UNSOLVED HOMICIDE: WILMA NISSEN

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When the remains of a young woman are found in an Iowa ditch, it takes decades for them to be identified. Determined to solve her murder, investigators piece together the short and heartbreaking life of the victim in this episode of Last Seen Alive. 

Pictured: Wilma Nissen with one of her infant children. Wilma gave birth to two sons and one daughter. Image source: family photo.
Pictured: Wilma Nissen as a child. Wilma was badly neglected and abused in her early childhood, then entered the foster care system at age 10. Image source: family photo.
A rope that investigators say was used to drag Wilma’s body was still tied around her ankles when her remains were discovered in an Iowa ditch. Image source: police photo.
Wilma Nissen was 23-years-old when she was murdered somewhere in or near Lyon County, Iowa in 1978. Image source: family photo.
This late-70s photo is of a woman who went by “Sugar”. Sugar was a sex worker in the Sioux Falls area, and investigators consider her a suspect in Wilma’s murder. If you know her, please contact the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office.

Sources used to research this episode:

Gone Cold: Wilma Nissen, Killed in 1978 (Des Moine Register)

New Lead For Lyon County Cold Case (Mark Mahoney / Northwest Iowa News)

Water Hinders Investigation (J. Wettschreck / The Globe)

Iowa Cold Case Waiting on Technology to Be Solved (Angela Kennecke / KELO News)

Search For Clues in the Murder of a Siouxland Prostitute Almost 40 Years Ago is Heating Up Again (Tim Seaman / Siouxland Proud News)

Nissen Case Pursued (J. Wettschreck / The Globe)

DNA Confirms Daughter in Lyon County Cold Case ( J. Wettschreck / The Globe)

Sheriff Vows to Find Inman’s Killer (Sioux City Journal via Newspapers.com)

Arrest Made in 31-Year-Old Murder Case in Lyon County (Radio Iowa)

Direct PCR Method for Trace DNA Analysis (forensicmag.com)

Robert Ben Rhoades (murderpedia.org)

Truck Driver Who Killed Hitchhikers Gets Life Sentences in Plea Deal (NBC News)

‘The Truck Stop Killer’ Suspected in Up to 50 Murders (Des Moines Register via Newspapers.com)

Crime in the US, 2010: Expanded Homicide Data (FBI’s UCR)

If you know anything about the death of Wilma Nissen, please call the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office at 712-472-8300.

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