Henry County sheriff says Anamosa woman, 29, found dead in field

MOUNT PLEASANT - Authorities are investigating after the body of a 29-year-old woman was found last week in a farm field west of Wayland near Highway 78.

The Henry County Sheriff's Office said the body of Brandy Mae Shepherd-Margita, 29, of Anamosa, was found by a farmhand who was checking on livestock and the property's fence line Friday.

The sheriff's office has not released any information regarding cause of death or how long Shepherd-Margita has been dead, specifying only that 'no risk to the public exists.”

In a Facebook post Aug. 8 - the day before her daughter's body was found - Shepherd-Margita's mother, Heather Brokaw, said her daughter had been missing since Aug. 2 and asked anyone with information to come forward.

Two days later, Brokaw announced her daughter had died.

'I have sad, sad news,” she wrote. 'They found Brandy's body in a field in southeast Iowa yesterday. My baby girl is gone.”

The mother indicated her daughter might have had some issues with drug addiction, pleading in that same post for those who 'need help with drug addiction, find a way.”

Brokaw told local news outlets her daughter leaves behind four children - ages 9, 5, 3 and 11 months - who are now in Brokaw's care.

The mother shared some memories of her daughter on Facebook on Tuesday morning, stating her daughter's favorite color was orange and her favorite flower was the lotus. Shepherd-Margita also 'loved to draw and color and write down her thoughts.”

'Her favorite character was Betty Boop,” Brokaw wrote. 'When she got her first Betty Boop doll for her 4th birthday she said, ‘Ooooo, sexy woman!' I'll never forget that.”

An obituary submitted to The Gazette said the celebration of life service was pending. Brokaw posted on Facebook a memorial for her daughter has been scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at St. Mark Lutheran Church, 102 W. Church St., Oxford Junction.

' Comments: (319) 398-8238; kat.russell@thegazette.com