Woodbury County, IA, Unsolved Cold Cases:
The cases are listed in chronological order beginning with the oldest. Those with active links contain additional information and/or feature stories.
Donna Sue Davis
22 months of age
715 Isabella Street
Sioux City, IA
July 10, 1955
At approximately 9:30 p.m., Mary Davis put her 22-month-old daughter, Donna Sue, to bed in her crib after giving her a bath. Shortly thereafter, a white male partially removed the storm screen from the bedroom window, entered the residence and abducted Donna Sue from her crib. About that same time, several witnesses in the neighborhood observed a man acting suspiciously who appeared to be carrying something in his arms. The next afternoon, a local farmer found Donna Sue's diaper, plastic pants and pajamas in a rural ditch alongside a gravel road on the outskirts of South Sioux City, Nebraska. Her body was found a short time later near the road in the first two rows of a cornfield, three-quarters of a mile from where the clothing had been found and about eight miles from the Davis home. Donna Sue had been raped, sodomized, badly beaten, had a severe skull fracture, a lower-left fractured jaw, and had numerous burns on her body likely caused from cigarettes or a lighter.
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Ernest William (Billy) Isom II, 27 years of age;
Jesse James Hanni, 26;
117 Morningside Avenue
Sioux City, IA
December 3, 1974
At 11:22 a.m., the bodies of three persons were found brutally murdered in a rented two-story home.
The mother of victim Ernest Isom discovered the bodies.
Jesse Hanni was found fully clothed, wearing a winter jacket, shot once through the back and once behind the left ear in execution style.
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Maurice Kneifl
58 YOA
Sioux City Area
February 14, 1983
The SCPD
received a report of a missing person by Kneifl's
girlfriend, Joyce Fish (whom he'd dated for several
years), and her daughter Lori. Maurice was reportedly
last seen on Feb. 14, 1983, driving his 1981 dark brown
Fleetwood Cadillac, bearing Iowa license plate HIZ379. He
had left Joyce's residence around 9:30 p.m.
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Terri McCauley
18 YOA
33rd & Pavonia St.
Sioux City, IA
October 6, 1983
On Oct. 1,
1983, 18-year-old McCauley was reported missing by her
mother. She was reported last seen alive on Tuesday,
Sept. 27, 1983, at approximately 2:15 a.m. in the area of
W. 7th & Omaha in Sioux City. At approximately 8:15
a.m. on Oct. 6, 1983, her partially decomposed body was
located in a wooded area in the vicinity of 33rd &
Pavonia Street by a local resident walking his dog. The
victim had died from a shotgun wound to the
face.
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Ronald Leroy Zellmer
31 YOA
Sioux City Area
April 6, 1985
At approx.
5:50 a.m., South Sioux City Police located a 1984 Chevy
Cavalier -- registered to Zellmer -- parked on the south
end of the Veterans Memorial Bridge. Sioux City Police
were called to check Zellmer's residence at 1003 Pierce
Street, Apt. B-3, and found it empty with nothing unusual
within the apartment. Family members reported he had
suffered from depression for years. A search of the
Missouri River proved unsuccessful.
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Suicide?:
John Doe
200 Block of S. Lewis Blvd. (Hwy 75)
Sioux City, Iowa
March 25, 1986
At
approx. 9:42 a.m., Sioux City Police responded to a
report of a man down under a bridge near Marx Trucking.
Marx employees had observed smoke and a noxious odor
coming from the area the day before. Investigators
located the body of man -- believed to be between 35-50
years of age -- burned beyond recognition, with a gas can
located between the victim's legs. A nationwide search
has not determined the man's identity.
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Homicide:
Kevin Clark
26 YOA
1514 Villa Avenue
Sioux City, Iowa
December
8, 1991
Clark
and a group of friends had just left a party after 5 a.m.
Clark got into the back passenger seat of a friend's 1981
tan and brown Chevy Citation, which was parked out front
with three other persons in the vehicle. At approx. 5:19
a.m., a black male subject, 5'10", 165 lbs., approached
the vehicle with a 9 millimeter rifle. The subject stated
something like "M***** F*****, I finally caught up with
you!" and then began firing into the vehicle. Clark --
who had in his possession a 38 Titan Special revolver --
returned the gunfire, but was struck three times in the
torso.
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Homicide:
Betty Swetnam
73 YOA
1610 West 19th St.
Sioux City, Iowa
January 1, 1994
The
victim operated a massage business out of the basement of
her residence. When Swetnam's family couldn't contact her
by phone, they sent her grandson and granddaughter's
husband to check on her welfare. The grandson found his
grandmother dead at the bottom of the basement steps.
Investigators observed that the house had been ransacked,
with drawers dumped out of dressers. Swetnam had received
numerous stab wounds. Investigators interviewed every
client named in Swetnam's book as well as all relatives
and associates. No viable suspects were
developed.
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Kenneth Harker
34 YOA
Sioux City Area
October 9, 1996
Marie Harker came to the SCPD to report her adult son missing. According to Marie, Kenneth suffered from a head injury he'd received several years earlier that had left him disabled. On Oct. 5, 1996, Harker's 1977 white Chevy Suburban was tagged as an abandoned vehicle by the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office while parked on a gravel road (K-42). A search of Harker's residence at 504 Colon Street turned up no clues as to his whereabouts.
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David Redowl
27 YOA
610 West 3rd St.
Sioux City, Iowa
April 26, 1997
At approx. 2:00 a.m., Redowl and his 24-year-old sister, Sonja, had a physical altercation in the back yard of their mother's residence on West 3rd St., which both Redowl and his sister listed as their home. The SCPD and medical personnel were called at 2:07 a.m. Upon arrival they found Redowl unconscious and he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Mercy Medical Center. Cause of death was a stab wound to the chest. Because of conflicting witness statements and inconsistencies, no charges were ever filed.
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Wilbur Brown
47 YOA
603 West 5th St.
Sioux City, Iowa
Sept. 14, 1997
An area
resident returning home at approx. 5:30 a.m. noticed
Brown lying on the ground between a curb and the
sidewalk. After calling Sioux City Police, Brown was
transported to a hospital and died shortly thereafter. An
autopsy revealed he'd been beaten about the head and body
and died as a result of those injuries. Brown had
recently received and cashed his paycheck, though no
money was found on his person. Police interviewed
numerous people but no suspects were arrested.
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Homicide:
Patricia
Jauron
45 YOA
Hwy 141
Woodbury County, IA
May 26, 1998
Patricia
Jauron's body was discovered by her husband Gene at their
former home across the road from where they'd just moved
after she left to show someone a waterbed and didn't
return home. Patricia had been stabbed multiple times
with such force the blade broke off in her chest.
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Missing Person:
Greg Stover
44 YOA
DOB:
7/20/54
White
male
Missing since 3/8/99
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Adrian Reuwsaat
69 YOA
DOB: 1/28/33
White male
Missing since 11/3/02
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Helen Kelly
83 YOA
DOB: 8/26/21
White female
Missing since 5/18/05
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Anyone with information on any of the Sioux City cases
should contact Sioux City Police at 712-279-6390.