Sparta, WI Area Cold Cases

Name

Ashley Downing

Age

77

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

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 Burns

Age

55

Cause of Death

Missing

Info

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 Dietrich

Age

30

Cause of Death

Missing

Info

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 Jaeger

Age

37

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

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

Crystal Arensdorf

Age

20

Cause of Death

Missing

Info

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 Rafferty

Age

58

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

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 Fischer

Age

84

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

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 Shireman

Age

21

Cause of Death

Stabbing

Info

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 Bouzard

Age

53

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

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 dubuque

Agency

Iowa

Name

Kenny Johnson

Age

14

Cause of Death

Strangulation

Info

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 park

Agency

Iowa

Name

Kevin Griebel

Age

36

Cause of Death

Missing

Info

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 maquoketa

Agency

Iowa

Name

Lee Rolfe

Age

48

Cause of Death

Missing

Info

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 Elledge

Age

65

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

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

Marlon Barber Jr

Age

15

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

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

Matthew Carter

Age

21

Cause of Death

Hit And Run

Info

Eight days after a new iowa hit-and-run law went into effect, matthew adam carter, 21, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in the early morning hours on sunday, july 9, 2006, while walking home from a camping outing with friends and family members near monticello, iowa.

Agency

Iowa

Name

Nels Louvring

Age

51

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

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

Paul Knockel

Age

53

Cause of Death

Missing

Info

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

Pitt Doxsie

Age

34

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

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

Scott Althoff

Age

23

Cause of Death

Hit And Run

Info

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 Martin

Age

8

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

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 Martin

Age

4

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

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 Hoerstman

Age

45

Cause of Death

Missing

Info

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

Valerie Klossowsky

Age

14

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

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

Kenny Johnson

Age

14

Cause of Death

Ligature/Strangulation

Info

Agency

Dubuque Police Department

Name

Amos Mortier

Age

27

Cause of Death

Murder

Info

Went missing from the rental home he lived in while attending madison area technical college. Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact the fitchburg police department at (608) 270-4300.

Agency

Fitchburg Police Department

Name

Lofton Sprouls

Age

27

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

Outside an apartment building in the nob hill complex, near 1116 moorland road on madison's south side.Deleon d. Harland, 22, of chicago, who prosecutors say is the "Prime suspect" in sprouls' death, is being held in dane county jail on a charge of obstructing police investigating the homicide and could be charged at a later date.

Agency

Dane County

Name

Brittany Zimmermann

Age

21

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

An autopsy report said zimmermann died of "Complex homicidal violence including multiple stab wounds and strangulation." her downtown apartment at 517 w. Doty st., madison.Police are investigating but have no suspect.

Agency

Dane County

Name

Larry Gardner

Age

56

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

Oakridge apartments, 2209 cypress way, on madison's south side.Last june, a judge dismissed a felony murder charge against a 16-year-old boy accused of taking part in a robbery in which gardner was shot to death. Prosecutors said the state no longer could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the boy was an accomplice to an unidentified man who shot gardener.

Agency

Dane County

Name

George Thomas

Age

65

Cause of Death

Trauma

Info

Thomas suffered multiple forms of trauma, but authorities have not said how he was killed.King's inn, 915 w. Beltline, on madison's south side.Under investigation.

Agency

Dane County

Name

Kelly Nolan

Age

22

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Authorities have not said how she died.Unknown. Nolan's body was found in a wooded area off schneider road in the town of dunn on july 9, 2007.Police are investigating but have no suspect.

Agency

Dane County

Name

Amos Mortier

Age

27

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

Date unknown. He was last seen at his rural fitchburg home nov. 8, 2004 and is presumed to have been murdered. His body has not been found.Jacob r. Stadfeld, 33, who is in jail awaiting trial in an alleged large-scale marijuana distribution scheme, is considered a suspect in mortier's disappearance but has not been charged.

Agency

Dane County

Name

Gregory Bray

Age

26

Cause of Death

Shooting

Info

His duplex at 6403 raymond road on madison's southwest side.John high, 36, who is serving a federal prison sentence for gun possession, is considered a suspect in bray's death but has not been charged.

Agency

Dane County

Name

Harold Doerring

Age

66

Cause of Death

Missing

Info

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 Knutson

Age

22

Cause of Death

Homicide

Info

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

Linda Wegner

Age

31

Cause of Death

Knife/stabbing

Info

Agency

La Crosse Police Department

Name

Angelina Wall

Age

22

Cause of Death

Undisclosed

Info

Agency

Eau Claire County Sheriff’s Office