A Heavy Weight is re-releasing our coverage of Wilma June Nissen, a 23 year old mother of three whose homicide remains unsolved nearly five decades later.
On October 4, 1978, Wilma’s body was found along Highway 182 in Lyon County, Iowa, near Rock Rapids, by a utility worker laying cable. With little usable evidence at the scene, investigators could not identify her at the time, and she was listed as a Jane Doe for years.
In 2006, a forensic technician matched the unidentified victim’s fingerprints to an earlier arrest record from Los Angeles, finally restoring her name. Since then, Wilma’s daughter, Krissi Haas, has continued to push for answers and accountability, while investigators have pursued leads and tested limited physical evidence, including DNA that was reportedly too mixed to be useful at the time. Authorities have also publicly asked for help identifying people connected to the case, including individuals known by the aliases “Sugar” and “Peaches.”