Ambulance attendants had been told the baby fell from a high chair.
Strange how kids never die from falls from high chairs in this day and age but we instead prosecute their caretakers for homicide…