Independence, WI Area Cold Cases
Name
Ashley DowningAge
77Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
Barely a year after his wife’s death, ashley downing, a 77-year-old chicken farmer, was shot and killed wednesday, jan. 4, 1933, inside his rural westgate home. Downing lived alone on a 240-acre farm about eight miles northwest of oelwein. He owned a total of about 800 acres in fayette county, and also owned around 800 acres in minnesota.Agency
Iowa
Name
Brian BurnsAge
55Cause of Death
MissingInfo
On november 5th, 2023, the delaware county sheriff’s office responded one mile south of the 1300 block of 180th street for a report that human remains had been located in a field just west of manchester by some pheasant hunters.Agency
Iowa
Name
Brian DietrichAge
30Cause of Death
MissingInfo
He’d planned to take his new baby daughter out trick-or-treating that october night in 1993. Brian dietrich — the son of [then] Clayton county sheriff verdean dietrich — was known for his biker lifestyle and “living off the land” in rural garnavillo, iowa, but made regular trips across the mississippi river to prairie du chien, wis., to sell ginseng.Agency
Iowa
Name
Charles JaegerAge
37Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
On august 29, 1984, charles jaeger, 37, was found in a pool of blood in his bed at his dyersville, iowa home, a bullet lodged in his brain. He was transported to the university of iowa hospitals and clinics in iowa city, where he was pronounced dead. The following article, which details jaeger’s case, was written by m.D. Kittle and published in the dubuque telegraph herald on april 20, 2008.Agency
Iowa
Name
Lee RolfeAge
48Cause of Death
MissingInfo
Lee allan rolfe, a 48-year-old registered sex offender, disappeared from his rural garber, iowa home on april 13, 2008. He was reported missing to the clayton county sheriff’s office in elkader that same day. Lee allan rolfe (courtesy namus) lee allan rolfe (courtesy namus) officials described rolfe — aka “rolfey rolfe” — as a 5-foot-9 white male with blue eyes, brown hair, and weighing 230 pounds. Rolfe wears glasses, has a tattoo of yosemite sam on his upper left arm, and was on anti-depressant medication at the time of his disappearance.Agency
Iowa
Name
Lyman ElledgeAge
65Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
Lyman elledge, 65, was found bludgeoned to death on the front lawn of the barney wiskus home in colesburg, iowa, at about 7 a.M. On friday, september 28, 1951.Agency
Iowa
Name
Nels LouvringAge
51Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
Sometime between 11 and 11:30 p.M. On saturday, july 29, 1933, nels pedersen louvring, 51, was shot at his fayette, iowa home shortly after arriving home from work. Louvring, owner of dixie oil co. (aka nels louvring filling station), left the filling station at approximately 11 p.M. He parked his car in the family’s 315 water street garage, and was shot just as he was leaving the garage. A .38 caliber bullet — which entered louvring’s left side just above his waist and exited near his right shoulder — indicated the perpetrator had been kneeling and/or sitting low in wait to ambush louvring. Louvring staggered from the yard towards his home’s kitchen door, where he finally collapsed.Officials found him dead in a pool of blood, the cigar cash box and keys still near the victim’s hands. A .38 caliber shell casing was found embedded in the wood near the garage door.Louvring’s [second] Wife amy, and his stepdaughter’s family found him collapsed over the kitchen threshold — cash and receipts scattered around him — shortly after they heard the shot. The entire family — including louvring’s wife, his stepdaughter, stepson, and their respective spouses — had been at the store that night and departed the main st. Business just half an hour before louvring left the business to return home.Agency
Iowa
Name
Pitt DoxsieAge
34Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
On tuesday, october 26, 1897, patrolman pitt mcclellan doxsie, 34, was shot and killed in independence, iowa during a gunfight with two thieves. Patrolman doxsie had been patrolling the city’s downtown area on horseback when he stumbled on a burglary in progress.His body was discovered in an alley, and neither of the two thieves were ever apprehended.Agency
Iowa
Name
Tammy NitcherAge
2Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
First, it was 2-1/2-month-old tammy in january 1972. Two months later in march, 2-year-old sarah. Fast forward four years — and to another state — to 3-month-old crystal. And finally, almost a year to the day after crystal’s death, the youngest of them all — misti, just 5 weeks old.One by one, helen nitcher’s daughters all died under mysterious circumstances.Patterns got missed. Medical examiners struggled with inconclusive autopsy reports. But helen c. (née tenery) nitcher, later known as crystal price, had two dead daughters within 2-1/2 months — in iowa, that is — until nitcher relocated and the pattern repeated in abilene, texas.Two more dead infant daughters followed.News reports on the four girls’ successive deaths also had a strikingly familiar ring; officials reported all three infants, as well as the 2-year-old, dead on arrival.The mother’s explanations for the short-lived lives were conflicting at best; the stories varied depending on the city and state where the obituaries appeared, leaving astute readers as mystified as iowa and texas medical examiners, who never could quite pinpoint exact causes or manners of death.Iowa coroners had no way of knowing nitcher left iowa after her first two daughters’ deaths, only to have two more infants die in texas. And texas officials apparently were unaware of the two previous iowa deaths.Agency
Iowa
Name
Sarah Marie NitcherAge
2Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
First, it was 2-1/2-month-old tammy in january 1972. Two months later in march, 2-year-old sarah. Fast forward four years — and to another state — to 3-month-old crystal. And finally, almost a year to the day after crystal’s death, the youngest of them all — misti, just 5 weeks old.One by one, helen nitcher’s daughters all died under mysterious circumstances.Patterns got missed. Medical examiners struggled with inconclusive autopsy reports. But helen c. (née tenery) nitcher, later known as crystal price, had two dead daughters within 2-1/2 months — in iowa, that is — until nitcher relocated and the pattern repeated in abilene, texas.Two more dead infant daughters followed.News reports on the four girls’ successive deaths also had a strikingly familiar ring; officials reported all three infants, as well as the 2-year-old, dead on arrival.The mother’s explanations for the short-lived lives were conflicting at best; the stories varied depending on the city and state where the obituaries appeared, leaving astute readers as mystified as iowa and texas medical examiners, who never could quite pinpoint exact causes or manners of death.Iowa coroners had no way of knowing nitcher left iowa after her first two daughters’ deaths, only to have two more infants die in texas. And texas officials apparently were unaware of the two previous iowa deaths.Agency
Iowa
Name
Valerie KlossowskyAge
14Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
On tuesday morning, june 15, 1971, the partially clad body of 14-year-old valerie lynn klossowsky of waverly, iowa, was found on a creek bank under a bridge on a lonely country road three miles west of denver and about 10 miles southeast of waverly. An autopsy indicated the waverly-shell rock junior high school student had been strangled sometime late sunday or early monday.Agency
Iowa
Name
William MeadowsAge
36Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
Town marshal william lawrence meadows, 36, was shot and killed on monday, january 23, 1961, while investigating a burglary in progress at the hartmann packing plant in plainfield, iowa.Meadows, who’d worked his family’s farm for years and also volunteered as a scoutmaster, had barely stepped through the packing plant’s front entrance just after 2:15 a.M. Before being shot through the heart by what authorities believed to be a high-powered 30-30-caliber deer rifle. Meadows died instantly.Agency
Iowa
Name
Gary LackAge
58Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
Cause of death: drowning (in own blood) after a hospice nurse illegally administered a fatal dosage of an unprescribed drug she’d stolen from another client original investigating agency: medicare, iowa board of nursing, and iowa department of inspection and appeaAgency
Iowa
Name
Harold DoerringAge
66Cause of Death
MissingInfo
Sixty-six-year-old harold doerring was reported missing to the winneshiek county sheriff’s office in decorah, iowa, on february 16, 1997. Authorities found harold doerring’s truck abandoned on highway 218 south of mount pleasant in henry county on february 23, 1997. When they tried to contact him about the vehicle but could not find him, they discovered no one had seen doerring since february 16 in cedar falls, iowa.Agency
Iowa
Name
Rhonda KnutsonAge
22Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
Early on monday, september 7, 1992, rhonda anette knutson was murdered while working the 9 p.M. To 5 a.M. Shift at the phillips 66 convenience store in williamstown, iowa, in chickasaw county.The store manager found knutson’s body monday morning around 4:45 a.M. In a room near the back of the store.The williamstown store was open 24 hours a day and located six miles south of new hampton on u.S. Highway 63 and one-quarter mile north of highway junctions 63, 18, and 346.An autopsy concluded knutson died after being bludgeoned to death, and there were no signs of sexual assault.Agency
Iowa
Name
Glennis SorensonAge
41Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
St. Paul Police Department
Name
George JensenAge
61Cause of Death
Knife/StabbingInfo
Agency
Bloomington Police Department
Name
Candice HackettAge
45Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Kamani DavisAge
24Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
William IrvinAge
35Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Walter HaynesAge
30Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Anthony Stubbs JrAge
23Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Michael WhitelawAge
50Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Gavin SpiekerAge
21Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Jaquan OatisAge
28Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Crystal CollinsAge
36Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Andre Riley JrAge
24Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Coshaye BrownAge
19Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Birdell BeeksAge
58Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Derrick RodgersAge
25Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Jimmy StanbackAge
25Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Victoria DayAge
23Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Darnell WilkesAge
25Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Ricardo Orozco-NegreteAge
49Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Paul FallingAge
19Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Rastem AbubakarAge
24Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Abdulahi AwuniAge
19Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Cortney WoodsAge
22Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Miguel GarciaAge
0Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Susan SpillerAge
68Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department
Name
Eric FergusonAge
22Cause of Death
MurderInfo
Agency
Minneapolis Police Department