Earlham, IA Area Cold Cases

Name

Alonzo Beghtel

Age

81

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Alonzo “lon” beghtel, an 81-year-old retired farmer, was found beaten to death near his guthrie center, iowa, home on wednesday, january 18, 1950.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Arlys Ponce

Age

42

Cause of Death

Stabbing

Info

Arlys ponce — a 42-year-old mother of three — was found dead on the floor of her norwalk, iowa home on october 8, 1997. Ponce’s son had arrived at the residence at approximately 3:15 p.M., and when his mother failed to answer the door, he peered through a window and saw her body lying on the floor. The son contacted a neighbor, telling her he couldn’t get into the house but that he could see his mother lying on the floor. The neighbor contacted police, who entered the residence and discovered arlys ponce had been beaten and stabbed to death.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Ashley Okland

Age

27

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Ashley okland, a 27-year-old iowa realty agent, was shot twice and killed shortly before 2 p.M. On friday, april 8, 2011, while working inside a west des moines model townhouse. A rottlund homes employee heard a commotion inside the model townhouse at 558 stone creek court — part of the stone creek villas subdivision near 84th st. And e.P. True parkway in des moines developed by rottlund homes — and went to investigate. Inside, the worker discovered okland on the floor and called 911.

Agency

Iowa

Name

James Wood

Age

79

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Late on saturday night, july 30, 2011, the home of bill and kay wood of rural norwalk, iowa, was destroyed by fire. Around midnight and into early sunday morning, five fire departments responded to 2698 highway r-63 in greenfield township just south of des moines’ city limits and the des moines international airport.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Kaidena Wood

Age

72

Cause of Death

Missing

Info

Late on saturday night, july 30, 2011, the home of bill and kay wood of rural norwalk, iowa, was destroyed by fire. Around midnight and into early sunday morning, five fire departments responded to 2698 highway r-63 in greenfield township just south of des moines’ city limits and the des moines international airport.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Corinne Perry

Age

17

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

The creston high school senior had just earned a scholarship to college and planned to double major in psychology and acting. She belonged to the school’s mime troop, acted in several school plays, and also participated in speech contests. She was last seen sunday, april 17, 1983 at a coin-operated laundromat in creston, iowa. According to authorities, a man walked out of the laundromat right behind the teen sometime between 8:30 and 9 p.M. The night she disappeared. The following day, her car — with the clothes neatly folded and lying on the seat — was found parked at the laundromat. Her purse turned up on a highway bridge seven miles away between kent and lenox, iowa.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Doris Konecne

Age

38

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Doris “elaine” konecne, 38, the legal secretary for union county attorney robert rolfe, was found deceased on the kitchen floor of her apartment at the ken-lee apartments on north cherry street in creston, iowa, early sunday morning, october 28, 1973. Ms. Konecne’s brother, who discovered his sister’s body, immediately contacted authorities.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Emma Lewis

Age

80

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Emma lewis was found dead in her waukee, iowa home on monday, september 13, 1976. The 80-year-old lewis had died from blows suffered during a severe beating.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Floyd Alborn

Age

76

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

Floyd william alborn, a 76-year-old bachelor, was found shot to death in his rural panora, iowa, home on friday evening, november 8, 1974. Alborn lived alone at his farm on the guthrie and dallas county line one-fourth mile north of highway 44. His sister and brother-in-law, freda and lawrence mills, discovered his body, the guthrian reported on monday, november 25, 1974.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Gregg Nimmo

Age

44

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Gregg andrew nimmo, 44, of adel, iowa, was found with severe head injuries on a gravel road in dexter, iowa, on sunday, aug. 28, 2011. Nimmo lay bleeding from head wounds on a gravel road just outside beaver lake campground in dallas county. Several individuals allegedly witnessed the manner in which a known female killed nimmo. Tire tracks ran up and down both ditch sides as the driver attempted to throw nimmo from the truck and then deliberately ran him over.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Jared Parks

Age

18

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Jared parks, 18, was found dead on interstate 35/80 near the beaver avenue bridge in polk county, iowa, on monday, may 11, 2009. He’d been hit by at least two semi tractor-trailers. Troopers were called to the scene at 11:46 p.M. The driver of the first big rig said the boy was lying on the roadway and looked unconscious in the moments before he was hit, and the medical examiner ruled out a fall from an overpass. Two of the tractor-trailer drivers waited for troopers and were questioned at the scene. Troopers believe a third truck may also have run over the teen. Polk county medical examiner dr. Gregory schmunk said that parks died from blunt force trauma and his injuries were consistent with being hit by a truck. Schmunk said there was nothing to indicate that parks was injured before the crash or that he might have jumped from the bridge. Investigators never found jared’s cell phone, and his wallet, earrings and tennis shoes were also missing. They have ruled the death as suspicious

Agency

Iowa

Name

Kathleen Holliday

Age

37

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Kathleen louise holliday, a rural grimes, iowa mail carrier, finished up her mail route on saturday, march 12, 1977, and then vanished without a trace. Her body was found two months later in the saylorville reservoir — just as a psychic had predicted

Agency

Iowa

Name

Margaret Feige

Age

88

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Margaret feige, 88, was found dead in the early morning hours on thursday, may 22, 2008, in the laundry room of the saylor township home she shared with at least two other adults. Feige had been beaten to death by unknown assailants. The death certificate lists the cause of death as blunt force trauma and the manner of death as homicide.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Mariana Redrovan

Age

15

Cause of Death

Stabbing

Info

On friday, january 23, 1998, ecuadorian immigrant mariana redrovan, 15, was stabbed to death in a room at the west des moines walnut creek inn where she worked as a housekeeper. A supervisor found redrovan’s body in a guest room.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Myrtle Cumpston

Age

60

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

Myrtle zelda cumpston, 60, was shot and killed in the display area of her rural dallas county business — c & k aqualand, incorporated — on tuesday, march 9, 1965. Cumpston co-owned the tropical fish aquarium near adel, iowa, with business partner and neighbor, mrs. Robert king.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Paul Scheel

Age

45

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

On valentine’s day 2018, paul allen scheel, 45, was found dead in his creston, iowa, apartment. Officers with the creston police department conducted a welfare check at 300 east montgomery street, apartment 3, at approximately 8:17 p.M. Wednesday night and found scheel deceased. The apartment is located in the basement of the eagles lodge #1398.The body was transported to the office of the iowa state medical examiner’s office in ankeny for an autopsy.Creston officers and agents with the dci’s major crime unit have worked to find the person or persons responsible for scheel’s death.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Roscoe Harris

Age

46

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

On july 6, 1963, 46-year-old roscoe donnel harris was shot in the left chest with a single shot .22 caliber rifle.When the iowa division of criminal investigation (dci) established a cold case unit in 2009, harris’ murder was one of approximately 150 cases listed on the cold case unit’s new website as those the dci hoped to solve using latest advancements in dna technology.Although federal grant funding for the dci cold case unit was exhausted in december 2011, the dci continues to assign agents to investigate cold cases as new leads develop or as technological advances allow for additional forensic testing of original evidence.The dci remains committed to resolving iowa’s cold cases and will continue to work diligently with local law enforcement partners to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice for the victims and their families.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Rose Grandanette

Age

33

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

Mrs. Rose marie grandanette, a 33-year-old mother of three children, was shot in the head with a .38 caliber pistol on sunday evening, september 14, 1958, after answering the door of her windsor heights home outside des moines.Rose’s 36-year-old husband, bernard “bernie” grandanette, told police the shot was fired by one of three gunmen who accosted him as he returned home from work.The men allegedly got into the vehicle from the passenger side and demanded grandanette give them his money. When grandanette told them he had no money on him, he said the men ordered him inside the home.Grandanette said the men then panicked and fled to a vehicle where a fourth man waited.Neighbors looked after the grandanette’s children — roslynne, joseph, and victoria — while millsap drove mrs. Grandanette to methodist hospital, where she died the following night.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Shane Lass

Age

6

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

On wednesday, february 19, 1992, teri lass claimed that her 6-day-old newborn son, shane, was kidnapped from her unlocked car outside the norwalk, iowa, post office while she went inside to buy stamps. The infant’s body — wrapped in two blankets and a sleeper with tiny footballs on it — was discovered the following afternoon inside a garbage bag found in a cardboard box dumped in a rural ditch just south of norwalk.The tiny infant — born only the previous thursday, the day before valentine’s day — had been killed by blows to the head and the skin cold to the touch.It wasn’t the first time one of mark and teri lass’s babies met an untimely death; less than four years earlier on march 1, 1988, their 10-day-old infant daughter, tamara lynn lass, died of what officials initially thought was sudden infant death syndrome (sids), but what state medical examiner thomas bennett ruled as an “undetermined” cause of death.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Tamara Lass

Age

Cause of Death

Injury

Info

On tuesday, march 1, 1988, teri lass of norwalk, iowa, claimed she found her 10-day-old infant daughter, tamara lynn lass, unresponsive.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Effie Bell

Age

46

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

At the end of the day on friday, march 18, 1966, effie bell (known as “cupie” to her family) got off work from her job at mcray cosmetics factory in madrid, iowa, just as she’d done since 1958 when first hired by the cosmetics manufacturer. There was no telling what the weekend had in store for the wife and mother of three, or what her husband, frank bell, sr., 49, might have in mind. He’d just quit his job at the john deere des moines works plant the previous day.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Virgil Untied

Age

33

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

Town marshal virgil untied was shot five times thursday, july 23, 1931, by three assailants in minburn, iowa, who were looting a local grocery store.The 33-year-old marshal — married and a father of three daughters — was summoned to the gootschalk grocery around 3:30 a.M. When the thieves awakened miss lena west, a telephone operator, as they tried breaking into the safe.Untied and two other men located the trio in the shaw grocery store, but the robbers opened fire as the marshal crossed the railroad tracks. While his companions returned fire, untied crawled to the station platform where he collapsed, the the daily iowan reported on friday, july 24, 1931.More than 10 shots were exchanged in the gunfire, with five slugs hitting untied and one of the bullets piercing his eye and lodging in his brain.

Agency

Iowa