Cold Cases in Iowa
ColdCaseIndex documents 8 cold cases in Iowa, spanning 1912–2018. 6 of these cases remain fully unsolved. Each case page includes documented details, status, and information on how to submit a tip.
By Type
By Status
All Iowa Cases
Mollie Tibbetts
Twenty-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts vanished while jogging in Brooklyn, Iowa. Her body was found a month later in a cornfield. Cristhian Bahena Rivera was convicted of her murder in 2021.
Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins
Cousins Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, disappeared during a bike ride near Meyers Lake in Evansdale, Iowa, in July 2012. Their bodies were found five months later in a wildlife area about 25 miles aw
Jodi Huisentruit
Television news anchor Jodi Huisentruit disappeared on her way to work at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa. Her car was found with signs of a struggle. Despite a 25+ year investigation and significant media attention, Jodi ha
Marc Allen
Thirteen-year-old Marc James-Warren Allen II vanished on March 29, 1986, after telling his mother he was walking to a friend's house near his home on Emma Avenue on Des Moines' south side. He never arrived and has not be
Eugene Wade Martin
Eugene Wade Martin, a 13-year-old Des Moines Register carrier, vanished in the early morning of August 12, 1984, while delivering Sunday papers on Des Moines' south side; only his bag of rolled newspapers was found at hi
Johnny Gosch
Twelve-year-old Johnny Gosch vanished while delivering newspapers in West Des Moines, Iowa. His case led to major reforms in how missing children cases are handled in the United States, including photos on milk cartons.
Michelle Martinko
Eighteen-year-old Michelle Martinko was stabbed to death in her family's car in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, shopping mall parking lot in December 1979. The case went unsolved for nearly 40 years until genetic genealogy led to
Villisca Axe Murders
During the night of June 9-10, 1912, eight people, including six children, were bludgeoned to death with an axe inside the Josiah Moore family home in Villisca, Iowa. The victims were the six members of the Moore family