This section lists cases which have been unsolved for a substantial amount of time. With the help of IowaColdCases.org, we have posted information which may assist in solving these crimes.  |
Cold Cases
Unsolved Murder (Cold Case-2010) - Parham, John
$1,000.00 Reward- Unsolved Murder In the early hours of June 24th, 2010 John Parham was sitting with friends in his front yard when a subject appeared from behind his house and began firing into the group. Parham and another individual were struck and both were taken to the hospital. The other subject survived but Parham was pronounced dead. Due to the time of day witnesses were unable to get a good look at the shooter. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(from Iowacoldcases.org)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Marvin Parham, Jr.HomicideJohn Marvin Parham, Jr. Case Summary compiled by Jody Ewing using excerpts from the WCF Courier and Cedar Valley Crime StoppersJohn Marvin Parham, Jr., 58, sat on the front steps of his 413 Ricker Street home in Waterloo with 27-year-old Terence Terril Dixon when someone walked up and began shooting about 1:15 a.m. on Thursday, June 24, 2010.
Three bullets hit Parham in the chest, and Dixon ran off with gunshot wounds to his arm and abdomen. Parham was taken to Allen Hospital, where he died. Dixon, who resided at 1762 Flower St., was found about two blocks away at 315 Quincy Street. He underwent surgery Thursday at Covenant Medical Center and later was released. Neighbors said they overheard a heated discussion involving Parham about one hour before the shooting occurred. “They were sitting on the steps on Ricker when someone came around the corner and shot them,” Capt. Tim Pillack with the Waterloo Police Department told the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier in an article dated June 25, 2010. It sounded like a serious – but not angry – discussion, neighbor John Gaines told the Courier. Another neighbor, Freda, who declined to provide her last name, told the Courier she heard Parham talking in a serious tone. About an hour later, she said she was jarred from her sleep by sounds of gunfire.  Courtesy photo JEFF REINITZ / Courier Staff WriterInvestigators work the crime scene at the 413 Ricker St. home where John Parham was shot while sitting on his front steps. “It was like it was right in my ear,” Freda said. She said she counted about six shots. Both neighbors said it was surprisingly quiet once the shots faded, with no screaming or yelling. Investigators believe the shooter used a handgun, and officers found a number of spent shell casings in the area. Police said the handgun in the shooting hadn’t been recovered, but were asking people to come forward with information and hoping for a breakthrough that would lead to an arrest in the case. “There has to be some witnesses out there that know what’s going on,” Pillack said. “We need to talk to them.” Desire to work with young peopleParham’s brother Reginald Parham said his brother was someone who was trying to work with young people to keep them from making the same mistakes he did. Reginald Parham told the Courier:
They called him “Uncle” and “O.G.,” which, his brother said, stood for “Old Guy.”  Reginald Parham, the victim’s brother. (Courtesy WCF Courier) John Parham had served two prison stints in his early years, and he tried to convey that incarceration wasn’t a badge of honor but a lifelong obstacle to employment. Freda said she didn’t know a lot about her neighbor. They would wave “hi” when they passed. “He was a very nice person,” she told the Courier, recounting how he helped her out when her car was stuck in the snow. She said she was shocked to know that a violent crime unfolded right outside her window. “I can’t believe this happened,” she said. “My heart goes out to his family.” Reginald Parham said the community needs to be more involved with what is going on in their neighborhoods, and witnesses need to come forward. “They need to speak up and give the information that’s needed to try to stop these things,” Reginald Parham said.  Courtesy photo JEFF REINITZ / Courier Staff WriterPolice tape surrounds the home on Ricker Street where two men were shot early Thursday, June 24, 2010. In a Courier story published July 2, 2010, Waterloo Police Lt. Michael McNamee said the department continued to follow up on every lead they received. “At this point we just need to catch a break and get some good information that pans out,” McNamee said. Police encouraged anyone with information to call Waterloo Police at (319) 291-4340. About John Parham, Jr.John Marvin Parham, Jr. was born August 21, 1951, in Waterloo, the son of John O. Parham and Vitrue Hobbs. He married Ramona Rickett in 1985 in Waterloo, and the couple later separated.  Courtesy photo Chuck, findagrave.comJohn Marvin Parham is buried at Fairview Cemetery in Waterloo. John was formerly employed by the city of Waterloo and the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. He was survived by two daughters, Ramona Lisa Parham of Chicago and Vitrue Parham of Waterloo; a sister, Lisa Joy Parham-Sidney of Waterloo; and a brother, Reginald E. (Brenda) of Waterloo. (Reginald died of natural causes on Valentine’s Day, 2013. He was 59 years old.) John Parham was preceded in death by his parents, and a brother, Warren. Memorial services were held at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 1, 2010, at Payne Memorial AME Church, with burial in Fairview Cemetery. Public visitation was held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, 2010, at Sanders Funeral Service and for an hour before services Thursday at the church. Memorials were to be directed to the family at 1129 Vine Street. Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000.00 cash reward for information leading to an arrest in Parham’s unsolved murder case. Information NeededIf you have any information on John Parham Jr.’s unsolved murder, please contact theWaterloo Police Department at (319) 291-4340 ext. 3 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers at 855-300-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips anonymously through the Cedar Valley Crime StoppersConfidential Web Tip Information System. Sources:
|
Missing (Cold Case-2004) - Matlock, L.C.
|
$1,000.00 Reward- Missing Person/ Suspicious Disappearance
Murder (Cold Case-1959) - Gallagher, Melvin James (Regan)
 $1,000.00 Reward for unsolved murder.In 1959 a gas station clerk died of a shotgun blast to the head at the end of his shift. Although his murderer may be deceased his family still seeks answers. Anyone with information is asked to call the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4340 ext 7 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers at 855-300-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be sent with TipSoft or by texting the word CEDAR plus the information to CRIMES (274637). Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt out at any time. Text HELP for more information. Tips can also be left at WWW.CVCRIMESTOP.COM. Melvin James (Regan) GallagherHomicideMelvin James (Regan) Gallagher By Jody EwingHis young adult life had started out with a few uncertainties, but 22-year-old Melvin James Gallagher was finding his footing and making plans for what he hoped would be a bright future. He’d been deeply in love with two different women — Gloria and Patricia — and wanted to settle down with a good job and start raising a family. He’d first been engaged to Patricia, but after much soul searching, realized it was Gloria with whom he wanted to spend his life. He and Patricia broke off their engagement, and a short time after they went their separate ways, Patricia discovered she was pregnant with Gallagher’s child. Melvin and Gloria became engaged, and were to marry the following year on January 10, 1959. Some time during their engagement, Gloria also became pregnant. In the interim, Gallagher, who’d recently been discharged after serving with the Army, started working at the Clark Super 100 service station located at 210 Falls Ave. in Waterloo. He submitted an application for employment with the Waterloo Police Department, and also applied for entry to a chiropractic school. Now that that Army vet would have a wife and child, there would be expenses and he’d be leaving his mother and step-father’s home to make one of his own with his new family. He never got the chance to marry his girl. Never got the opportunity to meet his unborn children. Never got the time to fulfill any of his dreams. Gallagher Likely Knew His KillerHe’d been working at the service station just six months when, on a bitterly cold Saturday morning about 5:15 a.m., he was killed by a shotgun blast to the head as he prepared to end his night-shift. On January 3, 1959, exactly one week before his wedding day, he lay dying on a filling station floor behind frost-covered windows — his left hand still in his pocket — as his life and all he’d ever hoped for ebbed away and vanished.
One theory never fully discounted by police was that Gallagher knew his murderer. Clark Company officials said their employees had been told never to resist hold-up attempts. When talking casually with customers or friends, Gallagher frequently stood with his left hand in his pocket, which led investigators to believe the Army vet had been visiting with someone he knew. And, although $179 was missing from the station, an undisclosed amount was left behind — either not seen or not wanted by the killer. Money, officials said, may not have been the objective. On February 19, Patricia gave birth to the couple’s son, Michael. Later that year, Gloria gave birth to the couple’s twin daughters. Police steadily followed up on a number of leads; they all dead-ended and led nowhere. “But that’s all they were,” said Chief Harry Krieg in a January 3, 1960 Waterloo Courierarticle. “We had plenty of leads, but virtually nothing in the way of real clues.” Scores of persons were questioned, Krieg said, and several were given lie detector tests, but police never found enough real evidence with which they could work. Hope briefly emerged when a man wanted on a check charge in Waterloo was found in another state, a shotgun in his vehicle. Several circumstances led officials to believe he may have been connected with the homicide, but the man came up with an airtight alibi for the night of Gallagher’s murder. Sisters Offer RewardA year after Gallagher’s murder, two of his sisters — Mrs. Warren Nissen of Waterloo and Mrs. S.J. De Blasis of Washington, D.C. — offered a $750 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for his death. The reward was to remain in effect for six months.  Courtesy Waterloo Courier, Jan. 3, 1960 The sisters said the killing came so violently and unexpectedly that it never seemed real. “I feel if we could only know who did this thing, it wouldn’t be so hard to sleep at night,” Mrs. De Blasis told the Waterloo Courier on the one-year anniversary of her brother’s murder. The Washington sister had been vacationing with her husband in the West Indies when the killing took place. Back in Waterloo, Mrs. Nissen spent most of that day trying to contact her sister by telephone to relay the tragic news. “It was a horrible day,” Mrs. Nissen said in the Courier interview. “Besides this terrible thing happening, the phone kept ringing every few minutes as the operators tried to find my sister.” The sisters said their brother was the happy-go-lucky type and liked everybody he met, even though he seldom made real close friends. Gallagher’s sisters and police said they knew that offering the reward was strictly a shot in the dark, but were hopeful that renewed interest in the murder might turn up some small clue not yet known. It was not to be. About Melvin GallagherMelvin Gallagher was born May 19, 1936, to Mary V. (McGraw) Regan and James F. Gallagher. Survivors included his fiancée, Gloria, and their unborn twin daughters; an unborn son, Michael; his mother and step-father, Mr. and Mrs. James Regan of 219-1/2 W. 6th Street, Waterloo; and three sisters, Mrs. Warren Nissen of 825 Wisner Drive, Mrs. S.J. (Gertrude) De Blasis of Washington, D.C., and a half-sister, Mrs. Dave Heideman, also residing at 219-1/2 W. 6th St. in Waterloo. A parish Rosary was held at 8 p.m. the Monday following the murder at the Oppold Funeral Home in Waterloo. Funeral services were held January 6, 1959 at 9 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, with burial in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. A Waterloo veterans organization conducted the rites. Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers Offers Reward for InformationOn January 2, 2014, Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers announced that they are offering a $1,000 reward for information in Melvin Gallagher’s cold case murder. Launched in June 2012, Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers’ goal is to help keep Cedar Valley neighborhoods safer. The program allows citizens to report suspicious and criminal behavior while allowing them to remain anonymous. No calls are traced, and if a tip leads to an arrest the caller is eligible for a cash reward. CV Crime Stoppers believes “someone other than the criminal has information that can help solve a crime,” and works to help the community overcome two major issues in crime reporting: fear of reprisal, and the reluctance to get involved. Anyone with information about Melvin Gallagher’s unsolved murder is asked to call the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4340 ext 3 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers, 855-300-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be sent with TipSoft or by texting the word CEDAR plus the information to CRIMES (274637). Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt out at any time. Text HELP for more information. Anyone with information leading to an arrest is eligible for a cash reward. Anonymous tips may be sent through the Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers Confidential Web Tip Information System. Sources:
|
Black Hawk County in IowaMurder (Cold Case-2012) - Johnson, Martavious Taveros
 $1,000.00 Reward for Unsolved Murder Anyone with information is asked to call the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4340 ext 7 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers at 855-300-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be sent with TipSoft or by texting the word CEDAR plus the information to CRIMES (274637). Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt out at any time. Text HELP for more information. Tips can also be left at WWW.CVCRIMESTOP.COMMartavious Taveros Johnson Homicide Martavious Taveros Johnson Case Summary by Jody EwingMartavious Taveros “Tay Tay” Johnson, a 17-year-old former football player for East High School in Waterloo, was shot in the back on Thursday, January 5, 2012, after cracking a joke. According to a Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier article dated January 7, 2012, Johnson and his sister went to the 500 block of Sumner Street on Waterloo’s east side at about 8 p.m. to drop off the sister’s boyfriend. When a group walking down the street approached Johnson and inquired about his gang affiliation, Johnson apparently laughed and cracked a joke before turning to get back inside the vehicle. “He turned his back, and one of the dudes shot him in the back,” Johnson’s mother, Tanya Johnson, told the Courier. The teen was driven by friends to Allen Hospital where he later died. Investigators roped off part of Sumner Street on Thursday after the shooting and continued searching for clues into Friday morning. “We’re not sure what it (the argument) was about,” Lt. Michael McNamee told a reporter for the Courier. “We’re at the stage where we’re still interviewing people.”
One resident claimed to have heard a shot, but couldn’t pinpoint the direction from which it came. An autopsy conducted Friday confirmed Johnson died from a single gunshot wound. Waterloo Police brought in a 15-year-old for questioning, but wouldn’t say whether or not the teen was a suspect in Johnson’s murder. Waterloo police Sgt. Andrew Clark told KCRG Channel 9 on Saturday evening that no subject or subjects had been arrested or officially charged. All Sports, No GangsJohnson’s family members said they were given some details by people who were present when the shooting occurred. Willie Harrington, Jr., the victim’s uncle, told the Courier his nephew wasn’t involved with any gang and and believed he was shot because of his response to a question. According to family members, Johnson was far more interested in sports — particularly basketball and football — than he was in belonging to any gang. The former East High School student was more recently enrolled at Expo High. In the Johnson’s Waterloo home, football and basketball plaques from the teen’s days on the Logan Middle School teams stood next to portraits of a young man known to family and friends as “Tay Tay.” Johnson’s aunt, Steppie Perry, told the Courier her nephew was fast. “When he ran, you couldn’t catch him,” Perry said.
Johnson already had considered career options and was interested in either opening a barbershop or landing a job at John Deere, his mother said during the interview. On Friday evening, Jan. 6, between 150 and 200 friends and other individuals gathered outside the teen’s home for a vigil. Willie Johnson, father of the victim, spoke during the vigil and called on fellow parents to learn from the tragedy. “We want to turn that negative energy to positive energy,” Willie Johnson told the Courier the night of the vigil. “Use this as a stepping stone to teach your children to do better and know better.” Willie Johnson also asked residents to remain calm and not rush to judgment. “We want to let justice take its course, and we just want everybody to be at peace. That’s all we want,” he said. Davaris Morehead told the Courier he’d known Martavious his entire life. “He was everything that you want your kid to be,” he said. About Martavious JohnsonMartavious Tavarous “Tay Tay” Johnson was born July 6, 1994, the son of Willie Johnson and Tanya Faye Harrington-Johnson. He died Thursday, January 5, 2012, in Waterloo at age 17. He attended Expo High School and participated in football and basketball at Waterloo East High School. He was survived by his parents; 11 sisters, Whitney and Danielle Harrington, Ashley, Kendra, Diamond, Shaquinn, Raveone and Nevaeh Johnson, and LaToya McCullen, all of Waterloo, Briana Heffner of Tennessee and Kameelah Hardmon of Milwaukee; three brothers, Marquavious Johnson of St. Louis, Rodrecous Johnson of Waterloo and Ahamad Hardmon of Milwaukee; a nephew, Quaysshon Johnson, who was raised as a brother; his grandparents, Willie and Ethel Harrington Sr. and Mary Johnson, all of Waterloo; and great-grandparents, CillieMae Harrington and Tommie Harris, both of Jackson, Miss., and Charlotte Harrington of Waterloo. He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Willie Earl Roby; and great-grandfather, Walter Harrington Sr. Services were held at 11 a.m. Thursday, January 12, 2012, at Antioch Baptist Church, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery in Waterloo. Visitation was held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and for an hour before services Thursday, all at the church. Sanders Funeral Service assisted the family with arrangements. Memorials were to be directed to the family at 2207 E. Fourth St., where they received friends. Tay Tay enjoyed listening to and making music as well as being around family and friends. He favored his Uncle June and looked up to him as role model. He desired to do right, dreamed big and often talked about accomplishing great things. He was buried on his mother’s birthday. KCRG TV9 reports on the shooting of Martavious Johnson — Airdate Jan. 6, 2012 Information NeededIf you have any information regarding Martavious Johnson’s unsolved murder, please contact the Waterloo Police Department at (319) 291-4340 ext. 3, or the Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers at 855-300-TIPS. A $1,000 cash reward is available for any information that leads to an arrest in the case. You may also submit tips anonymously through the Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers Confidential Web Tip Information System. Sources:
|
Courtesy photo Matthew Putney/Courier Photo Editor
Courtesy photo WCF CourierMurder (Cold Case-2003) - Alonzo Nakia Quinn & Rhiannon Marie Olsen
 Alonzo Quinn  Rhiannon Olsen Alonzo Nakia Quinn |
Courtesy photo Amber Wendt / Courier Staff Photographer
Courtesy photo WCF Courier
Courtesy photo WCF Courier
Black Hawk County in Iowa
Courtesy photo Kim Menke, WCF Courier Staff PhotographerMurder (Cold Case-1959) - Melvin James (Regan) Gallagher
Cold Case Murder-$1,000.00 Reward Anyone with information is asked to call the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4340 ext 3 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers, 855-300-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be sent with TipSoft or by texting the word CEDAR plus the information to CRIMES (274637). Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt out at any time. Text HELP for more information. Anyone with information leading to an arrest is eligible for a cash reward. Melvin James (Regan) GallagherHomicideMelvin James (Regan) Gallagher By Jody EwingHis young adult life had started out with a few uncertainties, but 22-year-old Melvin James Gallagher was finding his footing and making plans for what he hoped would be a bright future. He’d been deeply in love with two different women — Gloria and Patricia — and wanted to settle down with a good job and start raising a family. He’d first been engaged to Patricia, but after much soul searching, realized it was Gloria with whom he wanted to spend his life. He and Patricia broke off their engagement, and a short time after they went their separate ways, Patricia discovered she was pregnant with Gallagher’s child. Melvin and Gloria became engaged, and were to marry the following year on January 10, 1959. Some time during their engagement, Gloria also became pregnant. In the interim, Gallagher, who’d recently been discharged after serving with the Army, started working at the Clark Super 100 service station located at 210 Falls Ave. in Waterloo. He submitted an application for employment with the Waterloo Police Department, and also applied for entry to a chiropractic school. Now that that Army vet would have a wife and child, there would be expenses and he’d be leaving his mother and step-father’s home to make one of his own with his new family. He never got the chance to marry his girl. Never got the opportunity to meet his unborn children. Never got the time to fulfill any of his dreams. Gallagher Likely Knew His KillerHe’d been working at the service station just six months when, on a bitterly cold Saturday morning about 5:15 a.m., he was killed by a shotgun blast to the head as he prepared to end his night-shift. On January 3, 1959, exactly one week before his wedding day, he lay dying on a filling station floor behind frost-covered windows — his left hand still in his pocket — as his life and all he’d ever hoped for ebbed away and vanished.
One theory never fully discounted by police was that Gallagher knew his murderer. Clark Company officials said their employees had been told never to resist hold-up attempts. When talking casually with customers or friends, Gallagher frequently stood with his left hand in his pocket, which led investigators to believe the Army vet had been visiting with someone he knew. And, although $179 was missing from the station, an undisclosed amount was left behind — either not seen or not wanted by the killer. Money, officials said, may not have been the objective. On February 19, Patricia gave birth to the couple’s son, Michael. Later that year, Gloria gave birth to the couple’s twin daughters. Police steadily followed up on a number of leads; they all dead-ended and led nowhere. “But that’s all they were,” said Chief Harry Krieg in a January 3, 1960 Waterloo Courier article. “We had plenty of leads, but virtually nothing in the way of real clues.” Scores of persons were questioned, Krieg said, and several were given lie detector tests, but police never found enough real evidence with which they could work. Hope briefly emerged when a man wanted on a check charge in Waterloo was found in another state, a shotgun in his vehicle. Several circumstances led officials to believe he may have been connected with the homicide, but the man came up with an airtight alibi for the night of Gallagher’s murder. Sisters Offer RewardA year after Gallagher’s murder, two of his sisters — Mrs. Warren Nissen of Waterloo and Mrs. S.J. De Blasis of Washington, D.C. — offered a $750 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for his death. The reward was to remain in effect for six months. The sisters said the killing came so violently and unexpectedly that it never seemed real. “I feel if we could only know who did this thing, it wouldn’t be so hard to sleep at night,” Mrs. De Blasis told the Waterloo Courier on the one-year anniversary of her brother’s murder. The Washington sister had been vacationing with her husband in the West Indies when the killing took place. Back in Waterloo, Mrs. Nissen spent most of that day trying to contact her sister by telephone to relay the tragic news. “It was a horrible day,” Mrs. Nissen said in the Courier interview. “Besides this terrible thing happening, the phone kept ringing every few minutes as the operators tried to find my sister.” The sisters said their brother was the happy-go-lucky type and liked everybody he met, even though he seldom made real close friends. Gallagher’s sisters and police said they knew that offering the reward was strictly a shot in the dark, but were hopeful that renewed interest in the murder might turn up some small clue not yet known. It was not to be. About Melvin GallagherGallagher’s survivors included his fiancée, Gloria, and their unborn twin daughters; an unborn son, Michael; his mother and step-father, Mr. and Mrs. James Regan of 219-1/2 W. 6th Street, Waterloo; and three sisters, Mrs. Warren Nissen of 825 Wisner Drive, Mrs. S.J. (Gertrude) De Blasis of Washington, D.C., and a half-sister, Mrs. Dave Heideman, also residing at 219-1/2 W. 6th St. in Waterloo. A parish Rosary was held at 8 p.m. the Monday following the murder at the Oppold Funeral Home in Waterloo. Funeral services were held January 6, 1959 at 9 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, with burial in Mt. Olive Cemetery. A Waterloo veterans organization conducted the rites. Information NeededIf you have any information about this crime, please contact the Waterloo Police Department’s Investigations Division at 319-291-4340 or e-mailpillackt@waterloopolice.com. Sources:
|
Murder (Cold Case-1993) - Gladys Dorothy Held
Anyone with information is asked to call the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4340 ext 3 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers, 855-300-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be sent with TipSoft or by texting the word CEDAR plus the information to CRIMES (274637). Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt out at any time. Text HELP for more information. Anyone with information leading to an arrest is eligible for a cash reward. Gladys Dorothy HeldHomicideGladys Dorothy Held Gladys D. Held, an 83-year-old retired personal secretary, was beaten and strangled at a Waterloo senior citizens home around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8, 1993. Held resided alone in a third-floor apartment at the Walnut Court Retirement Community complex at 315 Walnut Street. A senior home companion became concerned when Held didn’t show up for an in-house worship service Thursday, and went Held’s apartment to check on her at approximately 11 a.m. The senior home companion found Held’s door unlocked, and once inside the apartment, discovered Held lying the wrong way in her bed, her room tossed. An autopsy concluded Held had been beaten in the head with a telephone and then strangled. In a Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier article dated Dec. 10, 1993, Police Chief Bernal Koehrsen said Held’s death was originally treated as an elderly person who died in her sleep. Waterloo Fire Department paramedics and the Waterloo Police Department were called in to investigate, and an autopsy report confirmed strangulation. Police told the Courier they knew how entry was gained to the building and to Held’s apartment, but were not releasing that information because of the ongoing investigation. Koehrsen said police also had determined a motive, but couldn’t release that information, either. The Dec. 10 story in the Courier also reported:
“She was such a nice woman, a really beautiful lady. She was always immaculately dressed and with her hair done,” Wenthe said. Held was a small woman at 5-foot-4 inches and weighing 110 pounds.  Courtesy The Gazette, Dec. 16, 1993 | Download the PDF document A resident on the first floor — who’d kept her own apartment unlocked so a woman she’d hired to help could get in — told officials a man had entered her apartment and asked for money, but left when she told him she didn’t have any. Also on the first floor, residents in another area reported that one of the glass panels of the locked door facing Iowa Street had been broken out, but the door was fixed early in the day on Thursday. A Courier story dated Friday, Dec. 31, 1993, said they had obtained a copy of Held’s death certificate, which showed Held’s time and date of death as 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8. Dr. Mark Bickley, Black Hawk County medical examiner, signed the certificate and reported Held’s cause of death as “strangulation.” The certificate stated death was “immediate.” Another Retirement Home Resident KilledThe day after Held’s body was discovered at the Walnut St. facility, 87-year-old Jacob “Jake” Biretz was found dead three blocks away in another Waterloo retirement home. Biretz was found on his sofa, his arms crossed over his chest, and his death was also ruled a homicide. He’d been suffocated with a pillow. According to his death certificate, signed by Black Hawk County Medical Examiner Dr. Albert Dolan, it took several minutes for Biretz to die. On Monday, Dec. 13, 1993, Waterloo police released the following statement concerning Held’s and Biretz’s murders:
No suspects were ever arrested in either case, though Waterloo police later said they believed the murders may have been committed by the same person. Reward OfferedIn January 1994, Held’s son, Donald Newberry — owner of Newberry’s Ice Cream Shop in Cedar Falls — offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or people responsible for his mother’s murder. “The longer you go, the harder it is to get the person,” Newberry said during a Jan. 7, 1994 press conference held at the Waterloo Chamber of Commerce. Newberry, who became choked up during the press conference, told the Courier he and his family were “repulsed at the cowardly act” of the killing. “Nobody should die the way she died,” Newberry said. “She did fight, as best as an elderly woman can fight, I guess.” In the Courier’s January 1994 story, Newberry said his family wasn’t allowed into the apartment until eight days after the murder. “So many strange things” were done in the apartment, he said, alluding to items that were in the wrong place but not taken from the apartment. Newberry also praised the Waterloo Police Department for what he called “excellent” work in their ongoing efforts to locate his mother’s killer or killers. About Gladys HeldGladys Dorothy (Rogers) Held was born in Waterloo, Black Hawk County, Iowa, on July 19, 1910 to Burt Rogers and Minnie Louells (Baumgartner) Rogers. She and her husband, Lester Eugene Held, who died in 1971, had both worked at Rath Packing in Waterloo. Mrs. Held had been George Rath’s personal secretary. Gladys later married James Elwood Newberry. He passed away Dec. 27, 1976. Her murder remains unsolved. Information NeededCedar Valley Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000.00 reward for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4340 ext. 3 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers at 855-300-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be sent with TipSoft or by texting the word CEDAR plus the information to CRIMES (274637). Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt out at any time. Text HELP for more information. Anonymous tips may be sent through the Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers Confidential Web Tip Information System. Sources:
|
Murder (Cold Case-2002) - Martavious “Tay” DeShaun Robinson and Calvin Maurice Rash
Double Homicide
Martavious “Tay” DeShaun Robinson, 20 Case Summary compiled by Jody EwingOn Saturday, September 21, 2002, Martavious “Tay” DeShaun Robinson, 20, of Waterloo, and Calvin Maurice Rash, 28, of Chicago, were shot to death as they left the home of an acquaintance at 408 Thompson Ave. in Waterloo. Rash died that same evening. Robinson died the following Tuesday, September 24, at Allen Hospital. By March, Waterloo police announced they were mounting simultaneous, coordinated investigations to crack two unsolved murder cases in the previous six months that left four people and a near-term unborn child dead, in addition to a March 6, 2003 shooting that left two men critically injured.  Courtesy The Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier “We are looking at all leads, and all connections. There’s a special investigation on each of these cases,” Waterloo Police Chief Thomas Jennings said in a March 7, 2003 article published in the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. “We’re looking at any and all avenues and all directions for any possible leads and possible clues. We have all our resources devoted to locating these people and holding them accountable for their actions.” The Courier reported that a connection among the three incidents had neither been confirmed nor ruled out. “Any time you have incidents of violence like this, you always look at, is there a connection,” Jennings said. In addition to Robinson and Rash’s unsolved murders, police were also investigating the January 3 slayings ofAlonzo Quinn and his girlfriend, Rhiannon Olsen of Cedar Falls, who was nine months pregnant at the time she and Quinn were slain. The unborn child, a boy the couple planned to name Jalen, didn’t survive. The March 6 shooting involved Samuel Lavar Landfair, 23, of 116 Harrison St., and Jimmie Junior Walker, 22, of 2723 E. Fourth St. in Waterloo. Both were shot several times in a nightclub parking lot at Edwards Street and old Logan Avenue. Each was in critical condition at Allen Hospital but survived. Waterloo police acknowledged that at least two of the three incidents apparently involved drugs or occurred in areas of apparent drug activity, but said the incidents didn’t necessarily signal an increase in overall drug activity in the community. Jennings said the police department was utilizing neighborhood associations, its street crimes unit, the Tri-County Drug Task Force and criminalistics laboratories. In addition, he said local police were working very closely with the Cedar Falls Police Department and the county sheriff’s office, and were asking for the public’s help with the unsolved shootings. “These are acts being done against specific individuals,” he told the Courier, stressing that the incidents were not random.  Courtesy The Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier Making the ConnectionsOfficials haven’t confirmed whether or not Robinson and Rash’s murders were somehow connected to Anthony Marcellus Cole of Waterloo and Cole’s September 2002 trip to Chicago, though the Courier identified many connections in an article published May 23, 2004. It started, the Courier reported, when Chicago police found a suitcase full of cash in the car Cole was driving on September 20, 2002. The Courier reported the following findings:
Cole was eventually convicted of attempted murder and other charges and sentenced to 50 years in prison. In addition to the Robinson and Rash double slaying, Quinn and Olsen’s murders also remain unsolved.
About the VictimsCalvin M. Rash was born December 16, 1972. Martavious Robinson was born July 23, 1982 in Iowa City to Faye Robinson and Cliff Amborse Jr. He was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Waterloo. Information NeededIf you have any information regarding this double homicide, please contact the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4333, ext. 3, or contactCedar Valley Crime Stoppers at 1-855-300-TIPS (8477). Anyone with information leading to an arrest is eligible for a $1,000 reward. You may also submit tips anonymously through the Cedar Valley Crime StoppersConfidential Web Tip Information System. Sources:
|
Courtesy photo Chuck, findagrave.comMurder (Cold Case-2003) - Alonzo Nakia Quinn and Rhiannon Marie Olsen
Alonzo Quinn Rhiannon Olsen Alonzo Nakia Quinn |
Murder (Cold Case-1995) - Angela Renee Buck
 Angela Buck (photo courtesy Korene Shelton) Angela Renee BuckHomicideAngela Renee Buck Case Summary by Jody EwingOn Friday, August 11, 1995, two men hunting for turtles discovered a body in a ditch near a creek on North Pilot Grove Road in Black Hawk County, Iowa. The body lay just below a short bridge in a wooded area about one and one-half miles east of Independence Avenue in Waterloo and south of Dunkerton.
Officials identified the body as that of 37-year-old Angela Renee Buck of Waterloo, and believed she had been dead not more than two days. An autopsy determined cause of death as a single gunshot wound to the chest. According to published reports, Jeff Edgar, 33, of Waterloo, and Brad Hague, 34, of Jesup, were looking for places to set turtle traps when they stumbled upon Buck’s body. As they crossed the North Pilot Grove Road bridge, they saw the body lying about six feet from the water. The men went to a nearby farmhouse and notified officials. On Sunday, August 13, the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office announced it was handling the case as a homicide, but did not identify any suspects or a motive. [Former] Black Hawk County Sheriff Mike Kubik said officials weren't sure if the body had been dumped at the creek or if the death occurred there, and no arrests have been made in the case. Officials said Buck did not have a permanent address, but was from the Waterloo area. She had worked as a nurse’s aid and later worked at Ravenwood Health Care Center.
Connection Studied, Ruled OutThree days before Buck’s body was discovered, the body of 24-year-old Connie Jo Choate Bodensteiner of Des Moines was found in a basement storage unit in a Des Moines south side apartment. Bodensteiner had been strangled. Both women had records of prostitution and at one time had worked for Greg Peterson, a “John” who operated a prostitution service out of his Urbandale, Iowa, mobile home. Authorities investigated possible connections between the two murders, but later said they were not connected. “Their paths had crossed, but there’s nothing we found at all that these were related,” Des Moines Police Sgt. Tom Trimble told the Cedar RapidsGazette in an article published August 18, 1995. “There were no real similarities at all in the method.” A business rival beat Peterson to death in August 1994, a year before Buck’s murder. About AngelaAngela Renee Buck was born April 17, 1958, in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Richard and Lorene (Crowley) Buck. She married Dwight Shelton in Waterloo, and the couple later divorced. Family and friends described Angela as a woman with a big heart who loved her four children, but who fell upon hard times and in with the wrong crowd. In 1970 at age 12, Angela was selected as the Evansdale Junior Miss, was a violinist in the school orchestra and also was interested in horseback riding. Prior to her death, she was attending school in Madison, Wis., to become a radio announcer.
She was survived by two sons: Damien Spooner of Evansdale and Nathaniel R. Shelton of Marshalltown; two daughters, Renee R. Shelton and Korene C. Shelton, both of Marshalltown; her father and stepmother, Richard and Nora Buck of Waterloo; two sisters, Alana R. Buck of Waterloo and Amanda M. Tix of Rochester, Minn.; two brothers, Aaron E. Buck of Layton, Utah, and Anthony R. Buck of San Luis Obispo, Calif.; and two stepbrothers, Jeffery and Daniel Schatz, both of Waterloo. She was preceded in death by her mother. Memorial services were held at 2 p.m. on Thursday at the Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery chapel, with burial in the cemetery. Visitation was held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Kearns, Huisman-Schumacher Chapel on Kimball and for an hour before services Thursday at the cemetery. Memorials were to be directed to the Waterloo DARE program. Information NeededAnyone with information regarding Angela Buck’s unsolved murder is asked to contact theBlack Hawk County Sheriff’s Office at 319-291-2587. Sources:
|
Courtesy photo Matthew Putney, WCF Courier
Courtesy photo Iowa Gravestone Project
1-10 of 23