Maquoketa, IA Area Cold Cases
Name
Judith ReedAge
38Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
Judith reed, 38, was engaged in an altercation outside the welcome inn tavern in goose lake, iowa, on thursday, december 26, 1974, at which time she was struck in the head. She was found dead in a friend’s home the following morning.Agency
Iowa
Name
Crystal ArensdorfAge
20Cause of Death
MissingInfo
Crystal ann arensdorf, 20, of dubuque, iowa, was last seen at approximately 2 a.M. On july 4, 2001, at knicker’s saloon in dubuque, iowa. Arensdorf had gone to the 2186 central avenue bar with friends and tried to find a ride to east dubuque, ill. No one saw her leave the bar, and she left her car, her keys, and her money behind. She did not show up for work thursday morning. Steven and david peacock — two former dubuque brothers who resided in mount horeb, wisconsin — were at the bar on july 4 and questioned several times in arensdorf’s disappearance. The brothers agreed to polygraph exams in april 2002, and authorities also seized and searched david peacock’s vehicle. The brothers were never charged in connection with arensdorf’s case.Agency
Iowa
Name
Francis RaffertyAge
58Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
Francis john rafferty — a 58-year-old millworker — died of asphyxiation after burglars entered his dubuque, iowa home saturday night, feb. 8, 1964, and taped his mouth shut with electrician’s tape. Dubuque police chief robert o’brien said rafferty was tied up with telephone wire and, because his mouth was covered with tape, apparently choked on food he’d eaten earlier.Agency
Iowa
Name
Hulda FischerAge
84Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
On february 25, 1975, hulda fischer, 84, was stabbed repeatedly with a butcher knife and strangled in her maquoketa, iowa, home located at 418 north fifth street. Neighbors discovered her body when they went to check on her.Agency
Iowa
Name
Jackie ShiremanAge
21Cause of Death
StabbingInfo
On saturday, jan. 4, 1975, at approximately 7:45 p.M., a customer at dubuque’s “marino’s meal on a bun” found waitress jackie shireman lying in a pool of blood in the walk-in cooler. The 21-year-old newlywed and sunday school teacher had been stabbed around 30 times with a pair of scissors. A trial returned no homicide conviction, and the case remains open. The following story about jackie’s murder aired on kwwl.Com channel 7 news on feb. 21, 2018. It details how jackie’s sister has never given up on solving her sister’s murder and how jackie’s death affected the family.Agency
Iowa
Name
Kenneth BouzardAge
53Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
In the early morning hours on friday, april 23, 1971, kenneth marvin bouzard was clubbed to death and then stuffed beneath a freight car in downtown dubuqueAgency
Iowa
Name
Kenny JohnsonAge
14Cause of Death
StrangulationInfo
On saturday, october 10, 1987 around 8:45 a.M., an elderly fisherman discovered the body of a young white male lying on the sandy beach area near a floodgate in dubuque, iowa’s isolated maus parkAgency
Iowa
Name
Kevin GriebelAge
36Cause of Death
MissingInfo
Kevin lee griebel, 36, was reported missing to the jackson county sheriff’s office in maquoketa, iowa, on february 26, 2004. He was last seen in maquoketaAgency
Iowa
Name
Marlon Barber JrAge
15Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
On oct. 20, 2012, marlon barber, jr., a 15-year-old dubuque teen, was shot in the chest and stomach as he and his friends walked away from a party. He died soon after in the hospital. Another teen was hit by gunfire but treated at a hospital and released.Agency
Iowa
Name
Paul KnockelAge
53Cause of Death
MissingInfo
On thursday, oct. 12, 2023, dubuque police responded to a report of a submerged vehicle in the mississippi river. Officials identified the vehicle as a 1981 mercury zephyr and stated the car belonged to paul joseph knockel, who’d been reported missing from dubuque on nov. 26, 1990. N november 1990, the dubuque telegraph herald reported that knockel last had contact with family members on monday, november 12 and that knockel’s car was last seen by a family member the morning of november 13, parked along u.S. Route 151 less than one mile east of the dubuque-wisconsin bridge near the “welcome to wisconsin” sign on the roadway’s south side.Knockel, a lifelong bachelor with no children, missed his usual thanksgiving dinner with relatives and they reported him missing the following monday after he failed to show up at a job at the swiss colony mail-order gift warehouse in monroe, wisconsin, dubuque police told the telegraph herald. Police also said knockel was last seen friday, november 17, driving along a highway in grant county, wisconsin.Agency
Iowa
Name
Scott AlthoffAge
23Cause of Death
Hit And RunInfo
Scott m. Althoff, 23, was killed in a hit-and-run homicide west of la motte near zwingle, iowa, on july 21, 2002.Althoff, a lifelong baseball player, had graduated just one year earlier from the university of dubuque with a degree in sports management.Althoff, who lived in eldridge but grew up in la motte, was walking on 300th street near zwingle when an unidentified vehicle struck him and then drove away. A passerby found althoff’s body early sunday morning, july 21, 2002.Agency
Iowa
Name
Sherrie MartinAge
8Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
Sisters sherrie lee martin, 8, and victoria lynne martin, 4, were killed in an early morning fire on saturday, march 6, 1965, when someone set fire to the family’s dubuque, iowa two-story frame house.The girls’ mother, janet, escaped from the burning home about 3:30 a.M. But said she was unable to save her daughters. The girls were asleep on the home’s second floor when the fire broke out.Janet’s husband, donald c. Martin, a former national guardsman and marine corps corporal employed by the united states postal service, also had a second job and worked the second shift. After the fire, both he and his wife were admitted to the hospital for shock.Martin requested his daughters’ bodies be exhumed to prove his estranged wife had provided the accelerant that led to their deaths. Further investigation determined the fire had indeed been deliberately set and ruled it arson. Both girls’ deaths were then ruled homicides.Agency
Iowa
Name
Victoria MartinAge
4Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
Sisters sherrie lee martin, 8, and victoria lynne martin, 4, were killed in an early morning fire on saturday, march 6, 1965, when someone set fire to the family’s dubuque, iowa two-story frame house.The girls’ mother, janet, escaped from the burning home about 3:30 a.M. But said she was unable to save her daughters. The girls were asleep on the home’s second floor when the fire broke out.Janet’s husband, donald c. Martin, a former national guardsman and marine corps corporal employed by the united states postal service, also had a second job and worked the second shift. After the fire, both he and his wife were admitted to the hospital for shock.Martin requested his daughters’ bodies be exhumed to prove his estranged wife had provided the accelerant that led to their deaths. Further investigation determined the fire had indeed been deliberately set and ruled it arson. Both girls’ deaths were then ruled homicides.Agency
Iowa
Name
Theodore HoerstmanAge
45Cause of Death
MissingInfo
Theodore anthony “ted” hoerstman, a 45-year-old disabled adult, was reported missing to the dubuque police department in dubuque, iowa, on december 6, 1982. Hoerstman, initially listed on the iowa department of public safety’s missing person information clearinghouse, was removed from the site in 2011 and he is now presumed deceased. Date of date is listed as the same day he went missing.Agency
Iowa
Name
Kenny JohnsonAge
14Cause of Death
Ligature/StrangulationInfo
Agency
Dubuque Police Department
Name
Kimberly LooseAge
16Cause of Death
InjuryInfo
Kimberly r. “kim” loose, 16, died friday, september 26, 1986, in rural walcott, iowa, in scott county after leaving her best friend’s 16th birthday party in blue grass, iowa, with 20-year-old jeffery curtis daily, also of blue grass.Agency
Iowa