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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Local families support statewide cold case unit created by Iowa AG
Cedar Rapids’ Cold Case Unit has solved four cases since it was formed in 2010
Jul. 2, 2024 5:57 pm, Updated: Jul. 2, 2024 6:58 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS — Nell Brocks said she was surprised when a Cedar Rapids Police investigator contacted her to say he was working on the unsolved murder of her father who was shot in the head in 1999 outside a southeast side home.
“I was 20 years old when it happened,” Brocks said.
Brocks’ mother, Brenna Griffith, said her ex-husband, Willie “Junior” Brocks, 49, had just been released from prison about six months before the fatal shooting on Nov. 27, 1999.
Both women believe someone saw the murder, but that person may be afraid to come forward.
They both now have hope because Investigator Matt Denlinger and retired investigators J.D. Smith and Ken Washburn, who are the Cedar Rapids department’s Cold Case Unit, are actively pursuing leads to resolve the 25-year-old murder.
Brocks’ family, along two other families — one from Cedar Rapids and Vinton and another from Bremer County — were at a news conference Tuesday at the Cedar Rapids Police Department where Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird made a visit to speak about her office’s new statewide cold case unit. The unit was first announced last month in Polk County.
Shawna Hunziker, of Vinton, and her mother, Teresa Walton of Cedar Rapids, shared a letter with Bird about what happened to their loved one, Josh Wellman, 35, on Nov. 12, 2015, when he went missing in Cedar Rapids.
In the letter, Hunziker, Josh’s sister, said she saw him for the last time that day and quickly lost hope after realizing the “police department was struggling to find answers for us. Years went by with only questions.” His body was never found and nobody has been arrested.
Then in 2019, Denlinger and the other cold case investigators contacted them and said they were reopening his case, Hunziker said. Since that time, they have had “continuous communication” with the investigators who have been open to “collaborating with us as we have provided them with ideas and information to help us find Josh.”
“Cold cases can easily be forgotten and swept under the rug,” Hunziker said. “Matt and his team have made it very clear that the Cedar Rapids Police Department will not forget about our family or Josh.”
She hopes the new statewide unit will provide the same level of support to other families that they have received from the Cedar Rapids Police Cold Case Unit.
The other family in attendance was that of Julie Ann Benning, who was 18 when she went missing after going to work in Waverly on Nov. 28, 1975. She remained missing until March 18, 1976 when a Butler County road maintenance worker found her naked body in a ditch along a road, about a mile from Shell Rock.
She had an injury to her throat area and the cause of death was homicide, according to an autopsy. No arrest has been made in her murder.
Iowa has more than 400 cold cases
Steve Ponsetto, a retired Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation special agent, who is leading the statewide cold case unit, said this unit won’t be replacing any one of the other agencies that have their own units, such as Cedar Rapids.
He and Bird said they hope the statewide unit will provide a fresh set of eyes to the more than 400 cold cases across the state and that it will help focus efforts and give departments the needed resources to pursue any unsolved homicides, missing person with suspicious circumstances or unidentified human remains cases.
Bird, during the Tuesday news conference, said there is at least one cold case in nearly all of Iowa’s 99 counties. The funding the legislature approved — $536,000 — just started July 1, she noted. The office is in the process of hiring three investigators for the unit.
Several law enforcement agencies and departments were represented at the news conference, including the Johnson and Linn county sheriff’s offices; Cedar Rapids and Waterloo police departments; Linn County Attorney’s Office; FBI; and Iowa State Patrol.
Cedar Rapids Police Chief David Dostal said this was a “monumental step forward” for the state to partner with law enforcement departments to provide them the resources to pursue these cases, especially the smaller ones that don’t have the staff and time to devote to cold cases.
Dostal said Cedar Rapids started its cold case unit in 2010, and when Denlinger joined in 2016, he started pushing to work on more cases. The investigators have solved four cold cases:
- Michelle Martinko, 18, killed in 1979, solved in 2018 with the arrest and conviction of Jerry Burns.
- Dennis First, 64, killed in 2007, which led to the arrest this year of Curtis Padgett and his conviction in May.
- Brian Schappert, 22, killed in 1989, solved in 2019. Two suspects were identified through new witness interviews and criminal history records, but both suspects had died.
- Maureen Brubaker-Farley, 17, killed in 1971, solved in 2021 after comparing DNA from the crime scene with DNA collected from a suspect’s adult child. It was determined George Smith killed her, but he died in 2013.
After the news conference, Denlinger said he is hoping to be a resource to the statewide unit and help them with advice or share lessons he has learned along the way.
He said the Cedar Rapids department has been able to provide its cold case unit with the necessary support, resources and technology to work on these cases, but the smaller departments don’t have those advantages, so he hopes the statewide unit will be able to fill that void.
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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