Northwest Iowa — One northwest Iowa state legislator thinks it’s high time the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation had a Cold Case Unit to try and solve some of the backlog of unsolved cases in the state.
Representative Skyler Wheeler, of Orange City, along with District 29 Representative Wes Breckenridge, have submitted House File 63, which would establish a Cold Case Squad within the DCI. This is not the first time Wheeler has submitted such a bill, however. He talks about his motivation for submitting HF63.
(As above) “My predecessor, John Kooiker, he had actually filed this bill…I think it was his last year that he was down there, and out of respect for him, initially, I said, ‘You know I’m going to take up some of his issues, some of the things he was working on out of respect for him and try and see if we can get them passed.’ I have the same thing with a couple of bills Dwayne Alons used to file, too, and was trying to get through. John’s cold case unit bill I thought was very interesting. And having a conversation with him, he was very passionate about the Huisentruit case up in Mason City.”
Jodi Huisentruit was a local Mason City TV news anchor who disappeared from the parking lot of her apartment building in June of 1995. That case remains unsolved.
Wheeler tells us that Iowa once had a Cold Case Unit.
(As above) “In Iowa we used to have a Cold Case Unit actually established in Iowa. It was cut, I think a decade or so ago, just based on general budget cuts. And so we go back to the Cold Case Unit…the Cold Case Unit as used in other states…has been used successfully in other states. And typically it’s just two…essentially agents, two detectives who get a load of what the state’s working on for cold cases, or what the state knows of for cold cases. They open the files, they open the books, they open the boxes and start going through and trying to solve these, or trying to look into any leads or clear up any doubts in any minds, or anything like that.”
Wheeler says there are a large number of unsolved cold cases in the state, some going as far back as the 1960s.
(As above) “We have a little over 160 cold cases that the State is aware of, or has been asked to be involved in. In the State of Iowa there’s actually more cold cases outside of that, it’s just that’s what DCI and DCF are aware of. And so you think about that and you think of the families and the friends and the communities that don’t have closure, don’t have an answer on what happened to this person. And a lot of these cases probably involved foul play, there could have been other things that happened, as well.”
He says the cost of establishing a Cold Case Unit is minimal.
(As above) “We spend so much money on so many things across the state, and a lot of things we don’t need to spend money on. This would be $300,000 for two detectives who would be trying to get answers and bring justice for these families who have, in some cases, been waiting for 30 or 40 years to get an answer on it.”
Wheeler says with the ongoing advances in DNA and other forensic technology, some of the cases that were once unsolvable, could now be closed, should a Cold Case Unit be established in the Division of Criminal Investigation. Wheeler went on to say that he’s optimistic about the bill’s chances this year, citing much bipartisan support.
If you’d like to take a look at the actual bill, HF63, CLICK HERE.
