The cases below include unsolved Iowa homicides from 1950 – 1959 and are listed chronologically. If you know of a case not listed here or have information you’d like included with an existing page, please contact us with relevant details and we’ll respond to your inquiry as soon as possible.
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Alonzo Beghtel
81 YOA
West of Hwy 25
Guthrie Center, IA
Guthrie County
January 18, 1950
Crystal Schneckloth
53 YOA
Summary Coming Soon
Persia, IA
Harrison County
August 11, 1950
George J. Massouris
30 YOA
Orchard Road
Councils Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
November 18, 1950
Lyman S. Elledge
65 YOA
Barney Wiskus lawn
Colesburg, IA
Delaware County
September 28, 1951
Leon Groves
40 YOA
SE 18th & Scott
Des Moines, IA
Case # 1951-9296
December 22, 1951
Unknown Baby Boy
2-3 hours old
Highway 30
Tama, IA
Tama County
June 11, 1952
My neighbor got the dates confused. The Laubenthal and Henkins murders were in 1976 not 1957 like they thought. The cold case is still listed in 1976. .
I don’t find Earl McMurray in your cold cases from 1954. Earl owned the gas station where North High School is located now in Des Moines, IA. He was found in the bathroom of the station and had been stabbed multiple times. Also the station had been robbed. Earl was no relation to me but we called him our uncle. I was 8 yrs. old when this happened. My grandmother lived in a trailer behind the station. When she came home from work she could not find Earl. She called my dad and told him and we went right to the station. When we got there the police were there. I remember watching them take Earl out of the station and putting him in an ambulance. I also remember my dad was taken to the Police Station and questioned for two days. My mother was pregnant at the time and due to the stress she miscarried. I am now 70 yrs of age and still don’t know what happened to this case. A few years ago Earl’s picture was in the Des Moines Register as one of Des Moines unsolved murders. Can you help me as to where this case is now????
This is great. I’m glad this website is taking the time out to care enough for the unsolved murders that society has forgot about. Their is no race issue, it’s just people helping people
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Would like to add my Grandpa to the list. Dwane Roy Dreher… Missing from Mason City, Iowa… Nov.8th, 1955
My neighbor got the dates confused. The Laubenthal and Henkins murders were in 1976 not 1957 like they thought. The cold case is still listed in 1976. .
Why is the double homicide in Palo Alto County in 1957 not listed with the victims Debbie Rose Laubenthal
Raymond Morris Henkins?
To my knowledge it has never been solved and is still a cold case. .
I don’t find Earl McMurray in your cold cases from 1954. Earl owned the gas station where North High School is located now in Des Moines, IA. He was found in the bathroom of the station and had been stabbed multiple times. Also the station had been robbed. Earl was no relation to me but we called him our uncle. I was 8 yrs. old when this happened. My grandmother lived in a trailer behind the station. When she came home from work she could not find Earl. She called my dad and told him and we went right to the station. When we got there the police were there. I remember watching them take Earl out of the station and putting him in an ambulance. I also remember my dad was taken to the Police Station and questioned for two days. My mother was pregnant at the time and due to the stress she miscarried. I am now 70 yrs of age and still don’t know what happened to this case. A few years ago Earl’s picture was in the Des Moines Register as one of Des Moines unsolved murders. Can you help me as to where this case is now????
This is great. I’m glad this website is taking the time out to care enough for the unsolved murders that society has forgot about. Their is no race issue, it’s just people helping people