MURDERED: Laura Van Wyhe, October 26, 1996, Kahoka, Missouri

Laura Van Wyhe spent the evening of Friday, October 25, 1996 celebrating her recent 21st birthday with family and friends. Hours later, around 2 a.m. on Saturday, October 26, 1996, she was found critically injured along Highway 136 near Kahoka, Missouri. She later died from her injuries at an Illinois hospital.

While her injuries led investigators to believe she had been struck by a vehicle, the scene as a whole suggested she had been moved, and that she might have been struck on purpose. 

What happened to Laura Van Wyhe? 

SOURCES: 

• Smith, Steve, Mystery shrouds death, October 29, 1996, Iowa City Press Citizen
• Obituary: Laura Van Wyhe, October 29, 1996, Iowa City Press Citizen
• Coroner issues autopsy report on Van Wyhe, October 31, 1996, Iowa City Press Citizen
• Smith, Steve, Friends create musical event to raise money for victim's son, December 7, 1996, Iowa City Press Citizen
• Smith, Steve, Iowa City woman’s death no mystery to family, December 13, 1996, Iowa City Press Citizen
• Smith, Steve, Coroner’s jury unable to determine cause of death, December 14, 1996, Iowa City Press Citizen
• Lang, Craig, Mysterious death still haunts vigilgoers, December 24, 1996, Iowa City Press Citizen
• Smith, Steve, Van Wyhe’s mom gets custody of grandson, December 31, 1996, Iowa City Press Citizen
• Smith, Steve, Knight appeals custody ruling, January 4, 1997, Iowa City Press Citizen
• Sheriff’s Officials Identify Dead Woman, October 29, 1996, Omaha World Herald 
• Bullard, Charles, Authorities in Missouri probe Iowa Citian’s roadside death, October 29, 1996, The Des Moines Register
• Bullard, Charles, Rumors, questions circulating over death of Iowa City woman, October 30, 1996, The Des Moines Register
• Bullard, Charles, Answers sought in death, October 31, 1996, The Des Moines Register
• Bulalrd, Charles, Father, grandmother vie for custody of boy, December 13, 1996, The Des Moines Register
• Bullard, Charles, Iowa Citian’s death a homicide? December 14, 1996, The Des Moines Register
• Bullard, Charles, Woman’s death a homicide? December 14, 1996, The Des Moines Register 
• Bullard, Charles, Boy will go to grandmother’s - judge, December 31, 1996, The Des Moines Register
• Laura Van Wyhe was killed in 1996, July 24, 2016, The Des Moines Register
• Ferkenhoff, Eric, 10K reward offered in 25-year-old Iowa killing cold case, July 21, 2021, The Des Moines Register 
• Muller, Lyle & Tefft, Lynn, Iowa City woman’s death suspicious, October 29, 1996, The Gazette
• Woman killed in Missouri had left Iowa with friends, October 30, 1996, The Gazette
• Clues still sought in woman’s death, November 5, 1996, The Gazette
• Tefft, Lynn, Inquest to reveal evidence in death, The Gazette, December 13, 1996
• Tefft, Lynn, Detective says Van Wyhe’s death treated as a homicide, December 14, 1996, The Gazette
• Tefft, Lynn, Temporary custody awarded to grandmother, December 31, 1996