A female body in a ditch and a single fingerprint are all detectives in Iowa had to go on for decades when trying to solve the October 1978 murder of an unidentified woman whose body was found dumped like trash in a roadside ditch near Lake Pahoja, Iowa. In 2006, detectives had the first big break in the case, having finally been able to piece together the identity of the victim. Her name: Wilma Nissen. Now, investigators not only believe they have a motive for the killing, but they are releasing a photo of their primary suspect in hopes of getting an independent identification.
The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said Wilma was born to Charles Clarence Nissen and June Simmons Bradford in San Francisco in October 1954. According to reports, investigators learned Nissen bounced from foster home to foster home throughout her young life. Sheriff’s Deputies say her biological father died in 1986, while her mother was married several times and assumed the last names of Cummings, Anderson and Long at one point before her death in 2003.
Nissen, investigators discovered, had lived with a number of people in various states across the country before landing in Sioux Falls, Iowa. For example, during her time in California, Nissen gave birth to three children and married a couple of men herself. Chief Deputy Jerry Birkey told KSFY that he believes Wilma was married “three or four times” prior to her murder, and that she also spent time in Georgia, along with many areas on the west coast.
Doing their best to track her various life milestones, detectives said once Nissen arrived in Iowa, she joined an escort service in the area, possibly working under the name “Playgirls” or “Playmates.” Investigators surmised that Nissen may have been meeting men for dates, and then going back to an undisclosed area to live in a car with her sister.
During her time working as an escort, investigators believe she was also possibly working as a prostitute, attending sex parties in the area. Authorities believe Nissen was murdered at one of those parties, her body tossed in a ditch after she was already dead. Investigators are hoping that there are witnesses or at least people who have further information about what led up to the murder, as someone who knows something more.
In 2007, after Nissen was identified, investigators had Nissen’s body exhumed in hopes of gathering DNA evidence, but according to the Sioux City Journal, the casket was filled nearly to the brim with water, ruining any remaining DNA evidence. There was so much water, in fact, some of Wilma’s bones were floating in the vault, the report notes.
The case came to a standstill for the next couple of years, until investigators made an arrest and alerted the media. In 2009, according to KTIV, an 82-year-old man named John Vangammeren was arrested in connection to Nissen’s death, but he was not charged with her murder. Instead, Vangammeren was charged with six felony counts of perjury. According to reports, investigators alleged that Vangammeren had lied under oath when he was questioned about the sex parties held at his home.
Although police suspect Vangammeren knew more than he was saying about Nissen’s death, they believe someone else knows everything. Just this month, detectives released new information about a woman they allege had something to do with Nissen’s death the night she died. Chief Deputy Birkey told KSFY that he knows the female suspect’s name and where she lives, but he needs an independent witness to come forward to formally verify her. He told the news station, “Our suspect was an escort, a prostitute, a dancer, who liked to rob other escorts, prostitutes and dancers.”
The motive for Nissen’s murder, according to Birkey, was robbery.
Can you help identify the African-American woman shown in the above right photograph, believed to be a suspect in Nissen’s murder?
As for Wilma Nissen (above left), she has been described as a white female with brown hair and blues eyes. She was found wearing white boots, green khaki pants and had on a silver and gold ring. At the time of her death she stood about 5′ 4″ and weighed around 110 to 120 pounds.
If you know anything at all about this case, please contact the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office directly: 712.472.8300. You can also e-mail Chief Deputy Jerry Birkey with any questions or information directly to his e-mail: jerry.birkey@lyoncountyia.com.
There is a reward for information leading to an arrest.
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Photos: Lyon County Sheriff’s Department