Pod Insights Criminology Wilma June Nissen About this episode On October 4th, 1978, in Iowa, a woman was found face down in a deep ditch about twenty feet from the road. No identification was found with her body, and being in an advanced state of decay, police had no way to determine who she was. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss Wilma June Nissen. Years later, the police were able to identify the woman through fingerprints as Wilma June Nissen. The investigation into her death began from there. Wilma's daughter, Krissy, joined us for this episode to discuss her mother's life and her fight for justice. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Links: Wilma June Nissen Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/wilma_june_nissen_cold_case/?igsh=MnM5ODdqcHV3djFq# Wilma June Nissen Reddit page: https://www.reddit.com/r/WilmaJuneNissen/?share_id=Y6h_eSNurlLwep6nJuCt3&utm_content=1&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1&rdt=43810 Wilma June Nissen Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/950469630056425/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised.
0:37 Speaker 01 Hello everyone and welcome to episode 353 of the Criminology Podcast. This is Mike Ferguson.
0:43 Speaker 02 And this is Mike Morford.
0:45 Speaker 01 Morph, how you doing buddy?
0:46 Speaker 02 I'm doing good. How you doing?
0:48 Speaker 01 I'm doing great. My wife is on vacation down in your neck of the woods, Florida. She's on her spring break. Left me here with the dogs.
0:58 Speaker 02 So is it, is it a vacation for you, like a bachelor's vacation? Or is it for her to get away from you?
1:04 Speaker 01 I actually think it's both. When you think about being married 30 years, which we have, you know, do you need a little break every now and then? Maybe it's a good thing. It's not a bad thing.
1:16 Speaker 02 Yeah. What's that old saying? Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
1:19 Speaker 01 Yeah, it, it actually does. It really does. Let's go ahead and do our Patreon shout outs. We had Catherine Lister and Betty June Speth. So some great new support. We really appreciate that.
1:33 Speaker 02 Yeah, thank you so much to everybody that takes the time to support the show for anyone else that would like to. You can do so by going over to patreon.com/criminology to get started.
1:43 Speaker 01 All right, it's time to jump into this week's case. And this time around, we're talking about a woman who vanished almost half a decade ago. And although her remains were found long ago, she wasn't identified until years later using her fingerprints. For years, the case of the unidentified woman, who was thought to likely be the victim of a homicide, stumped police. Now they know that Jane Doe is actually Wilma June Nissen. Complicating matters is that Wilma was never reported missing. So police weren't out looking for her. Now that one part of the mystery is solved and police know who Wilma is, they want to find out who's responsible for her death.
2:26 Speaker 01 Just as determined to find that out, if not more, is Wilma's biological daughter Chrissy, who was just a baby when Wilma vanished. Chrissy has been able to piece some things about her birth mother together, but there's a lot she doesn't know and hopes that maybe someone listening will have answers. Chrissy joined us to discuss Wilma's case and you'll hear from her in this episode.
2:50 Speaker 02 To understand what happened to Wilma, we have to go back to her childhood and understand that Wilma grew up in terrible conditions and circumstances. Wilma's mother had left the family when she was just eight years old. Her younger sister is deaf and mute. Their father was profoundly neglectful, if not downright abusive. And the two girls were taken from his custody and placed in separate foster homes. The family members who were old enough to remember her and wonder where she was either didn't or couldn't do anything to look for her.
3:21 Speaker 03 She had a horrific life and her final foster family actually adopted, well, they fostered me for a few years and when they couldn't find my biological mom,
3:34 Speaker 03 her last foster family adopted me.
3:39 Speaker 03 And they didn't tell me anything much about her.
3:43 Speaker 03 So I started snooping, but I'd been searching for her my whole life. One of the things that for my family, my adopted family to adopt me was they had to tell me I was adopted because they were quite elderly when they adopted me. And they would not tell me anything about my biological parents. And being that they had Wilma for a couple of years, it was, it was just, it was infuriating, but um, I, I, I don't know, I was around 11 or 12 and I was snooping through a, a desk that had a bunch of paperwork in it and I found my original birth certificate with her name.
4:25 Speaker 03 And that started my search. So I, I, I've been searching for her my whole life. I would, before there was internet, I would, um, I would go through the phone book and call people with the same name and ask if they had had a daughter in 1977.
4:44 Speaker 03 I had, mind you, this was the nineties, I had a talk show looking for her. I was not able to find much out about her. I, like I said, I snooped through that desk full of old paperwork and I found my original birth certificate with my parents' names and my original name and a couple of photographs. And that's pretty much all I had. I didn't find out a lot of things until she was identified. I knew that she was in foster care because my, my adopted family did tell me that they had her. They, they kind of made it sound like they'd had her her whole life and that was not the case. But once she was identified,
5:28 Speaker 03 I learned a few things through the sheriff that was in charge of her case and the lead detective that was in charge of her case when she was identified. And I was lucky enough to meet her first foster family that were amazing people and we talked about her. They really loved her. Um, I got to see home videos of her. I mean, she never got to be a kid. She was homeless by the time she was 10 years old. Um, I can tell you through obsessing about this for a long time, her mother walked
6:07 Speaker 03 out on her and her younger sister, her younger sister was, I believe, deaf and mute. And,
6:18 Speaker 03 their mother just walked out on them when they were very young. I don't know the exact age. And left them in the, I don't want to say care because that's a strong word, but left them with their father. Uh, their father would lock them in a closet when he went to work. And then he got fired and they lived in a car.
6:40 Speaker 03 And I don't know where he was during the day. I, I was told this by her first foster family and I believe them. Um, he would leave during the day and he would lock the disabled sister in a, in the trunk and Wilma would have to go out and scrounge for food. I saw a few photographs um, of her with her younger sister when they were in foster care. They, they were not in the same foster homes since her sister was special needs. I mean, when she went to her first foster home, she had never been to school. She was 10 years old. She'd never been to school. She could not read. She could not write. She
7:24 Speaker 03 did not know how to use a fork. Her sister went to a special needs kind of foster home that could take better care of her. And um, my mom, Wilma, went to the Holties, Marshall and Maxine Holtie, and they are amazing people. They're still alive. They're, they're, they're getting up there in years, but they loved her. They taught her how to read. They taught her how to write. They, they kept in touch with her until she vanished. And um, unfortunately, um, Maxine, the foster mother, developed really bad rheumatoid arthritis and they
8:07 Speaker 03 had my mom and um, some twins that they were fostering and they weren't able to foster them anymore. So that was the first stability and loving family that Wilma ever had. And then she got bumped back into the foster system.
8:25 Speaker 01 After Wilma was an adult and out of foster care, details about Wilma are scarce. Although it seems things didn't get easier for her.
8:35 Speaker 03 She went to at least uh one facility, one, they called it a school, but I think it was more of like a group home for children in the, in the system. And then she had another foster family for a little while. And then she went to her la- I think, I don't know if there were any more in between, but then she went to her last foster family, which was my adopted family. Um, she aged out of the foster home. I, I think she was kind of a, she'd never had stability. So, um, I think she met someone and married them. I think she just kind of was a free spirit and since she'd never had stability, she
9:19 Speaker 03 was kind of naive and if someone showed her love, she would just go for it. Um, I do have two, um, older half brothers on her side that I have not been able to find. I've tried, um, I've had a search angel helping me, um, and they, they can't find a hide nor hair of one, one brother, and, and they were both taken into foster care too. They were both taken by CPS as infants. So, um, one was, uh, Donald Wellington Jr. and there is not hide nor hair of him to be found.
10:01 Speaker 03 Um, and one was, uh, Michael Pizarro Jr. I believe it was junior. Um, and he might've been found, but he might've passed away a couple of years ago. I know that she, when she aged out the foster system, she went and apparently almost immediately married, um, Donald Wellington. And, um, somehow got into the, um, sex work industry and she was with him. She had a child with someone else with, uh, the Michael Pizarro. So that was the first, her first child.
10:45 Speaker 03 And then she had a second child with this, with the husband, the first husband. And, um, he was, uh, I believe Donald Wellington Jr.
10:57 Speaker 03 And then I then she met my dad. I don't know why. I don't know how all this happened. I wasn't around and it's not like I've been able to find anybody that really knew her. But she ended up marrying my dad. I know she was pregnant with me when she married my dad. And she had me and I asked my adopted parents happened and they wouldn't tell me. They said she just walked off from the hospital. They they'd always made it sound like it was a pre-planned adoption, but I recently found out that that was not exactly the case. I I don't know how soon she left. Uh, there's rumors, and these are just rumors, that she left because someone was wanting to hurt her.
11:41 Speaker 03 I could also see her just leaving because again, there might have been something stability wise or something that sounded like it would be good.
11:53 Speaker 03 And talked into leaving. Also, she had two children prior. All of us were preemies. She usually, when she had us, uh, all all three kids, I think were born at seven months. So she might have just been like, well, I'm gonna lose this one anyway, so.
12:09 Speaker 01 So no doubt, Morph. I mean, when you hear about what Wilma went through as a a youngster, it's heartbreaking. I mean, there's no doubt that her childhood was less than ideal. And I and I think that's even not the right term.
12:29 Speaker 02 Yeah, I almost look at it as if she had the chips sort of stacked against her and was an uphill battle just to figure out where she fit in and to find love and someone to protect her and care for her. And she never really had that. And then before she knew it, she was an adult.
12:49 Speaker 01 Well, let's face it, life is tough for, you know, everyone. But so much tougher when you have no stability in your life or very little stability, being bounced around from foster home to foster home. And I I just, I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of this girl and I I I'm having a hard time doing it. I mean, I didn't grow up that way, but I could see how it would be extremely tough. It makes life that much more tougher.
13:26 Speaker 01 The next thing that we know about Wilma is that her body was found just outside of Rock Rapids in Lyon County, Iowa, already in an advanced stage of decomposition. She was found on October 4th, 1978, face down in a deep ditch about 20 feet from the road. No identification was found with her body, and being in an advanced state of decay, police had no way to determine who she was.
13:53 Speaker 02 The area where Wilma's remains were found was a pretty empty area near Highway 182 that not many people would walk through, though it would have been driven past frequently. There it was just one mile south and another one and a half miles west of the West Lyon School. It was by chance that a worker laying new telephone cables happened to be in the area to notice a green canvas bag in the tall grass. Under that bag was Wilma's naked body, wearing only half-length white patent leather go-go style boots. Her green khaki pants and red, white, and blue bikini-style underwear were wrapped around her left leg. She had shoulder-length dark blonde hair, was about 5 feet 5 inches tall, and weighed
14:37 Speaker 02 around 100 to 120 pounds. That's all investigators could really tell you about their Jane Doe at that time.
14:44 Speaker 01 Police theorized that their Jane Doe was a homicide victim, partially due to the state of undress she was found in, but additionally, a rope had been tied around her ankles. The rope around her ankles is thought to have been used to drag her body into the ditch after she was killed. Former Lyon County, Iowa Sheriff Blythe Blomendahl told the Sioux City Journal, "That's why her arms come forward. Her hands are forward and her hair is forward." Investigators also think that she was killed somewhere else, and that the ditch was just where her killer or killers chose to get rid of her body.
15:25 Speaker 01 Investigators collected the rope, which has been described as braided hemp, and kept it as evidence.
15:32 Speaker 02 It's not known whether Wilma was sexually assaulted, though the way she was found with her pants and underwear wrapped around her leg and no top on certainly suggests that she could have been. There was no semen found on her clothing. An autopsy would reveal that Wilma's right elbow and one of the vertebrae in her neck had been dislocated and that her skull had been fractured just above her right eye, but it couldn't be pinpointed whether these injuries occurred before or after her death. Because her hands were not tied up, investigators are very open to the possibility that the dislocated elbow came from a struggle with her killer. Years later, investigators would hope that there would be DNA from her killer underneath her fingernails, but sadly, this didn't end up panning out.
16:16 Speaker 02 Fingernail clippings taken and preserved for years did not yield any information.
16:20 Speaker 01 Due to the decomposition, only two fingerprints were able to be taken from her body for comparison in databases, but they had no luck when they ran them against the database. Despite the lack of ID, detectives worked to identify their victim so that they could begin to piece together a timeline and work on finding her killer. In October 1978, Craig Beek, Director of the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told the AP News, "You've got to establish the identity before you can work on the homicide." Sadly, this would prove to be no easy task. The Jane Doe was believed to be between 20 and 30 years old, but it was hard to tell
17:04 Speaker 01 because her entire lower jaw was gone. She had just two teeth left. Authorities have not revealed whether this happened as part of her murder or if it could have been something that happened after her death, but before she was found.
17:20 Speaker 02 Investigators sifted the surrounding dirt for jaw and teeth, but came up empty. This doesn't seem like normal decomposition that causes. Surely, there would have been at least another tooth. There was no mention of predation, which could explain a missing jawbone, but not almost every single tooth missing. It wouldn't be till years later that investigators would learn the official cause of death for their Jane Doe. The cause of her death hasn't been disclosed still to this day because investigators believe it will prove whoever eventually confesses is telling the truth. However, she was killed as something authorities feel only her killer would know. The only hints that we have are that Chief Deputy Berkey told Dakota News Now, the cause
18:03 Speaker 02 of death also makes us realize that one person didn't do it alone. Former Lyon County Sheriff Craig Vincent told the Sioux City Journal, "We tried everything we knew." They wanted to be able to release a photo or a sketch of her face so that someone could tell them her name and they could try to find someone with a motive to kill her. Vincent explained, "We sent her down to Texas or Oklahoma or somewhere to rebuild the face, but there wasn't enough there for them to work on." It wasn't just the facial reconstruction effort that was running into issues. Gene Meyer, Assistant Director of the Des Moines Branch of the Iowa Divisional Criminal Investigation, confirmed that all the forensic methods that were available were utilized.
18:44 Speaker 01 And the one thing that I take from this morph is that they're really trying hard to identify this person. I mean, you have to think, this is 1978. Obviously, the technology they had back then pales in comparison to what we have today, but they were going through all the available methods, it seems like, trying to reconstruct, you know, her face so that they could get something out to the public to see if anybody knew who this person was. Because I do think, you know, that is kind of first and foremost, one of the most important
19:28 Speaker 01 things in trying to solve a case. Now, if you don't even know who your victim is, where do you start? You can't talk to the friends and family or known associates because you don't know who those people are.
19:42 Speaker 02 Yeah, not only did she not have identification, but she also was, her body had been pretty badly decomposed. So that would make her being recognizable to just take a regular photograph probably and, and make that hard to put out there for the public to see.
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21:22 Speaker 01 A witness came forward and helped establish an estimate of the date of Wilma's death by verifying that the green canvas bag had been there since at least August 15th. Working backward from there, investigators believe that she could have been there as early as June. After months of coming up empty, identifying Wilma, she was buried at Riverview Cemetery in Rock Rapids, Iowa as unidentified female. Investigators working the case would refer to her as "our girl." Cemetery caretaker Elmer Van Aken left flowers at her grave on Memorial Day every year so that it wasn't empty among a sea of decorated grapefruit.
22:07 Speaker 02 Despite the case not being forgotten by investigators, there was no movement in the case for many years. Former Sheriff Blomendahl decided to request a second round of fingerprint testing in hopes that they had missed something or that over the past two decades, something new had been entered into a database. It was a smart move. On January 31st, 2006, a technician in Des Moines was able to find a match to one of Jane Doe's fingerprints. The print matched the thumbprint of Wilma June Nissen, who had been arrested in California in 1973 and had her fingerprints taken. The information from that arrest noted that she went by the nickname Boots, which lined right up with the Gogo Boots that Jane Doe was found wearing.
22:50 Speaker 02 Her identity was further confirmed using DNA from her daughter Chrissy, who was 28 years old when she learned that her mother, who she had been looking for for so long, was not only dead, but that she had been violently murdered, then left on the side of the road like garbage. Unfortunately, Wilma's fingerprints had been in the federal database the entire time, but for some reason, her prints had only been run against Iowa databases. Apparently, as time went on, it was never done because it was assumed it had been done previously.
23:20 Speaker 03 It told me what, you know, where she'd been all my life, why I couldn't find her and talk shows couldn't find her and, because I always figured she just didn't want me and moved on and probably, you know, when she was ready, had a new family and a new life. You know what, I was never mad at her for it. I was never mad at her for giving me up. She, you know, I figured she just didn't, wasn't able to care for her child and I was never angry about it. I just wanted to, to meet her and I feel like if she hadn't been murdered, I would have had that chance. Her and I have a lot of, a lot of things in common and it's kind of weird.
24:03 Speaker 02 I think we see in a lot of older cases, especially that things are missed over a period of time when, when there are cases that are not closed out over, over decades. Things are not rechecked automatically like you think they might be. Or somebody's not communicating, maybe the old detectives didn't write something down. So the new detectives don't know what was done or what wasn't done. But in this case, it seemed like it was a good move to just take a chance and retest those fingerprints to see if they were in the database. And sure enough, they had missed them the first time around.
24:42 Speaker 01 And that's also a little sad to think that you, the information was there. It just wasn't in an Iowa database and authorities thought that it had been run nationally. And apparently it hadn't been. The news that her mother had been found dead years ago, provided some answers to her daughter, Chrissy, but it also led to even more questions and it brought up a lot of old feelings and theories that Chrissy had. Here's Chrissy to talk about that.
25:12 Speaker 03 It told me what, you know, where she'd been all my life, why I couldn't find her and talk shows couldn't find her and, cause I always figured she just didn't want me and moved on and probably, you know, when she was ready, had a new family and a new life. You know what? I was never mad at her for it. I was never mad at her for giving me up. She, you know, I figured she just didn't, wasn't able to care for a child and I was never angry about it. I just wanted to, to meet her and I feel like if she hadn't been murdered, I would have had that chance. Her and I have a lot of, a lot of things in common and it's kind of weird.
25:54 Speaker 01 On June 3rd, 2006, memorial services for Wilma June Nissen were held at Riverview Cemetery. A new headstone was donated, bearing her full name, as well as her affectionate nickname from law enforcement, "Our Girl." It also now had her birth date and the year of her death. Wilma's foster parents, Marshall and Maxine Holtie, as well as former Sheriff Craig Vinson, attended the services. After the services were completed, Wilma's family took questions, and one of Marshall Holtie's replies was, "For the past 30 years, we have been praying
26:33 Speaker 01 for Wilma and wondering why she didn't contact us." He added that "news of her death is not what we would like to hear, but at least we know that is closure to us." Wilma's sister Mona Nissen, who was 47 at the time, was told about Wilma's death, but not that she was murdered. Finally having her name and a few other details, investigators were able to learn more about the life of Wilma June Nissen in order to put a complete timeline together. Some of these details you heard her daughter Chrissy mention earlier.
27:09 Speaker 02 Wilma June Nissen was born on October 19th, 1954, in San Francisco, California. When she was eight years old, her mother June left Wilma and her younger sister Mona with their father Charles. Their two years with them were not good. He locked them in a closet while he left for work on more than one occasion. Eventually, he lost his job, which led to losing the home, and they had to live in their car. During this time, Mona spent her days in the trunk of the car while Wilma searched for food in trashcans. CPS came and took the two sisters away, but sadly, they were separated. Just before Christmas in 1964, 10-year-old Wilma ended up with the Holtie family in Anaheim, California.
27:52 Speaker 01 And more if this goes back to our discussion about, you know, how rough her life was. We're getting, you know, some more details here. Obviously, the father was not going to be put up for any Father of the Year awards. It sounds like he was abusive, to say the least, you know, pretty descriptive.
28:15 Speaker 01 To think about, you know, being locked in a closet while your dad is at work, spending your days in the trunk of a car, in the case of Mona, while Wilma is out searching for food in trash cans. I mean, that's just horrible at such a young age, at any age, really, but such a young age. Two sisters kind of on their own, trying to scrounge for food and live.
28:45 Speaker 02 Yeah, it really paints a picture of just how bad their lives were and everything they had to deal with.
28:52 Speaker 01 The Holties discovered that Wilma and her sister had never been to school. She couldn't read or write, not even her own name. Even the things that we probably don't even remember learning, like how to use a fork. Wilma had never been taught. Foster care was actually a safe and welcoming place for Wilma. Coming from spending her days locked in a closet and scrounging through trash for anything edible. She appreciated the time Maxine Holtie spent with her, teaching her things and bonding with her, and called Marshall daddy almost immediately. She also loved that they had a dog. It was her first pet.
29:33 Speaker 01 By the summer of 1965, Wilma could read at a first grade level. Maxine told the Sioux City Journal, "Wilma was really eager to learn. She was interested in everything."
29:46 Speaker 02 Wilma spent almost three years with the Holtie family before having to go to another foster family due to Maxine Holtie's health issues. After short stays in multiple different homes, Wilma ended up in Seal Beach, California, with the Hawes family. She did attend public school while living with them and completed 10th grade at Mountain View High School. On her 18th birthday, she left the Hawes home on what she said was just a walk and was gone for months. The next time the Holties heard from Wilma, she was married. This was the start of her long periods of absence, but she always kept in touch with cards or phone calls. Wilma married Don Wellington in August, 1973, when she was still 18 years old.
30:29 Speaker 02 At the time, they seemed to be happy to the Holties on the rare occasions they came by to visit them. Months later in September, Wilma was arrested for sex work related charges by the LAPD. In October, she was arrested twice, first in Beverly Hills, and then again by the LAPD. In August of the next year, she was arrested twice, again for sex work. First, she was arrested in Long Beach, and then again in Bakersfield. In December, she was arrested in San Diego on similar charges.
31:00 Speaker 01 And one thing that I found very interesting is that, you know, Wilma kept in touch with the Holties. She obviously had developed a very strong bond with them. And it was only because of Maxine's health issues that they had to be separated, and that must have been really tough on her.
31:23 Speaker 02 Yeah, she gets that first good bond with a family that she's close to, but due to, you know, Maxine having those health issues, that wound up being a separation for her. So it's almost like she couldn't get, get a break anywhere along the way.
31:41 Speaker 01 But she obviously cared for them deeply because, you know, she kept in touch with them over the years. Former Lyon County Sheriff Blythe Blomendahl, who took over Wilma's case in 2001, believed that Wilma may have run away from Don Wellington. She ended up with a man named Michael Pizarro at some point. It was actually rumored that they were trying to walk from California to Florida together. And in May of 1974, they had a son, Michael Pizarro Jr. It's also rumored that this baby was taken by authorities long before they made it to Florida, but no one seems very sure of what happened to him. Former Sheriff Blomendahl.
32:23 Speaker 01 Doesn't even sound sure that the baby was Pizarro's and not Wellington's, or possibly even a John's. Michael Pizarro, like Wilma, grew up in foster care. He was born Michael Walker, but took the last name of one of his foster families. He died the same year that Wilma did, though his death was an accident after he fell off his bike. Some reports state he died in 1989, though former Sheriff Blomendahl is quoted as saying it was in 1978 specifically. Either way, he didn't appear to be a suspect in Wilma's case, and obviously can't be questioned for help with filling in any blanks.
33:04 Speaker 02 It seems that Wilma must have gone back to Wellington briefly, because in December 1974, she gave birth to Donald Wellington Jr. He was born premature, but she still had to get pregnant very soon after giving birth to Michael. Investigators believe Wilma lived in the Hollywood, California area with Wellington until October 1975. After leaving him, she lived with Robert Alexander Irvin in Long Beach. The arrest for sex work stopped while she was with Irvin. Former Sheriff Blomendahl told the Globe of Wilma's first husband, Don Wellington, there was no doubt he was pimping Wilma out. Wilma was far along in her third pregnancy when she married Irvin on June 21st, 1977.
33:47 Speaker 02 On August 18th, she had their only daughter, Crystal, or Chrissy. Like her second child, Crystal was born premature. She wages two pounds at birth. It's been reported that Wilma abandoned her at Long Beach Memorial Hospital shortly after giving birth. Wilma's foster parents, the Hawes family, adopted and raised Crystal as their own, despite being 65 and 70 years old when she was born.
34:13 Speaker 01 And more if I want to talk about, you know, Wilma's adult life. I think it seems as though it was pretty chaotic. It seemed like she kind of bounced around in her life, and I just wonder how much of that had to do with her childhood? How bad it was, how unstable it was? You know, did that then make it tougher for her later on as an adult to, to find the stability herself? And I'm sure it did.
34:47 Speaker 02 Yeah, because Wilma as an adult is. Trying to figure out how to take care of herself, let alone young children and to provide that safe, dependable environment for them just seems like it was not something she was capable of doing at that time in her life.
35:05 Speaker 01 When again, just, you know, does it have something to do with the fact that she didn't have it? Maybe she didn't learn the skills needed to even be able to do it. I don't know. I'm just, I'm kind of throwing that out there. I am going back to her childhood as being pretty terrible and, and obviously not setting her up for success or not setting her up to thrive as an adult. In February of 1978, Wilma moved from San Diego, where she had been living in a camper, to Atlanta, Georgia, to live with Charles Enman Belt, who was 54 at the time. Records from the time show that she was trying to change her
35:48 Speaker 01 last name to Belt, or at least started using the last name Belt. But she apparently only lived with him at his mother's apartment for about two weeks before leaving for Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This is where the timeline for Wilma ends. And much of her time in Sioux Falls is not accounted for. Eight months later, in October, 1978, Wilma's body was found in the ditch. She was just a weak shot of turning 24. Despite not knowing her movements for eight months while she was in South Dakota, investigators felt closer than ever to solving the case. Sheriff Blomendahl, when being interviewed by the Globe, challenged Wilma's
36:31 Speaker 01 killer, saying, "If I were you, I'd call me before I call you. We're still coming. And if we find you, good luck."
36:40 Speaker 02 While investigators had put a lot of the puzzle pieces together in Wilma's case, it was far from being complete. People who might have some answers, or may be able to point police to Wilma's killer, were hard to find. Robert Irvin had already passed away. Don Wellington was living somewhere in the Palmdale, California area, where he had an arrest record. His most recent arrest had been for bicycle theft in the winter of 2005, though the charges later dropped. Despite the police record, authorities had trouble tracking him down. Sheriff Blomendahl told the Sioux City Journal, "This guy moves around like you or I changed socks." Don Wellington was apparently not a suspect in the case, but police felt that maybe he could still help fill in some of the blanks.
37:25 Speaker 01 Wilma's daughter Chrissy was able to meet her biological father, Robert Irvin, before he passed away. In 2007, they met at a Denny's in Bellflower, California. Sadly, he was not living the best life at that time. He was living inside of a mini mart, sleeping behind the counter. By that year, investigators had narrowed down their list of suspects to just eight people. Investigators also tracked down Charles Inman Belt, who was living in Tijuana, Mexico. He told police that a sex worker asked him to drive Wilma from California to Atlanta because there was someone in California who wanted to hurt her.
38:07 Speaker 01 It's unclear if this is related to her death just months later. He also claimed that when she left, he thought she moved back to San Diego, or had met up with whoever was the reason she wanted to go to Atlanta. After she left, he never saw her again.
38:23 Speaker 02 In September 2007, authorities exhumed Wilma's body, hoping to gather new evidence using modern technology. They thought that perhaps using advanced tools, they may be able to find traces of her killer on her, or perhaps be able to find a firm cause of death. Unfortunately, Wilma's coffin was completely waterlogged. Sheriff Blomendahl told the Globe, "There was about 50 gallons of water inside the body bag." He also told the Sioux City Journal that- He was so disheartened that it was like getting punched in the gut by a professional fighter. This is something you definitely don't want to happen when you've been hoping that evidence has been preserved. Though Blomondal admitted that it was a long shot to begin with.
39:04 Speaker 02 Investigators actually strained the water out of the coffin in a desperate attempt to collect any piece of usable evidence. What's interesting is that despite the water that had collected, Wilma's body had remained in pretty good shape and there was some hope amongst investigators. Sheriff Blomondal told the Sioux City Journal, "I was in shock as to the state of the body. It's almost identical to the crime scene photos and the flesh is still intact. They knew there wouldn't be much, but they did think they would be able to figure out the cause of death, which was previously unknown. The good news is that police do know her cause of death, but refused to release it publicly to help verify any future statements from suspects."
39:45 Speaker 01 There was sudden movement in Wilma's case in August of 2009, when 82-year-old John Van Gammeren was arrested and charged with six counts of perjury related to the investigation surrounding Wilma Nissen's murder. Authorities believe that Van Gammeren lied about how many times he had dancers at his home, lied about never having sex workers at his home, and about whether or not he had transported a sex worker from Sioux Falls to his home, only miles from the spot where Wilma's body was dumped into the ditch. He also told authorities that his wallet was stolen, or he had lost it at the airport in Las Vegas.
40:28 Speaker 01 But a witness disputed this, saying it was stolen by a sex worker. He claimed to have no knowledge of who arranged to have sex workers visit his home for a bachelor party, despite him being the one who actually planned the party. Van Gammeren also lied under oath, saying he did not know a sex worker named Annette Nettie Jacobson. It has never been revealed exactly how Jacobson may or may not be related to Wilma's death. In early 2010, the charges were dropped after investigators learned what they called substantial new information. What this information is has never been disclosed to the public. It seems that Van Gammeren may still be alive today,
41:13 Speaker 01 though if he is, he would be nearing 100 years old.
41:19 Speaker 02 The most recent update in this case came in May 2016 when authorities announced the person of interest in Wilma's case. Chief Deputy Jerry Berkey told NorthwestIowa.com, "We've been at a stalemate for a couple of years," explaining the decision to release the information to the public, adding, "We've exhausted all our leads." The person of interest was a woman identified to the public only as Sugar, which was an alias used for escorting and sex work. Sugar was known in the area for robbing other escorts, as well as her clients. She was also known to party in Lyon County in Sioux Falls. Sugar has reportedly filed every polygraph taken regarding this case, and is said to have fled to Canada shortly after Wilma's body was found.
42:03 Speaker 02 In Canada, she apparently ended up stabbing someone and went on the run for that crime, fleeing back to the United States.
42:11 Speaker 01 Investigators were also interested in speaking with a potential accomplice or associate of Sugar who went by the name Peaches. Unlike with Sugar, authorities are not holding back her identity because they don't know who she really is. Peaches is described as being a light-skinned black woman from the Thunder Bay area of Ontario, Canada. She had ties to Sioux Falls and Yankton, South Dakota, in the 70s and 80s. It's believed that Peaches worked at the same escort agency in Sioux Falls that Wilma did, called Playmates or Playgirls. Reportedly, it was well-known that Peaches and Sugar worked together to rob clients and fellow escorts.
42:55 Speaker 02 The leading theory in law enforcement is that Wilma was killed by Sugar and/or Peaches at one of the parties they all worked at. Likely after they stole the money they knew that Wilma would have, they later moved her body into the ditch and needed the ropes to be able to get her that far off the road. Without elaborating, Chief Deputy Berkey told Kiloland.com, "I know there are several people who know who killed Wilma, or that were there and saw Wilma get killed." Authorities have had no luck asking locals about the parties that Sugar, Peaches, and Wilma would have been to in 1978. Chief Deputy Berkey told NorthwestIowa.com, "The people in the western half of our county
43:38 Speaker 02 got very defensive when we first approached them about these parties." Investigators want to point out that being at any of those parties wouldn't make someone a suspect in a woman's murder. They are only interested in hearing from potential witnesses. They hope that people will be willing to talk now that so much time has passed.
43:54 Speaker 01 But more of I, I can see why, you know, investigating this type of crime would be very tough. And when you're trying to get people to come forward who have hired escorts, sex workers who are, who were with these women, how many people are voluntarily going to want to come forward? Whether it's because they believe they'll be at risk of being charged, or you know, even more likely because so much time has passed, they just don't want the information out there. You know, maybe they are married, they had a significant
44:36 Speaker 01 other at the time. I, I think in a lot of instances, there are so many negatives to coming forward for some of these individuals that they just don't want to take that leap. But that makes it very tough on the investigator.
44:55 Speaker 02 And that makes perfect sense. You would hope that if the people do have some information, maybe they could come forward anonymously and insist that their names not get released just to share that information. But the other problem is, you know, so much time has passed, maybe people don't even remember those individuals or what their names were, even if they were there, they just, so much time has passed.
45:22 Speaker 01 Yeah, even if you're of a certain age, are you going to remember what you did back in 1978? That is a very long time. You and I were just little tykes.
45:34 Speaker 01 The strongest evidence that police have in Wilma's case is DNA evidence. Authorities do have touched DNA from the rope and Wilma's clothing, but it is amplified DNA and can't be compared to samples in CODIS at this time. A DNA sample recovered from the rope did not match law enforcement's main suspect, Sugar, but because investigators believe that it took more than one person to kill Wilma, no one has been eliminated despite not matching the DNA from the rope. The DNA could belong to an accomplice. Police have not said whether the DNA belongs to a man or a woman, but it's possible that if Peaches is ever found, it could be compared to her.
46:19 Speaker 01 And if it matches, may give authorities the definitive evidence they need to make an arrest.
46:26 Speaker 02 Chief Deputy Burkey told Dakota News Now, "There's a very high probability that there's a Lyon County resident that knows what happened or saw what happened, even though they didn't have any involvement in it. And he urges anyone with information to come forward. If you have any information about the murder of Wilma June Nissen, you can call the Lyon County Sheriff's Office at 712-472-8300. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can call your tip into 712-472-8334." At different stages of her life, Wilma also went by Wilma Wellington, Wilma Irvin, Wilma Belt, Amy Belt, Amy Pizarro, Amy Nissen, and Boots.
47:11 Speaker 01 While Chrissy is happy with how far the investigation into her mom's murder has come, she feels that she's not always kept in the loop by law enforcement.
47:22 Speaker 03 I want the same thing as law enforcement does. I want this case to be solved and I will do anything I can to solve it, to help solve it. I will, I mean, anything.
47:35 Speaker 03 But they won't contact me. I like, I asked if I could get some photographs. I I'd loaned to them years ago when I first found out about the case. I think that was in two thousand, the end of two thousand and six, maybe the beginning of two thousand and seven. I had very few photographs of Wilma. Like very, very few. And I loaned them to the sheriff's department, so they had some more pictures of her, you know, to put out to the public. And I asked the current sheriff if I could get those photographs back. And his words were, he had to talk to, I can't remember who he had to talk to, but he had to talk to someone to see if it was okay to give them back to me because they're evidence.
48:15 Speaker 02 Chrissy has done her best to stay positive in hopes that Wilma's case will one day be solved.
48:21 Speaker 03 I don't know how hopeful I am. Yeah, I'd be a lot more hopeful if law enforcement would just
48:28 Speaker 03 keep me in the loop. You know, respond, maybe if they, if they would just take that rope or the amplified DNA profile, whatever, talk to one of these companies. I mean, there's, there's things that can be done, but I'm not able to, I'm not law enforcement and I don't have access to the amplified DNA, so I can't give it to the companies that can do something with it. I, I talked to one gentleman that called the tip line and he felt that the lead detective was very dismissive of what he said, and he told me same thing he told her. He said his wife thinks he's crazy, but it did seem like something that should be followed up on
49:13 Speaker 03 to me. Um, there was a lot of coincidences and he said she just kind of blew him off and if that's what's happening, then between that and not being willing to, to work with the DNA, it's, it's very frustrating. I just, I have to keep going. There's no one else left to fight for her. There is no one. I am the only living family member that knows what happened to her. And I am the only person left to advocate for her. And no one should have to, I mean, no one should have to not know what happened to their loved ones, but her life was so
49:54 Speaker 03 just awful. She never got to be a child. She barely got to be an adult and then she was brutally murdered. I can't give up on her case. I go 100% full force on her case, trying to get it to get it out there. And sometimes, something will happen and I stop for like a month going full force. But I don't stop. You know, I think about it every day, but I do get depressed and I do get feeling kind of hopeless about it. And then I go, what am I doing? And I start up again. I appreciate you putting her case out there. I've had a few people contact me or like
50:36 Speaker 03 on Facebook groups, I'll post about her case and people will be like, oh, my God, I just heard her case on a podcast. And so word is getting out. And the more people that hear her case, if they hear it and they share it, somebody knows something. And it's my mission. It's my life's mission at this point. It is, I'm not giving up.
50:59 Speaker 01 Chrissy is always happy to hear from anyone who met her mother and has a story or a memory to share. She's active on Reddit, under the username TwitchHH, and has created the subreddit r/WilmaJuneNissen. As Chrissy told us, she doesn't mind hearing from people who may have known Wilma.
51:23 Speaker 03 If anyone knew her, I don't care how they knew her. I also have an email that's just a personal email. If someone has, I mean, someone could have some information where they saw her and they think it's insignificant. But no matter how insignificant or trivial they may think it is, it could be not. It could be important and they just don't know. So I have an email set up and it's [email protected] . Justice number for Wilma.
51:57 Speaker 03 And I also have Instagram, a Reddit, Twitter, or X.
52:02 Speaker 01 So Morfau, I want to thank Chrissy again for joining us to discuss her mother, Wilma's case. We will include her social media and contacts in the show notes. So as we wrap this case up, I mean, obviously, there is a lot unknown here. It's great that they finally did identify Wilma Nissen because she was unidentified for quite a period of time. That identification then helped investigators put some of the pieces of the puzzle together, but there are still many that are missing. You know, I guess I want to focus in on Wilma's
52:46 Speaker 01 time in Sioux Falls. It seems as though she was working for some type of escort service. And as we talked about, police have a strong suspicion that at least one, most likely two of the individuals with whom she worked may have had something to do with her death. I mean, these are individuals who were known to rob not only their clients, but fellow sex workers. So I think you can kind of put together a scenario where Wilma's killers
53:30 Speaker 01 were known to her. And this was a murder most likely over money to get money. And for me, it kind of goes back to the description of how Wilma's body was found and the ropes specifically. I think it's pretty easy to envision a scenario where two women would need to fashion a system to drag another woman's body into the ditch. You know, most likely, all of these women were probably pretty petite. Can you see that scenario where Wilma is robbed?
54:14 Speaker 01 And killed for her money and then to hide her body, they have to fashion some type of system to, to drag the body into the ditch because I can't.
54:28 Speaker 02 And I think it's some of these things that were found at the, at the crime scene that were collected and preserved that may hold the pieces of information that are going to one day solve this case as DNA advances further, maybe something that isn't strong enough now to solve the case will be down the road. But what we can't count on is as people get older, their memories fade, people die off, people that might have information might be able to fill in more blanks. That's not going to be easier to do moving forward. So it's going to rely, I think a lot on this evidence. And the real sad thing for me in this case
55:10 Speaker 02 is that misstep of not comparing Wilma Prince right away as soon as they were able to get prints to national databases and only comparing them to local databases. Because had they done that, they would have identified her very early on and they could start questioning people in her orbit that were still around while things were fresh in their mind. And maybe they would have solved this case a long time ago.
55:40 Speaker 01 Yeah, I think it's a great point. Obviously getting started with the investigation as quickly as possible, most likely would have helped, right? It doesn't hurt, it only helps.
55:53 Speaker 02 Just a very tragic case all the way around, woman's entire life, you know, based on everything we went over. It seems like she was always trying to find herself and find her way. And it seems like that never happened. And then she met with this unfortunate, very unfortunate end, very sad.
56:11 Speaker 01 And I know I said it earlier, but you know, given her background and upbringing, I, I don't think, other than the short time that maybe she was with the Holties. I don't think she was ever, you know, really given the tools needed to find her way. And that's, it's very sad. It really is. But like you said, Morph, hopefully advances in DNA. There's something that will come about to, to bring a resolution in this case. But it does get tougher, right? The DNA advances, but everything else gets tougher. People die, their memories fade.
56:54 Speaker 01 If they haven't come forward by now, is someone likely to come forward? Yeah, I just don't know. I guess we'll have to wait and see. But that's it for our episode on Wilma June Nissen. If you love the show, but haven't done so yet, take a minute, go out, leave us a rating. You can leave a review. Also, keep telling your friends. Word of mouth about the criminology podcast really goes a long way.
57:19 Speaker 02 If you want to find us on social media, we're on X with the handle @criminologypod. You can also find us on Facebook by going to facebook.com/criminologypodcast. And you can join our Facebook discussion group, Criminology Podcast Discussion and Fans.
57:35 Speaker 01 So that's it for another episode of Criminology. But Morph and I will be back with all of you next Saturday night with a brand new episode. So until then, for Mike.
57:44 Speaker 02 And Morph.
57:45 Speaker 01 We'll talk to you next week.
57:46 Speaker 02 Take care, everyone.
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