Join host Brooke Hass for a spin on true crime in the headlines: Morbid Midwest in the Press! This week, Brooke looks at big stories in the news, from murder trials to missing people. To read the full stories, see below or click the link in our Instagram bio (@themorbidmidwest_podcast).

Music Composition: Alec Seifert

Source Material:

• https://www.wqad.com/article/news/local/wisconsin-woman-reported-missing/526-6d5ca80d-603d-4ce5-848d-862fd3ca9fde
• https://www.kwqc.com/2021/11/02/davenport-man-pleads-guilty-may-2020-death-mother/
• https://apnews.com/article/davenport-iowa-hit-and-run-accidents-crime-b8d661a49dba63c8cb3d5c63d4295088
• https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-police-shootings-homicide-illinois-1709d63c3f373012a189cfe33debe4b5

In this special Halloween cross-over episode, Brooke Hass is joined by Jamie Huennekens, host of the Campus Encounters podcast. The two share eirie stories from the St. Ambrose campus, plus we hear from listeners who sent in their ghostly encounters.

Music Composition: Alec Seifert

In 2005, 19-year old Christy Connor was found dead in the trunk of a vehicle parked not even a mile away from the campus of St. Ambrose University. Christy’s case, which is widely underreported, is still unsolved, but his family still hopes to find justice.

Music Composition: Alec Seifert

Source Material:

• https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/christy-connor/

Eugene Martin, a 13-year-old Des Moines Register paperboy in 1984, disappeared in an almost identical fashion to Johnny Gosch, the young boy we covered in our previous episode. Dive into Eugene’s disappearance and the parallels between the two cases.

Music Composition: Alec Seifert

Source Material:

• https://charleyproject.org/case/eugene-wade-martin
• https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/ico/chapter/694.pdf
• https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/eugene-martin/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/4pi4s0/oc_johnny_gosch_and_eugene_martin_cases_possibly/

On September 12, 1982, Johnny Gosch, who was 12 at the time, was a delivery boy for the Des Moines Register. Johnny left his home early that morning to deliver papers and disappeared into thin air. After years of searching, Johnny’s case still has yet to be solved.

Music Composition: Alec Seifert

Source Material:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NQAHPtwPGg
• https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/paperboy-abductions-milk-carton
• https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/johnny-gosch/
• https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/09/04/johnny-gosch-kidnapping-west-des-moines-child-abduction-responses/595639001/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin=
• https://www.kcci.com/article/today-marks-36-years-since-johnny-gosch-disappeared/22996502
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhS-Hh6QGaw
• https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/cold-case-spotlight-johnny-gosch-n234291

In 2005, in Moline, IL, Adrianne Reynolds, a 16-year-old Blackhawk Community Outreach Center student, was murdered by the people she thought she could trust, the people she thought were her friends. What follows her murder, though, is the stuff of nightmares. The Morbid Midwest opens with the tale of a jealous triangle turned deadly in this horrifying story, right in our backyard.

Music Composition: Alec Seifert

Source Material:

• https://courts.illinois.gov/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2020/3rdDistrict/3190261.pdf
• https://qconline.com/news/local/a-year-later-adriannes-death-still-haunts-her-parents/article_99d22e92-f4d5-5809-8c4d-7edaf8db5a30.html
• https://qctimes.com/news/local/article_491d3fbc-0643-11df-a00e-001cc4c03286.html
• https://qconline.com/archive/sobbing-kolb-sentenced-to-48-years-for-reynolds-murder/article_54ba11cc-891e-5224-ba23-f4383019c07a.html
• https://qctimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/sarah-kolbs-attempt-at-new-sentence-for-murder-of-adrianne-reynolds-fails/article_1d52c029-e899-5bdb-8eef-22e294689a61.html
• https://qconline.com/news/local/a-year-later-adriannes-death-still-haunts-her-parents/article_99d22e92-f4d5-5809-8c4d-7edaf8db5a30.html
• https://qctimes.com/news/local/sarah-kolb-trial-day-by-day-recap/article_a7b5375a-62cf-5b26-b943-81568af21098.html
• https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/adrianne-reynolds-obituary?pid=3109705
• https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20060718&slug=juggalo18
• https://books.google.com/books?id=TRPgLOoLO_IC&pg=PT283&lpg=PT283&dq=dr.+jessica+bowman+adrianne+reynolds&source=bl&ots=hQCQ2Wplk2&sig=ACfU3U0bnXOj20OOIUAAo_Lb_wxQL4Nurg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi1xdeNstHwAhWbHM0KHfPSD0gQ6AEwDXoECA8QAw#v=onepage&q&f=false
• https://qctimes.com/news/local/kolb-jurors-hear-journal-entry/article_61457276-be1b-57e5-9ae6-037009995e0e.html
• https://qctimes.com/news/local/article_491d3fbc-0643-11df-a00e-001cc4c03286.html
• https://qctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/barb-ickes/a-reporters-notebook--from-the-margins-of-a-murder/article_0aa7808e-7b53-564d-8702-9f1d70d5c291.html
• https://www.wqad.com/article/news/local/cory-gregory-back-in-court-in-resentencing-appeal-for-murder-of-adrianne-reynolds/526-9c46512d-f691-4159-9d23-2840e4b588d5
• https://qconline.com/news/local/barb-ickes/reynolds-murder-trio-where-are-they-now/article_122a5f55-eb35-50e8-b11f-b99d8574f822.html

When people think of the Midwest, they might think of cornfields, cows in pastures and small towns. What many don’t know is that the Midwest holds many sinister secrets: serial killers, mysterious disappearances and more. Join student host Brooke Hass as she dives deeper into the cases that have baffled America’s heartland for years on KALA-FM’s new podcast, The Morbid Midwest. This true-crime podcast covers murders and the missing in the Midwest region, investigating the cases that unfold right in your backyard.

The first episode is available on Oct. 1 wherever you get your podcasts! Follow along on Instagram @themorbidmidwest_podcast for more true crime and behind the scenes looks at some of our cases.