IA IA - Maureen Brubaker Farley, 17, Cedar Rapids, Sep 1971

http://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/maureen-farley/


On Friday, September 24, 1971, two young boys out hunting discovered a woman’s body atop the trunk lid of an abandoned car in a wooded ravine near Cedar Rapids’ southwest edge. The victim was 17-year-old Maureen Brubaker Farley, a newly married woman not much older than the boys who found her

Missing, too, were several pairs of shoes: a pair of yellow patent leather dress shoes; white work shoes; brown sandals; brown moccasins. Vanous made it clear that if anyone found any of the missing items, they were to report to police where the items were found and when.

There are a couple of contradictions in the article. For one, how her body came to be on the car:

Assistant Cedar Rapids police chief Kenneth Vanous said they believed Mrs. Farley’s death occurred at a place other than where the boys discovered her body. Investigators theorized the young woman had been thrown from a passing vehicle and crashed through heavy vegetation onto the car’s trunk.

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the article then goes on to say:

Though answers to many questions still elude the family, there is one thing they find comforting, albeit in a quite unusual way; the killer placed Maureen’s body atop the car rather than leaving her in the dirt where she may not have been found for months.

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also a comment from the letter written by Violet Fowler, the mother of one of the boys who found Maureen to her mother:

As to why she was put on the trunk of the car there have been many theories.From the position of her body it is possible she crawled up onto the car rather than out of the ditch in her weakened condition

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Also fascinating in this article are the comments at the bottom including a few from "Kevin" one of the boys who found her.

I'm a little confused though about some of her personal items that were missing. The article states:

Farley’s purse, one of the items missing, contained a driver’s license altered to show she was 21 years old. Other more common items in the purse included make-up articles, rent receipts, family photos, a picture of a marine in uniform, a social security card and a green order pad from the restaurant she carried to make notes.

Also in the purse was a leather wallet with red velvet lining her husband David had made for her at the reformatory.

The purse was described as a brown vinyl bag with two straps and side pockets. It also had a red velvet lining, Vanous said.

Strangely enough, however, the only article of clothing missing from Farley’s body was her shoes. Her feet were clean, indicating she was not going barefooted when she died.

Missing, too, were several pairs of shoes: a pair of yellow patent leather dress shoes; white work shoes; brown sandals; brown moccasins. Vanous made it clear that if anyone found any of the missing items, they were to report to police where the items were found and when.

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BBM~ Where were these items? In her purse that was missing? Missing from her room? Was she carrying another bag? The article doesn't give any indication.

We need more clarification really. Those shoes are a puzzle.

One of the posters (Kim) on the original article has added a theory that might explain the shoes. I'm more inclined to think he returned to her room and took the shoes after the murder.
Also, the man who was there watching Kevin and his friend, that's odd. Kim thinks it would be unlikely that he happened to be there just as she was found, but I'm still thinking stranger things have happened.
I think Maureen's sister posted on the blog, she would know more.

This guy had links to Cedar Rapids, some articles were found in his possession that belonged to two missing girls from there.

Gerard John Schaefer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

News article
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=6352,1221953&dq=cedar+rapids+murder&hl=en

I'm a little baffled, too, about how they knew the contents of the purse -- had someone seen inside it recently who was able to tell LE what she most likely would have been carrying?

I don't know Backwoods but somebody knew what shoes were missing too. I doubt it was a random guess.

Remembering Maureen Brubaker Farley: https://www.facebook.com/RememberingMaureenBrubakerFarley

One of the many murder victiims found without shoes...

[...]
For more than four decades, Schenzel and her family have been left with questions: Why was Farley, only 17 years old, killed? Who did it? Will an arrest ever be made or a suspect positively identified?

Farley’s body was found on the trunk lid of a car by two boys who had gone hunting that day. At first, they assumed the woman was asleep.

The cause of death was determined to be a blow to her head.

[...]
Police said she borrowed money that day to buy a pack of cigarettes, but never showed up to collect her paycheck from the restaurant where she worked. Part of the pack of cigarettes was found in her room.

Police said when Farley’s body was found, her shoes were missing, and there was evidence she had been placed on the car. Her purse also was missing.

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/were-not-giving-up-on-cold-cases-20150926

I am thinking about Maureen today, and hoping that some day there will be some answers for her family.

Family of Maureen Brubaker Farley looking answers on 47th anniversary of her murder

SEP 14 2018

"...Mary Ann says she doesn’t believe police took Maureen’s case seriously enough at the time, telling her they assumed she was off with friends....

“This is the worst thing that could ever happen in our life,” Mary Ann said of her daughter’s murder. “It was just so horrible. I wake up every morning with that heavy feeling in my chest.”

Due to the advent of new technologies, investigators say there’s renewed hope that Maureen will get the justice she deserves.

In recent years, Investigator Denlinger says police have been able to use the DNA collected at the scene to create a DNA profile of the suspect. He also told Dateline the Cold Case Unit has been collecting DNA samples from people who knew Maureen at the time.

“We’ve eliminated 20 people so far, and we’re continuing to gather DNA and trying to identify people who are still alive who may have known her,” he told Dateline. He said the Cedar Rapids Cold Case Unit is actively working this case and are not going to give up searching for answers.

“Her death really affected my whole family in such a negative way,” Maureen’s sister Lisa, who is now a Deputy Sheriff in the Union County Sheriff’s Office in South Dakota, told Dateline. “We’re looking for closure,” she added. “We want someone to come forward and do the right thing. It's just so frustrating .”..."

Family of Maureen Brubaker Farley looking answers on 47th anniversary of her murder


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Well, it really seems that she knew her killer. I'm actually shocked this case was never solved.

Family of Maureen Brubaker Farley looking answers on 47th anniversary of her murder

"Investigator Denlinger told Dateline that when police went to Maureen’s apartment, nothing seemed out of place. Maureen’s car was still parked outside, and there were no signs of a struggle. The only thing missing from her room was her work uniform. Investigator Denlinger says waitresses at the restaurant where Maureen worked said they would occasionally leave their clothes at work.

According to Investigator Denlinger, Maureen had seen a friend the day she disappeared. The friend would later tell police that Maureen had mentioned she might be going on a date or meeting a man later that night. It is not clear if she ever met up with the unidentified man.

On September 24, one week after Maureen was reported missing, a couple of boys were hunting in a wooded area about three miles from Maureen’s apartment. Investigator Denlinger told Dateline the boys came across human remains -- a woman -- on the trunk of an abandoned car, overgrown with foliage. The woman’s body was partially clothed, Investigator Denlinger said. There was evidence of sexual intercourse, but it was unclear at the time if it could be classified as sexual assault."

DNA has identified a suspect, George M. Smith, who died in 2013:

Police Solve Cold Case of Murdered Iowa Teen Exactly 50 Years to the Day Her Body Was Discovered

Iowa teen's killer identified 50 years after her body was found

Police have identified the man they say killed an Iowa teen exactly 50 years to the day her body was found dumped in an abandoned junk car.

Cedar Rapids police revealed Tuesday that DNA testing confirmed George M. Smith was responsible for the 1971 slaying of 17-year-old Maureen Brubaker Farley.

Investigators were able to match his DNA to the suspect’s profile after tracking down one of his relatives earlier this year.

Cedar Rapids police solve 50-year-old murder of Sioux City native | Crime & Courts | siouxcityjournal.com

Smith had been a suspect early in the investigation after Brubaker-Farley's body was found on Sept. 24, 1971, but police couldn't prove it. Brubaker said she believed from the beginning that Smith was responsible.
[...]
Smith emerged as a suspect, was interviewed extensively but refused to take a lie detector test.