Cold Cases in the News – 2010 Archives

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GONE COLD: EXPLORING IOWA’S UNSOLVED MURDERS

An ongoing series, published statewide, as part of a partnership between Iowa Cold Cases, the Iowa Newspaper Association, and participating newspapers.

Click or tap on any story title to read the full referenced article.


December 30, 2010
COLD CASE: DNA Tests Not Able To Determine Killer
FORT DODGE IA — It’s a cold case we first profiled last month. An elderly Fort Dodge man, murdered in his own home, Halloween night, almost 30 years ago. Since our story first aired, DCI did some DNA testing on some of the evidence that was found in the house. Now, we’ve got the results.


December 29, 2010
MCPD appoints new investigator to the Huisentruit case
FindJodi.com is happy to be working with Investigator Terrance Prochaska of the Mason City Police Department on the Jodi Huisentruit investigation. Investigator Prochaska’s duties include investigation of all aspects of crime including, theft, fraud, burglary, assaults, sex assaults, kidnapping, robbery and homicide. In the spring of 2010, Investigator Prochaska was assigned tto the Huisentruit homicide case. Huisentruit disappeared on June 27th, 1995 in Mason City, Iowa.


December 9, 2010
COLD CASE: Unidentified White Male, Des Moines
Police are still trying to discover the identity of a white male found in the Des Moines River in 2005.


December 2, 2010
COLD CASE: Thaddeus Mitchell
Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the roaring 20s and the unsolved murder of Thaddeus Mitchell.


November 25, 2010
COLD CASE: Marc James Warren Allen
He was the third Des Moines paperboy to go missing, but Marc Allen didn’t receive near the media coverage as the first two boys, Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin.


November 21, 2010
$2,500 Private Donor Reward Offered in 2006 Alabama Cold Case Murder


November 18, 2010
COLD CASE: Hazel Reimann
Eighty-seven-year-old Hazel Reimann was fiercely independent and still drove her own car. In fact, she broke six fingers trying to fend off her attacker before he killed her on September 2, 2008.


November 11, 2010
Johnny Gosch’s 41st Birthday
Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck talks to Noreen Gosch about what she believes happened to her son.


November 10, 2010
Reward still offered in Sabula woman’s death
CLINTON, Iowa – Clinton County authorities put out another plea Wednesday for information in the death of Alysia Marburger of Sabula two years ago. A $5,000 reward is being offered by Marburger’s family for information leading to an arrest.


November 7, 2010
Sister writes book about sibling’s unsolved murder
Thirty-nine years ago, two weeks from today, Kathy Lynn Gloddy was raped, beaten and murdered and then, as now, her sister Karen Gloddy Beaudin is determined to bring the people who killed her youngest sibling to justice.


November 5, 2010
COLD CASE: Officials Hope to Identify Man by Tattoos
It’s been nearly 27 years since police found the badly decomposed body of a man in a watery area on the southeast side of town.


November 4, 2010
Suspect Named, Kidnapping Charges Filed
Louisiana: Today the FBI announces that a federal kidnapping warrant was obtained in the Western District of Louisiana charging Thomas Steven Sanders with the abduction of Lexis Roberts. On Sept. 3, 2010, Sanders was captured on film purchasing ammunition at a local Wal-Mart in Las Vegas. The forensic anthropologist reported that Lexis suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The ammunition Sanders purchased was consistent with the caliber weapon used during the homicide.


October 28, 2010
COLD CASE: The Trick-or-Treat Unsolved Murder of Marvin Brandland
FORT DODGE, IA — “Trick or treat. Give me all your money or I’ll shoot you,” the trick-or-treater said. A few moments later, 69-year-old Marvin Brandland of Fort Dodge, Iowa, was dead.


October 23, 2010
‘Never lose hope and don’t ever give up. I am living proof that they will get him’
Southsea, UK — A RAPE survivor today told other victims ‘don’t ever give up’ after a cold case review led to her attacker’s capture – 28 years after the crime.


October 23, 2010
Unsolved crime: DNA advances help Collier sheriff reopen slaying from 30 years ago
IMMOKALEE, FL — DNA evidence from a 29-year-old crime scene could lead Collier detectives to an arrest in a cold case.


October 21, 2010
Reopened cold case ends with not-guilty verdict
St. Paul, MN — “We have a monster walking amongst us,” Carolyn Kirk said Thursday, minutes after a jury returned a not-guilty verdict in the trial of Richard H. Ireland Jr., who was accused of brutally murdering Kirk’s brother, Mark Shemukenas, more than 33 years ago.


October 11, 2010
Reward offered for new information on 2007 Mt. Sterling murder
MT. STERLING, Ill. (WGEM) — The murder of a Mt. Sterling woman in 2007 remains unsolved, but in an effort to bring more attention to the case, a reward is now being offered to find the killer. Kathy Blentlinger, 34, died in a house fire in the early morning hours of Nov. 10, 2007. Eight months later, a coroner’s jury ruled her death a homicide as accelerant was used to burn down the home.


October 8, 2010
COLD CASE: Family of man missing for 20 years hopes to find closure
DUBUQUE, IA – It’s a cold case that brings us all the way to the woods of Wisconsin. An Iowa man disappeared, even his car vanished along Highway 151. Police still have no clues about what happened to Paul Knockel or where he went. They say someone just can’t vanish. But Tim Westemeyer of Des Moines disagrees.


October 6, 2010
DNA requested in cold case
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Massachusetts authorities have received permission from a judge in Alabama to exhume the body of a suspect in an unsolved Worcester slaying and two rapes.


October 6, 2010
No ID yet on skeletal remains near Fremont
FREMONT (MCT) — Skeletal remains found in Mahaska County over the weekend look to be human, but authorities aren’t saying much else. Around 7 p.m. Saturday, a farmer called law enforcement to report the discovery of skeletal remains in a field in rural Mahaska County near Fremont.


October 1, 2010
Fireball Run racing toward Cedar Rapids today
Among the Fireball Run participants are “The Spirit of Cedar Rapids,” a 2006 Audi S4 driven by Bart Woods of Primus Construction and Pete Lammers of European Motors to represent Erin Pospisil, the 15-year-old girl who disappeared from Cedar Rapids on June 3, 2001.


September 30, 2010
Mystery still unsolved: Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Dan Holmstrom was murdered in Dallas, Texas 10 years ago
Daniel Holmstrom, who would turn 35 on Dec. 10, would probably be a father teaching his kids football or tennis on the weekends, and they would come home to Fort Dodge this Thanksgiving and Christmas, his father said. But Holmstrom was murdered in the streets of Dallas, Texas, in 2000. His killer remains unknown, and his parents are now offering a $25,000 reward to anyone with information that will lead to the capture and conviction of his killer.


September 27, 2010
ISU team calculates cost of a murder at $17.25 million
AMES, Iowa — Murder takes an obvious toll on society in terms of the loss of human life, but what does it actually cost each time there’s a murder? It’s about $17.25 million according a recent study by an Iowa State University sociologist.


September 23, 2010
COLD CASE: John Wayne Jeffery
WHO-TV Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the unsolved May 1990 murder of 31-year-old John Wayne Jeffery in Des Moines, Iowa.


September 20, 2010
Cold case units solving crimes, proving worth
SUFFOLK, VA — The men behind the masks remained a mystery for more than 15 years. Then someone decided to talk about the night Robert Lee Cromer was shot to death.


September 16, 2010
COLD CASE: Maureen Brubaker Farley
Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the 39-year unsolved murder of Maureen Farley, whose body was discovered by two young boys in a wooded ravine near Cedar Rapids’ southwest edge.


September 9, 2010
COLD CASE: Fifteen years after Martha Erickson is murdered her killer remains unknown
It’s been nearly 15 years since the badly beaten body of Martha Erickson was found in the shallow waters of Avon Lake. And still investigators have no clue who killed her. Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports.


September 2, 2010
COLD CASE: No Arrests, No Suspects in the Death of a Fort Dodge Man
Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the unsolved disappearance of Greg Howell of Fort Dodge, Iowa.


August 29, 2010
‘Tickler’ cold case: Lack of arrest meant lingering fear
SIOUX CITY — The Tickler was here a summer and then gone, leaving his victims not only guessing about his identity but also uncertain of their own safety.


August 26, 2010
COLD CASE: The grown children of a 1993 murder victim are hoping someone can help find their father’s killer
WHO-TV Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the unsolved murder of Phil Terrell.


August 23, 2010
One Year Later, Few Leads in Murder of Anadarko Pastor
ANADARKO, Oklahoma — One year after a pastor was found dead inside her Anadarko church building, the case remains unsolved and authorities say there have been few leads. The body of 61-year-old Carol Daniels of Oklahoma City was found last August 23 inside Christ Holy Sanctified Church. Her neck and throat had been slashed and she had been stabbed in the chest, back, stomach and hands. No one has been arrested in her death.


August 19, 2010
COLD CASE: Julie Bell Davis
Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the unsolved 1997 slaying of Julie Bell Davis of Des Moines.


August 16, 2010
FBI Press Release: Response to Recent Editorial Regarding Cold Case Initiative
A letter written in response to a recent Washington Post editorial criticizing a lack of progress in investigating unsolved civil rights cases from the 1950s and 1960s.


August 13, 2010
Accused killer’s life in Iowa detailed
WATERLOO, Iowa — Before he was charged in a 19-year-old killing in California, Brian Eric Norton lived in Jesup, Waterloo, Marion and Cedar Rapids. According to the scant trail of court records he left, Norton held small jobs and got in minor trouble with the law after moving to Iowa in 1995.


August 12, 2010
CBI releases database of 1,700 cold cases
The Denver Post: The Colorado Bureau of Investigation today released an interactive database of 1,714 unsolved homicides or verified missing persons cases going back to 1970.


August 12, 2010
Man with area ties charged in California rape, murder – Could Face Death Penalty
WATERLOO, Iowa — An Iowa man with ties to Northeast Iowa has been charged in a California rape and murder that went unsolved for almost 20 years. California authorities are seeking the extradition of Brian Eric Norton, 43, who is in the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. He is serving time for a 2007 sexual assault in Linn County.


August 10, 2010
Iowa rapist linked to ‘cold case’ murder of Larkspur woman
A man serving a prison sentence for rape in Iowa has been implicated in the 1991 murder of a Larkspur woman, authorities announced Tuesday. Despina Magioudis, 53, was found dead on Aug. 10, 1991, in a field in Redding, where she was staying briefly after attending a summer solstice observance on Mount Shasta. The autopsy showed she had been raped, beaten and strangled.


Courtesy photo CBS News

August 9, 2010
FBI Lags Two Years in DNA Cases
(CBS) The FBI’s forensic DNA case load is so backlogged that it would take two years to complete – even without any new cases added, according to a new report released by the Department of Justices’ inspector general. More than 3,200 backlogged DNA cases are still awaiting analysis as of March, and the number is growing. DNA analysis is a lengthy process, and it can take up to 600 days for FBI labs to provide testing results. Read the Inspector General’s Report


August 5, 2010
COLD CASE: The unsolved murder of Earl “Big Earl” Hamilton
Des Moines Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck revisits the 1996 unsolved murder of “Big Earl’s Goldmine” nightclub owner Earl Hamilton.


July 31, 2010
August 2009 murder of Sevier woman remains unsolved: Survivors clash over investigation
Gatlinburg, TN — When Dawn Shannon Hercutt died a year ago this week at the age of 40, she left behind a considerable fortune and a family torn asunder. She also left behind a murder mystery that authorities are still trying to unravel, with no visible success.


July 29, 2010
COLD CASES: Death of stepfather drives woman to profile Iowa’s unsolved cases
Onawa, IA — WHO-TV Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports on the unsolved copper theft death of Earl Thelander of Onawa, and his stepdaughter, Jody Ewing, who founded the Iowa Cold Cases website two years before his death.


July 23, 2010
COLD CASE: The 1977 murder of Frank Goff at a party remains unsolved
DES MOINES – Roxanne Beck was just entering her teen years 33 years ago when her father, Frank Goff of Des Moines, was murdered. And the killer, Goff’s children believe, was one of his own brothers. Now there will never be an arrest and there will never be justice; Goff’s brothers are both dead.


July 21, 2010
Writer uncovers mystery in ‘famous’ unsolved murder
Wauwatosa, Wis. — This month marks the 85th anniversary of one of the few unsolved murders committed in Wauwatosa: the killing of 8-year-old Arthur “Buddy” Schumacher Jr., son of a pharmaceutical supply salesman and grandson of one of the city’s key leaders in the early 20th century.


July 15, 2010
McCuddin case still active
Ft. Dodge Messenger – Markasia McCuddin sits with her grandmother Becky McCuddin outside during a hot day. The 10-year-old would rather sit and hear the adults talk about her mother, Lisa McCuddin, than go swimming with her brother and cousin. Kasia, as her grandmother calls her, remembers her mother even though she was only 4 when Lisa McCuddin, 23, was shot and killed Oct. 2, 2004, as she rode in a car on Kenyon Road. Officials believe the shooting was related to a brawl that occurred at the Eagle’s Club the previous night during a rap party. McCuddin was working the door that night and helped organize the event.


July 15, 2010
COLD CASE: Young Mother’s Killer Still On The Loose
Fort Dodge, IA — WHO-TV Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck looks into the unsolved murder of 23-year-old Lisa McCuddin of Fort Dodge, Iowa.


July 8, 2010
WHO-TV Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck looks into the unsolved disappearance of Des Moines Register paperboy Eugene Martin
It’s been 26 years since 13-year-old Eugene Martin set off one morning to deliver papers for the Des Moines Register and disappeared without a trace. Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck talks to Eugene’s aunt, Jeannie McDowell, about the case that drew national attention and the effect Eugene’s disappearance had on the family.


July 8, 2010
New Technology Could Solve Cold Case: Iowa investigators hope to identify body found 26 years ago
Polk County officials say they’re hoping the National Missing and Unidentified Person Systems will be able to help identify the tattooed man who detectives have nicknamed “Bones.” The system was started in January 2009 and already has helped identify 15 people.


July 2, 2010
COLD CASE: Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck looks into the unsolved murder of 5-year-old Evelyn Miller
Floyd, IA – Thursday marked the five-year anniversary of the disappearance of 5-year-old Evelyn Miller. A day her grandparents have said always brings back horrible memories. “Yeah, it’s a tough day today,” Linda Christie has said, “I’m positive that she was killed that first day.”


June 27, 2010
More North Iowa cold cases
Mason City Globe Gazette — The body of Norma Jean Horgen, 18, of St. Ansgar, was found Sept. 10, 1966, floating in Clear Lake. John Rea Wallace, 45, a Las Vegas, Nev., veterinarian, was charged in 1992 with first-degree murder for allegedly drowning Horgen. The charge was dismissed in February 1993 when a judge ruled that the indictment was tainted.


June 27, 2010
Huisentruit investigators live with frustration, hope
MASON CITY, Iowa — There is a small, plastic card stuck behind a piece of electrical conduit that runs the length of wall near Lt. Frank Stearns desk. “It’s Jodi’s driver’s license,” says Stearns, who is commander of investigations at the Mason City Police Department.


June 26, 2010
Community members, most who never met her, remember Evelyn, seek answers
In a case with many questions, it is at the feet of this angel, perhaps, where some answers are known. And that is that five years after her death, Evelyn Miller of Floyd continues to be remembered.


June 10, 2010
Passion for justice drives Cold Case volunteers
Lisbon, IA — A passion for justice keeps the people at Iowa Cold Cases going. The organization, which operates the website www.iowacoldcases.org, has taken an interest in the suspicious death of Marlene “Mickey” Padfield, a former Lisbon High School student who died in 1959.


May 24, 2010
DCI AWARDING 5TH GRADERS WHO SHOW COMPASSION FOR NATION’S MISSING CHILDREN
Des Moines, IOWA — Each year 5th graders from across the country participate in the National Missing Children’s Day Poster Contest, showing their compassion for our country’s lost and missing youth, through art. Tomorrow the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation will honor those students in Iowa who excelled in depicting the harsh realities of child abduction or the sad consequences of running away from home, by using this year’s theme, “Bring Our Missing Children Home.”


May 18, 2010
Kidnapping Not Cedar Rapids’ First Case of Violence at Convenience Stores
CEDAR RAPIDS – Laura and Arnold Schappert’s son, Brian Schappert, had his throat slashed two decades ago while he was working the overnight shift alone at a Kum and Go gas station.


May 8, 2010
Eastern Iowa Cold Case: Lisa Peak
WAVERLY (KWWL) — It’s a cold case that’s haunted Eastern Iowa law enforcement for more than three decades. In 1976, 20-year old Marie “Lisa” Peak had just returned to the Wartburg College campus for her sophomore year.


May 8, 2010
Cold Case: Remains Of 1976 Murder Victim Exhumed
Bremer County, IA — Bremer County, Iowa authorities have disinterred the remains of a homicide victim buried more than 30 years ago to see if technological advances may yield new evidence in her death. County Attorney Kasey Wadding says the body of Marie Lisa Peak was disinterred Friday and sent to the State Medical Examiner’s office in Ankeny for re-examination.


May 4, 2010
$50,000 Reward Announced for Information Leading to the Whereabouts of Missing Teen
KANSAS CITY, MO—Chief James Person, Belton Police Department and FBI Special Agent in Charge Brian Truchon announced today a $50,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of missing teen Kara Kopetsky. The announcement of this reward is in addition to any other reward monies being offered.


May 2, 2010
Mystery of son’s death haunts Urbandale couple
Urbandale, IA — A for-sale sign pokes out of the freshly cut grass in front of Chad and Tammy Parks’ Urbandale home. The gray split-level holds too much anguish for the couple and their daughter Adra, 11, to stay any longer. Nearly a year has passed since their son, Jared Parks, was found dead along a stretch of Interstate Highway 35/80 near the Merle Hay Road exit.


April 8, 2010
In perspective: Padfield’s death a long time ago
Lisbon, IA — Fifty years is a long time. It’s an especially long time to remember something, unless it was some sort of life-changing event. The mystery surrounding the 1959 death of Marlene Padfield of Lisbon would without a doubt qualify as life-changing for all involved – family, acquaintances and those questioned by law enforcement back then.


April 8, 2010
Cold case: Memories hazy about 1951 mystery
Lisbon, IA — Memories of the 1959 suspicious death of 17-year-old Lisbon resident Marlene Padfield remain hazy at best for a Cedar Rapids doctor who was a part of the investigation.


April 1, 2010
Cold case: More details found, more sought in 1959 death of young woman
Lisbon, IA — The unexplained death in 1959 of 17-year-old Marlene “Mickey” Padfield of Lisbon is drawing renewed interest following publication of a story in the Sun on March 18. Beryl O’Connor and Bob Hill of Lisbon have led the push to encourage anyone with any knowledge of the case to step forward, both to preserve and honor the budding actress’ memory and to help solve the cold case.


March 29, 2010
Atwater, Crandall murders are still on cops’ minds
Milan, IL — The Milan police department continues to investigate two relatively recent murders, perpetrators of which have managed to elude officers to date.


March 28, 2010
Two unsolved murder cases police will never forget
Quad Cities — Mary Ann Becker and Paul Donder each were murdered at their home, Ms. Becker in Atkinson in 1974 and Mr. Donder in Silvis in 1980. Both were publicized heavily at the time. Police say they never had much more to work with in either case than rumor and speculation. Leads soon petered out. But officers say they don’t stop thinking about the two cases.


March 27, 2010
Cold case murders 1935-2009


March 27, 2010
Murders unsolved but not forgotten
Quad-CitiesCharles Englehart was found murdered in the 700 block of Main Street in Davenport on Sept. 22, 1935. Not much more than that is known about the man and his murder, except that it is the oldest of 52 unsolved Quad-Cities area murders discovered during a search of Dispatch/Argus files and of old police records by officers.


March 22, 2010
Two women may share a common killer
Napa Valley, CA — Anita Andrews never knew Michele Wallace. But these two strangers in life may have had a killer in common. Roy Melanson, 73, is in prison for killing Wallace in Colorado in August of 1974, nearly two months after Andrews was killed in Fagiani’s Cocktail Lounge in Napa.


March 21, 2010
Suspect in Bethel cold case waives extradition
Danbury, CT — The suspect in the cold case murder of a Bethel contractor has waived extradition and will be coming back to Connecticut. Donald Gregory Krauth, 49, will be charged with felony murder in the strangulation slaying of 58-year-old Charles Cromwell in the victim’s Milwaukee Avenue home in 1992.


March 18, 2010
Lisbon leaders hope to shed light on unsolved case of Marlene Padfield
Lisbon, IA — There always have been more questions than answers in the murder of 17-year-old Marlene Padfield back in February 1959, and Beryl O’Connor and Bob Hill of Lisbon are determined to get to the bottom of the unsolved case.


March 4, 2010
Minnesota man arrested in California cold case
WOODBURY, Minn. (AP) — A Woodbury man is in custody in Minnesota, suspected in the killing of his half-sister in California 22 years ago.


March 3, 2010
Cold Cases: Gone But Not Forgotten, Part 2
Cedar Rapids, IA — KCRG TV 9 takes viewers inside the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Laboratories.


February 25, 2010
Official: Perjury charges in cold case dismissed, “substantial” new information
ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa — Prosecutors announced today they have dismissed perjury charges filed against a Northwest Iowa man in connection with a cold case murder, saying there is “substantial new information” in the investigation.


February 15, 2010
Police: The hunt doesn’t end
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Law enforcement officials say they haven’t stopped investigating a pair of unsolved homicide cases involving two Muscatine County men whose deaths happened more than a decade ago.


February 12, 2010
Family offers reward for information on missing ISU student
Ames, Iowa — The parents of a missing Iowa State University student are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any new information that leads to the location of their son. Jonathan (Jon) Lacina, a senior majoring in graphic design, has been missing since Jan. 22. His parents, Tom and Alesia Lacina, Grinnell, Iowa, announced the reward on Feb. 11.


February 12, 2010
Case Open/Closed
MUSCATINE, Iowa – It’s been a long time since Mary Irick talked publicly about the murder of her 7 1/2-month old daughter, Amber Marie Hayes, but she hopes talking about it might encourage someone with information about the case to come forward and put her nightmare to rest.


February 12, 2010
Iowa woman casts a wide net to catch criminals: Web site helps keep Iowa cold cases alive
ONAWA, Iowa – Bringing up unsolved murders can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, victims’ families hope new stories and information can cut through years of mystery and uncertainty and bring to justice the person responsible for their loved one’s murder.


February 12, 2010
Forensic Analysis: Clues Buried in Sounds and Images
Federal Bureau of Investigation: Specialists can elicit valuable evidence from audio, video, and images that might appear to be worthless or beyond repair.


February 2, 2010
Grand jury dusts off 31 cold cases
New York (CNN) — On the last day of her life, Moira “Holly” Branagan, 17, was at home, talking to a friend on the phone. The high school senior said someone was at the door. She told her friend she had to go.


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