The Lost and the Found

Midwestern States => Iowa => Topic started by: Akoya on July 01, 2020, 09:18:16 am

Title: BABY JOHN DOE: WM, Infant, found in Iowa City landfill - 21 December 1992
Post by: Akoya on July 01, 2020, 09:18:16 am
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Four days before Christmas in 1992, a worker from a Kalona, Iowa sanitation firm found a naked, newborn baby boy’s body in a pile of trash at the Iowa City Landfill west of Iowa City.
Title: Re: BABY JOHN DOE: WM, Infant, found in Iowa City landfill - 21 December 1992
Post by: Akoya on July 01, 2020, 09:23:10 am
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Unidentified Baby John Doe
Homicide
Unidentified Baby John Doe
Newborn
Found in Iowa City Landfill
Iowa City, IA
Johnson County
December 21, 1992

Case Summary by Jody Ewing
Four days before Christmas in 1992, a worker from a Kalona, Iowa sanitation firm found a naked, newborn baby boy’s body in a pile of trash at the Iowa City Landfill west of Iowa City.

The caucasian infant — identified by the medical examiner as Baby John Doe — weighed 9 pounds and 3 ounces.

The landfill worker discovered the body on a Monday over the noon hour.

Despite below freezing temperatures early in the day, the baby’s body was not frozen. Pathologists told police the weather had been cold and cloudy enough to preserve the infant’s body for a longer period of time.

The baby, police said, could have been picked up on a route used by Iowa City Transfer & Storage Co. or by a private contractor who used a van to collect refuse.

Two other dump trucks used the landfill during the noon hour the day the boy was found. A vehicle from Goodwill Industries of Southeast Iowa had visited the landfill before noon to dump some mattresses, though Iowa City Police Chief R.J. Winkelhake said landfill operators believed the baby arrived after the Goodwill truck had already gone.

Investigators concentrated on the areas where trash had been picked up that Monday, which included sections of southern Iowa City, Coralville apartment complexes and the smaller towns of Lone Tree and Hills. They conducted numerous door-to-door and face-to-face interviews, and also spoke to those with knowledge about commercial dumpsters in Hills and Lone Tree.
Title: Re: BABY JOHN DOE: WM, Infant, found in Iowa City landfill - 21 December 1992
Post by: Akoya on July 01, 2020, 09:24:40 am
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The Iowa City Landfill and Recycling Center takes in approximately 125,000 tons of trash each year. It is about 400 acres in size — around half of which contains buried trash.
(Courtesy photo City of Iowa City)
Title: Re: BABY JOHN DOE: WM, Infant, found in Iowa City landfill - 21 December 1992
Post by: Akoya on July 01, 2020, 09:25:50 am
In an early January 1993 public briefing, Winkelhake told reporters police were still puzzled about how the baby died and how he ended up in the landfill. Nor did they know who the mother was or where she might be.

Iowa City Landfill
The Iowa City Landfill and Recycling Center takes in approximately 125,000 tons of trash each year. It is about 400 acres in size — around half of which contains buried trash.
(Courtesy photo City of Iowa City)

“Somebody knows exactly what happened,” Winkelhake said in a Cedar Rapids Gazette article published January 9, 1993. “We don’t know who that is at this point, but I think, for everybody’s sake, we would like to be able to resolve this matter. Everybody gets emotional with a child, and so everybody needs to know what happened out there.”

Winkelhake said the baby might have been born anywhere from five to seven days before he was found. Johnson County Medical Examiner T.T. Bozek had originally estimated a shorter time frame somewhere between a few minutes to 24 hours.

It is unknown if the newborn belonged to a local resident or whether he was dumped by someone just passing through.

Approximately 50 people attended “Baby John Doe’s” funeral. The infant was then laid to rest in Iowa City’s Oakland Cemetery.

Information Needed
If you have any information regarding this unsolved murder, please contact the Iowa City Police Department at 319-356-5275.

Sources:
Iowa City Police Department
“Cracking cold cases: Johnson County agencies consider forming a team to tackle unsolved murders,” by Zack Kucharski, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, December 12, 2006
“Cold Cases: Technology, tips help clear old homicides, but time takes toll on investigations,” by Christoph Trappe, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, September 21, 2003
“Baby remembered,” The Cedar Rapids Gazette, December 28, 1996
“Landfill baby case probe continuing: Investigators are interviewing area residents,” by Lyle Muller, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, January 9, 1993
Title: Re: BABY JOHN DOE: WM, Infant, found in Iowa City landfill - 21 December 1992
Post by: Akoya on July 01, 2020, 09:27:23 am
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Iowa City
Iowa
Title: Re: BABY JOHN DOE: WM, Infant, found in Iowa City landfill - 21 December 1992
Post by: Akoya on July 01, 2020, 09:29:00 am
Iowa City, Iowa

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Title: Re: BABY JOHN DOE: WM, Infant, found in Iowa City landfill - 21 December 1992
Post by: Akoya on July 01, 2020, 09:29:41 am
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