Nissen case pursued

• Bloemendaal looks over evidence

Above, Lyon County Sheriff Blythe Bloemendaal takes a careful look at evidence in the Nissen case.(Submitted photo)
• Nissen's ring

The ring found on Nissen’s finger 30 years ago.

Talk about it

ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa — It is has been more than 30 years since several young men on a work crew found a woman’s body in a roadside ditch in Lyon County, Iowa. It wasn’t until 27 years later the woman was identified as Wilma June Nissen of California.

Authorities still do not know how Nissen’s body ended up in a ditch in Iowa, or who left her there. Or if they do know, they are not ready to talk. Lyon County Sheriff Blythe Bloemendaal said there is new information in the case, but it is not yet willing to release the data.

“There has been substantial movement in the case as far as exhumation of the body,” Bloemendaal said. “I’m going to call it extremely successful at this time.”

Nissen’s body was exhumed in September 2007 with disheartening results — there was about 50 gallons of water inside the body bag and a fear that DNA evidence may be lost. At the time, Bloemendaal and his team had been using strainers to go through the remains methodically, but acknowledged it was a long shot. They were hoping for evidence that would help them determine a cause of death.

“We have continued to work with the remains ever since (the body) was exhumed,” Bloemendaal explained Tuesday. “Some fantastic discoveries were made.”

Bloemendaal is trying to schedule a press conference to get all the team members into a room and discuss new information, but is having trouble getting the FBI profiler into the area on a date that works.

An investigative tactic the sheriff and his team are pursuing is canvassing the neighborhood in a five mile radius of where the body was found.

“In the old reports, there were a few people in the area that were talked to,” Bloemendaal stated. “We’re trying to talk to everyone.”

“I believe that every person we talk to could possibly hold a tiny piece to a puzzle,” he said, adding that they person might not consider the information significant. “If we can get that tiny piece from each person, add it to the new information from the grave and from forensics, it will definitely enhance our position.”

To help keep people aware and information coming in, a homicide hotline is now in place for individuals to call and leave tips anonymously. This phone is not answered at all times, but a message can be left at (712) 472-8334. A Web site featuring the cold case can be accessed at www.lyoncountyiowa.com/wilma or through the FBI site at www.fbi.gov.

The site features pertinent facts on Nissen, such as when and where her body was found, what she was wearing and what information authorities know about her.

A surprising amount of information has been learned about the woman who was once referred to as “Our Girl” by former Lyon County Sheriff Craig Vinson because although he and others didn’t know her name, the case of the unidentified young girl was taken personally by the entire staff in 1978.

Buried in a grave marked “Unidentified Female,” no further information was known until some fingerprints taken from the body were matched with those of Nissen in 2006. Even after being identified, information about Nissen was still sketchy.

Authorities know Nissen was approximately 23 years and 10 months old when she died. She was wearing green khaki pants and white go-go boots when she was found, along with an inexpensive silver and gold friendship ring.

They know she married several times and had used the last name of Wellington, Irvin, Pizzaro and Belt, occasionally going by the first name Amy. She had several children in her short lifetime. She was born in San Francisco, Calif., but lived in various other California cities, including Anaheim, Seal Beach, San Diego, Lakewood and Long Beach.

She ended up living in Atlanta, Ga., where in February 1978, she reportedly left her Georgia residence. The man she was living with at the time, Charles Inman Belt, told authorities he never saw her again.

Her body was discovered Oct. 4, 1978, but it is believed she was killed elsewhere and placed at the scene in June or July of that year. She was found in a ditch one mile south and one and a half miles west of the West Lyon School. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of her killer.

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