Wapello County in Iowa

Wapello County in Iowa

Cold Cases in Wapello County, Iowa

*Please Note: The cases listed below are within Wapello 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.

 

Homicide
James Lewis Chamberlain
41 YOA
Beneath Wabash Railroad Trestle
Ottumwa, Iowa
Wapello County
May 25, 1893

On Thursday, May 25, 1893, James Chamberlain, a carpenter who lived on Ottumwa’s south side, was struck by a blow to the head and found lying in mud and water beneath the Wabash Railroad trestle in the city’s old Richmond section. He died four days later on May 29.


Billy Lee Clark

Billy Lee Clark

Homicide
Billy Lee Clark
43 YOA
Ottumwa, IA
Wapello County
August 1, 1975

Sometime on Friday, August 1, 1975, Billy Lee Clark of Ottumwa, Iowa, was shot in the back in a rural Wapello County pasture. The 43-year-old’s body, found lying next to his pick-up truck, was discovered the following day at approximately 2:23 p.m. on a farm owned by Martin Bergland, about seven miles west of Ottumwa on Route 4.


Robert Lee Ruby

Robert Lee Ruby

Undetermined
Robert Lee Ruby
54 YOA
Bidwell Coal Mine
Blakesburg, IA
Wapello County
January 11, 1936

Robert Ruby, a 54-year-old Blakesburg miner, fell 87 feet to his death on Saturday, January 11, 1936, down the shaft of the Bidwell Fuel Co. mine on the Henry Oswalt farm, one mile south of Christiansburg.


Homicide
John Robert Hill
51 YOA
Ottumwa, IA
Wapello County
Case # 76-00925
November 22, 1976

On Monday, November 22, 1976, two young men found John Robert Hill, 51, lying face down at the Ottumwa Launderette that Hill owned and operated. Hill was stabbed 21 times and shot.


John Franklin Sr.

John Franklin Sr.

Michelle Franklin

Michelle Franklin

Double Homicide
John Franklin, Sr., 35, and Michelle Franklin, 22
Eddyville, IA
Wapello County
January 3, 1978

John Franklin, Sr., 35, a central Iowa factory worker, and his 22-year-old wife Michelle were shot to death in their Eddyville, Iowa, home on Tuesday, January 3, 1978, in what officials called a double homicide. Michelle’s mother, Willa Mae Brower, discovered the bodies the following morning.


Francis Jordon

Francis Jordon, Sr.

Homicide
Francis F. Jordon, Sr.
42 YOA
Cliffland Park area
Ottumwa, IA
Wapello County
July 12, 1978

In the early morning hours on Wednesday, July 12, 1978, Francis Jordon was killed after two men knocked on his door saying they had car trouble and needed help. Jordon’s son later found his father’s body thrown over the bank beside the Des Moines River out across Cliffland Park. The 42-year-old Jordon had been brutally beaten to death.


Homicide
Helen Morrow
55 YOA
Eldon, IA
Wapello County
August 12, 1980

Mrs. Helen Morrow was found lying on a bed in a first floor room of her fire-ravaged two-story home in Eldon, IA, on August 12, 1980. An autopsy report showed she died of smoke inhalation.


Homicide
Melvin R. Adams
55 YOA
South of Agency, IA
Wapello County
February 13, 1983

On February 13, 1983, 55-year-old Melvin Royale “Mez” Adams was killed with a sharp instrument in a cabin near the Cliffland Bridge over the Des Moines River in Wappelo County south of Agency.


Dennison Stookesberry

Dennison Stookesberry

Missing Person
Dennison Stookesberry
Age at Report: 56
Missing From: Blakesburg, IA
Wapello County
Date Reported Missing: February 15, 1999

Dennison Stookesberry was reported missing to the Wapello County Sheriff’s Office in Ottumwa on February 15, 1999, after last being seen on Feb. 8. He left behind his four dogs, medication to treat his diabetes and heart problems, and his dinner still in the microwave oven. Authorities believe Stookesberry is deceased, and foul play is suspected in his disappearance.

8 Responses to Wapello County

  1. Elizabeth says:

    Has there ever been a book about the murders in Ottumwa?

  2. Kim says:

    Authorites made two arrests in a 2006 Wapello Co. case where two young men died in a house fire. The cause of the fire was ruled undetermined and the case closed, but it was recently reopened when new information came to light. The case isn’t listed on this site, but I’m sharing the link because any time any cold case is solved, it’s good news.
    http://www.dps.state.ia.us/commis/pib/Releases/2016/01-26-2016_DCI_TwoArrestedChargedWithMurderIn2006ColdCase.html

    • Jody Ewing says:

      Kim, once I received the IDPS press releases, I did go ahead and add the case to the website because it’s a way of tracking the number of cold cases that are getting solved, and also so people will have a page where they can provide any further input. When arrests are made, officials do announce a case is closed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the suspect(s) will be found guilty at trial.

      Some years back I figured it would be a great disservice to our readers here if we automatically “removed” all info about a case from the website once it got solved. (There are plenty of readers and researchers interested in just “how” these cases came to be solved, what methods were used to solve them, etc.) I’ve noted on the person’s page when the case has been solved, and they also get listed on our Solved page. Here’s the page I put up for Nathan Messer and Seth Anderson: https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/nathan-messer-and-seth-anderson/

      The fact that people (and there were a lot of people at that party) were ready to come forward and admit what they know is truly inspiring. Some stay silent for decades. I only wish more people out there would be willing to contact officials with what they know in other cases. Also, there is always safety in numbers! I think we should get legislators to draft a bill to designate one week (or better yet, a month) each year as Cold Case Awareness Month where people are strongly encouraged to come forward and provide information that could help solve more of these cases.

      I’m just happy right now that Nathan and Seth’s families will finally learn the truth about what happened to them. I also loved what SAC Mike Motsinger had to say about the arrests: “It just goes to show when people think they get away with murder we are always there, always willing to look at things and hopefully everyone is looking over their shoulders because we do take things seriously and take homicides seriously — and find them,” Motsinger said during the press conference the day following the arrests.

      These killers need to fear every knock at the door. Again, there is safety in numbers and they can’t silence ALL those who know what really happened. Wouldn’t a “Cold Case Camp Courageous” month be wonderful!

  3. Jeff Swinson says:

    So did they sonar that body of water? I can see the one it is by your decription. I believe it is Douds Stone and Google Maps shows a body of water right on that property.

  4. Dakota says:

    Stupid thing to put over the internet putting names on blast.

  5. Sharon Lee says:

    I may have information about a homicide. I do not know the date. Elaine (Daisy) Hauser-Griffiths was doing community service through the courts where I was office manager. She told me of a murder that she witnessed. I did go to the Ottumwa Police Dept and told an officer who took down a report. Later a "private detective" called me. The police had released the report to him. He was investigating a missing person that he thought was murdered. "Daisy" told me that Clifford Collett had murdered the man over a drug deal of some sort. The detective wanted more information than what I knew such as the color of the car…she was too frighten of Clifford Collett to tell me any more details than she had already told me. The detective told me that he thinks the man killed may be related to a couple from Albia that their son was missing. She told me that his body was put in a car at the Rock Quarry west of Chillicothe, Iowa. I guess there is some type of deep water that the car with the body is in. She is now deceased.

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