IA IA - Laura Van Wyhe, 21, Cedar Rapids, 25 Oct 1996

[CasesNeedClosing]

Including if Sam's father worked for Laura's mother, why would she employ an abusive drug addict to live and work for her?

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I could completely understand why Laura's mother would do that so she could keep her daughter and grandson close and hopefully somewhat safe. Also, if the husband could not hold a job elsewhere, this at least gave him something to do.

 

[CocoChanel]

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[CastlesBurning]

'Somebody knows something': $10k reward brings new attention to Iowa City woman's 1996 cold case murder | Little Village

 

[PeterPenelope]

The podcast on this case is excellent, very thought provoking: Bonaparte

 

[Juris911]

As the victim was dressed, when it was a temperate night, and carrying an extended pocket-knife; it seems to me she was prepared for a "girl-fight".

The Victim was dressed in multiple layers of clothing, the jacket was black , were her pants dark, relative to what was available to her, at the time? Seemingly, dressed in extra padding and dark clothes at night with a knife.

There was a blanket under the coat, extra padding to protect from expected hits?

What was the purpose of carrying an extended pocketknife, if not for immediate use? She was a conscientious mother. Seemingly, she would not tolerate a sharp object that could have easily been made safe simply by closing.

Arguendo: There was an event at the local bar. The expected female combatant shows with unexpected backup, cosh to the head, ran over her legs when driving away.

Telling a 5 year old that you are leaving to go get diapers, it is simply what a young child will understand for a.quick departure. And, what a 5 year old girl will repeat when noticing an infant with a wet diaper pulled off.

As to the male blood found on her clothing, possible red herring. For example, 1) it is not common to injure oneself when cutting off clothing. But, it does happen. Test the males associated with the First Responders, EMTs, hospital ED employees. Also, 2) possible cross-contamination. Sometimes, decon is not done so well. Was there blood from a previous patient left over on the backboard straps? In Those EMS Days, the backboard straps were hell to clean.

As to the grass stains on her underclothing, was she not found near grass? Presumably, her outer clothing would have been cut off. That would have exposed her undergarments to grass, patient packaging and movement would cause enough pressure for staining.

As to the lack of blood at the scene, possibly irrelevant. A trauma patient can exsanguinate without any external hemorrhage. In this instance, there is not enough information given as to the trauma sustained.

As to the waterbottle held upright in her hand, an instinctive reflex of a head-trauma patient. Commonly referred to as a "death grip".

As to the podcast, there seems to be alot of irrelevant suppositions discussed. And, alot of focus on emotion; especially, Ann's.

 

[Laughing]

Confused about many things here, but start with the geography.

Ms. Van Wyhe is listed as living in Cedar Rapids, but left Bonaparte, is the correct? Roughly an hour & a half drive between the locations per Google Maps. I don't think the roads have changed much, but likely travel took a little longer in the '90's.

Kahokia, Missouri is about another half hour south.

Is that right?

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[Juris911]

The Victim's bag in a tree, seems to be vindictive conduct. Imagine it being slung there after the Victim was incapacitated. (Consistent with a girl-fight.) Any chance of so-called "touch DNA" from that?

 

[SlamwiseGamgee]

I think the knife might actually just be incidental. Perhaps it's because I have a habit of not removing stuff from my jacket, but to me the most plausible to me is that either Laura herself or her assailant grabbed a jacket that the Bergman's had put away or just set down without emptying the pockets for Laura to wear. If it had been her knife, or one who's ownership was not known, I would be far more inclined to put stock in the idea Laura was heading for a physical confrontation.

 

[lawyerly]

While I have no inside information, I have a theory of the case and it puts a lot of emphasis on one disinterested witness who said they saw a woman in a black jacket walking down the same road Laura was walking down when a vehicle made a u-turn said something to the effect of “you !” and then followed the woman.

The other major piece of evidence is the clothing Laura was wearing. It was Tony’s clothing. If Tony had anything to do with it, it would’ve been really stupid for him to leave her dressed in his clothing. That’s my main thought. So while that doesn’t clear him, it makes it really highly unlikely to me anyway that he actually did the crime itself.

However, one explanation for her wearing his clothes that night is that they had slept together. That would also explain why an upset woman would be making a u-turn and following her. The other piece of evidence I find interesting is that her baby was naked and in the Bergman’s trailer. If Laura had left with her baby, and had been carrying him in that jacket, desperate to get away from the Bergman’s trailer, that also fits with being found in a compromising position by someone and fleeing. Honestly, the someone finding her with Tony (?) could’ve been Donny or Sarah.

I also find it interesting that she was even at the Bergman’s. It was never explained why she’d go with them at all. If she did have something going on with Tony—it would make more sense. I think she was found at the trailer with Tony by someone, left in a hurry with Samson. Someone or another person found her walking, beat her over the head and left her to die. That person took Samson back to the trailer.

I hadn’t seen this theory posted anywhere or even on the podcast so I thought I’d put it out there. It’s based on pure speculation of course and I don’t know of anyone who’s ever even supposed she may have been having an affair with Tony. I think if she were, probably only those two would’ve known about it. I find his call to the police very, very suspicious as well. It is possible he lied for Sarah and/or Donny but didn’t know the full details of what happened to her. He seems to have the most guilty conscience and seems to care about her the most. He’s the one calling the cops to check up if the description of the woman by the side of the road is Laura, in other words he had suspicions she didn’t make it home but didn’t know for sure. Maybe he was drunk and the details of the night were fuzzy. But he clearly has some survivors guilt that’s not the same as murderer-inserting-himself-into-investigation.

all of this would explain the knife as well. Maybe a scuffle took place at the trailer so Laura wanted to flee and also attempt to protect herself. I also think if the women who saw “a dog crawling” could’ve just pulled over to help maybe Laura would be alive today. With head injuries, you need medical assistance as quickly as possible. I doubt it was a dog at all because the women wouldn’t have remembered it.

I’m glad her son has been removed from the small town so he doesn’t have to constantly be in the shadow of this and I’m sure he’s tried so hard to remember anything he could. It’s all just very, very sad. But coming from a small town myself, the relationships can get twisted very quickly. This case has been keeping me up at night. I hope if he does know something, Tony will speak up.

 

[Newbie416]

While I have no inside information, I have a theory of the case and it puts a lot of emphasis on one disinterested witness who said they saw a woman in a black jacket walking down the same road Laura was walking down when a vehicle made a u-turn said something to the effect of “you *****!” and then followed the woman.

The other major piece of evidence is the clothing Laura was wearing. It was Tony’s clothing. If Tony had anything to do with it, it would’ve been really stupid for him to leave her dressed in his clothing. That’s my main thought. So while that doesn’t clear him, it makes it really highly unlikely to me anyway that he actually did the crime itself.

However, one explanation for her wearing his clothes that night is that they had slept together. That would also explain why an upset woman would be making a u-turn and following her. The other piece of evidence I find interesting is that her baby was naked and in the Bergman’s trailer. If Laura had left with her baby, and had been carrying him in that jacket, desperate to get away from the Bergman’s trailer, that also fits with being found in a compromising position by someone and fleeing. Honestly, the someone finding her with Tony (?) could’ve been Donny or Sarah.

I also find it interesting that she was even at the Bergman’s. It was never explained why she’d go with them at all. If she did have something going on with Tony—it would make more sense. I think she was found at the trailer with Tony by someone, left in a hurry with Samson. Someone or another person found her walking, beat her over the head and left her to die. That person took Samson back to the trailer.

I hadn’t seen this theory posted anywhere or even on the podcast so I thought I’d put it out there. It’s based on pure speculation of course and I don’t know of anyone who’s ever even supposed she may have been having an affair with Tony. I think if she were, probably only those two would’ve known about it. I find his call to the police very, very suspicious as well. It is possible he lied for Sarah and/or Donny but didn’t know the full details of what happened to her. He seems to have the most guilty conscience and seems to care about her the most. He’s the one calling the cops to check up if the description of the woman by the side of the road is Laura, in other words he had suspicions she didn’t make it home but didn’t know for sure. Maybe he was drunk and the details of the night were fuzzy. But he clearly has some survivors guilt that’s not the same as murderer-inserting-himself-into-investigation.

all of this would explain the knife as well. Maybe a scuffle took place at the trailer so Laura wanted to flee and also attempt to protect herself. I also think if the women who saw “a dog crawling” could’ve just pulled over to help maybe Laura would be alive today. With head injuries, you need medical assistance as quickly as possible. I doubt it was a dog at all because the women wouldn’t have remembered it.

I’m glad her son has been removed from the small town so he doesn’t have to constantly be in the shadow of this and I’m sure he’s tried so hard to remember anything he could. It’s all just very, very sad. But coming from a small town myself, the relationships can get twisted very quickly. This case has been keeping me up at night. I hope if he does know something, Tony will speak up.

This is maybe the most plausible theory I've heard. I think it most importantly includes Laura leaving with Samson. I think any compelling theory has to begin with Laura leaving the trailer with Samson. The reasons are twofold: One, she's left with everything she would need to have Samson with her overnight: baby blanket, cooked rice, bag with belongings. She's worn extra layers- the sweatpants and jacket, in case she has to sleep outside with him- or just to help keep them bundled up with night temps. Her intent is to sleep outside, or maybe she doesn't know where she's going to land, which also explains the knife. Laura is used to sleeping in tents and shelters etc., she's going to be well prepared.

But even more compelling to me is the bogus idea that Laura would leave the trailer, with a baby who is nursing and cosleeping (ie a baby who is 100% going to arouse at some point, then fully wake if he doesn't find mom and an opportunity to nurse) would leave her baby UNCONTAINED and UNSUPERVISED on the wide open trailer floor. Ie, she's going to leave him not in a crib or some sort of safety gate, and not let Tony or Sarah know she's leaving. Laura was not neglectful, and not intoxicated. No competent, fit, sober mother would do this. Again, that baby is going to wake up and have full, unsupervised access to the trailer to choke on something or hurt himself in many kinds of ways, even if the trailer is childproofed. Laura was about to open a daycare, she wouldn't have just overlooked this ginormous safety hazard she would be putting her toddler in. I'm not trying to point fingers at any particular person, or imply that people are lying. I just think whatever happened, she took her child with her when she left.

Sidenote, I personally think Leeanne may be somewhat of an unsung hero in this story. She isn't perfect, but what Samson experienced must have been highly traumatic for a 14 month old, and Leeanne stepped up with play therapy, speech therapy, and meetings with a psychologist. The podcast mentioned some of these were biweekly appointments, and that is no small task. Taking him to California was likely her way of removing him from a toxic and traumatic environment. Props to her.

 

[Newbie416]

Could the bag have been slung as a result of a hit-by-car?

 

[PeterPenelope]

This is maybe the most plausible theory I've heard. I think it most importantly includes Laura leaving with Samson. I think any compelling theory has to begin with Laura leaving the trailer with Samson. The reasons are twofold: One, she's left with everything she would need to have Samson with her overnight: baby blanket, cooked rice, bag with belongings. She's worn extra layers- the sweatpants and jacket, in case she has to sleep outside with him- or just to help keep them bundled up with night temps. Her intent is to sleep outside, or maybe she doesn't know where she's going to land, which also explains the knife. Laura is used to sleeping in tents and shelters etc., she's going to be well prepared.

But even more compelling to me is the bogus idea that Laura would leave the trailer, with a baby who is nursing and cosleeping (ie a baby who is 100% going to arouse at some point, then fully wake if he doesn't find mom and an opportunity to nurse) would leave her baby UNCONTAINED and UNSUPERVISED on the wide open trailer floor. Ie, she's going to leave him not in a crib or some sort of safety gate, and not let Tony or Sarah know she's leaving. Laura was not neglectful, and not intoxicated. No competent, fit, sober mother would do this. Again, that baby is going to wake up and have full, unsupervised access to the trailer to choke on something or hurt himself in many kinds of ways, even if the trailer is childproofed. Laura was about to open a daycare, she wouldn't have just overlooked this ginormous safety hazard she would be putting her toddler in. I'm not trying to point fingers at any particular person, or imply that people are lying. I just think whatever happened, she took her child with her when she left.

Sidenote, I personally think Leeanne may be somewhat of an unsung hero in this story. She isn't perfect, but what Samson experienced must have been highly traumatic for a 14 month old, and Leeanne stepped up with play therapy, speech therapy, and meetings with a psychologist. The podcast mentioned some of these were biweekly appointments, and that is no small task. Taking him to California was likely her way of removing him from a toxic and traumatic environment. Props to her.

Reading these last couple posts sent me back to listen to the podcast again. I 100% agree - the evidence about the type of mother Laura was, the items she was carrying when found and the disappearance of the clothes Samson was wearing that evening all make it very probable she left the trailer WITH her baby. This is far more believable than any theory about going to get diapers. Which of course means that someone who knew Samson must have been with her at the time she was attacked (in order to know where to take him back to).

I also agree the most plausible theory is that Laura left the trailer bundled up and with her baby because she didn’t feel safe to stay there anymore - either because of an altercation with Sarah/ Tony or because someone else joined them. She must’ve had a bit of time to put on the extra clothes and gather the baby things before leaving. The statement from the person who heard someone in a car yell “you b*tch” at a woman walking along the main street in a black jacket bolsters the theory of an altercation at the trailer.

It could be both - an altercation with Sarah/ Tony followed by a call to Bonaparte and the arrival of another person.

I cannot imagine how powerless and frustrated her loved ones must feel when there is so obviously more information out in the community and LE have been unable to obtain it. But it’s not the 90s any more - look at what happened in the Kristin Smart case. The genetic genealogy results may yet come in and alleged perpetrators charged. I hope so.