IA IA - Daughter Alleges Father (Donald Studey) is Serial Killer - Searches Yielded No Evidence - Thurman

[MajorHoople]

Thanks for sharing. I am glad that the FBI are looking into this but the fact that her sibling is not confirming her story, for me, adds a layer of doubt to the daughter Lucy's recollections and accusations. I hope that they do a thorough search for corroborating evidence. The numbers she is recollecting seem unbelievable to me, but maybe there is some truth mixed with trauma. No matter how this all pans out, I hope Lucy gets some therapeutic help.

Thank you for being a voice of reason.

 

[Centaurus]

A friend of mine recently had a new well drilled. It is over 200 feet deep, but it is only four inches in diameter. How can you drop a human body down a well shaft that is is only four inches in diameter?

2024 Well Drilling Costs | Average Water Well Installation Cost

Well drilling costs $25 to $65 per foot to put in complete system installation. The average cost to dig or drill a new water well is $3,750 to $15,300.

homeguide.com

"Residential water wells are typically 100' to 300' deep and 4" to 6" in diameter. Local well drillers or neighbors can give you an idea of how deep to drill."

Older wells are much larger than 6" in diameter. They at least had to be as big as the diameter of a bucket. I've seen some on old farms around me that have an opening easily 2' or larger.

 

[otto]

Can someone help me pinpoint the location of the 5 acre property?

Closer to Thurman, and between Thurman and Tabor.

 

[sgmet]

A friend of mine recently had a new well drilled. It is over 200 feet deep, but it is only four inches in diameter. How can you drop a human body down a well shaft that is is only four inches in diameter?

2024 Well Drilling Costs | Average Water Well Installation Cost

Well drilling costs $25 to $65 per foot to put in complete system installation. The average cost to dig or drill a new water well is $3,750 to $15,300.

homeguide.com

"Residential water wells are typically 100' to 300' deep and 4" to 6" in diameter. Local well drillers or neighbors can give you an idea of how deep to drill."

While that's probably true for modern wells, the wells around here "back in the day" certainly had a diameter large enough for a body. My fam had a total of 3 wells, I'd guess them to be 2 feet in diameter. Most active wells had something covering them (like a platform for a pump) and most old wells had at least a platform covering them. Our moms had a fear instilled in us about falling into a well, it seemed like a very real possibility.

As for depth... We had a well to fill out cattle water tank, the water level was usually about 12 feet down. Not that I'd ever drop pennies down there or anything... Okay, I did. A lot. It all depends on how far down the water table is in a particular location. And in that part of Iowa it's not too deep.

 

[sgmet]

Can someone help me pinpoint the location of the 5 acre property?

The address of the trailer is 2319 Green Hollow Road, Thurman, IA

I'm not real clear on where the well would be.

2319 Green Hollow Rd · 2319 Green Hollow Rd, Thurman, IA 51654

Building

goo.gl

 

[sgmet]

I saw the dog track on the map, close by his lair.
Would it be a place to meet young women?
I looked for a truck stop around there but didn’t see one.

Horseshoe Casino is now where the Bluffs Run dog track used to be, you can still see the oval track. This area had a lot of traffic, both truck stop and dog track. Also a cheap motel and an all-night restaurant. It's all about a 40 minute drive from Thurman. This was, at the time, most definitely a "sketchy" area.

 

[Curiosa20]

There’s a very detailed older thread here with a multitude of unsolved, many abducted screaming women in Missouri who are still Missing from the 80’s- 90’s.
Missouri birders Iowa location of DDS 5 acres.
I don’t know how to link but it’s titled roughly
MO- Possible Serial Killer 80-90s.

 

[Snoopster]

This case is very disturbing.
I will wait until LE speaks up before I comment more and get myself in trouble.

No, never mind....
While the son died from self-harm, that could happen for a number of reasons, but it still makes me go hmmmm. I truly hope that the daughter is telling the truth. I can't imagine what she's gone through over the years.

And, the two wives...such unusual deaths. Definitely makes me wonder.

 

[Snoopster]

Horseshoe Casino is now where the Bluffs Run dog track used to be, you can still see the oval track. This area had a lot of traffic, both truck stop and dog track. Also a cheap motel and an all-night restaurant. It's all about a 40 minute drive from Thurman. This was, at the time, most definitely a "sketchy" area.

@sgmet thank you for posting here. Your local insight is very helpful.

 

[sgmet]

“We have heard about this for years. She (Lucy) told us in 2007 and we went out and there was only one well on the property that we could see, we didn’t realize that it was on other people’s property,” said Tim Bothwell, Deputy Sheriff of Fremont County.

Officials discussing next steps to find victims of suspected Iowa serial killer

FREMONT COUNTY, Iowa — Rumors of an alleged serial killer in a small town in western Iowa has made international headlines. Donald Dean Studey passed away in 2013 but his daughter, Lucy Stude…

who13.com

 

[otto]

“We have heard about this for years. She (Lucy) told us in 2007 and we went out and there was only one well on the property that we could see, we didn’t realize that it was on other people’s property,” said Tim Bothwell, Deputy Sheriff of Fremont County.

Officials discussing next steps to find victims of suspected Iowa serial killer

FREMONT COUNTY, Iowa — Rumors of an alleged serial killer in a small town in western Iowa has made international headlines. Donald Dean Studey passed away in 2013 but his daughter, Lucy Stude…

who13.com

From your link ... sounds like he put the bodies in the well at the property directly behind his property.

“We have heard about this for years. She (Lucy) told us in 2007 and we went out and there was only one well on the property that we could see, we didn’t realize that it was on other people’s property,” said Tim Bothwell, Deputy Sheriff of Fremont County.

Bothwell said that the sheriff’s office got a recent tip that led them to search a property that was right behind the Studey property.

“We had several hits to the dogs that indicated that day,” said Bothwell. The sheriff’s office brought out cadaver dogs to sniff around this newly discovered well. Now, Fremont County is planning an excavation."

Officials discussing next steps to find victims of suspected Iowa serial killer

FREMONT COUNTY, Iowa — Rumors of an alleged serial killer in a small town in western Iowa has made international headlines. Donald Dean Studey passed away in 2013 but his daughter, Lucy Stude…

who13.com

 

[Curiosa20]

A friend of mine recently had a new well drilled. It is over 200 feet deep, but it is only four inches in diameter. How can you drop a human body down a well shaft that is is only four inches in diameter?

2024 Well Drilling Costs | Average Water Well Installation Cost

Well drilling costs $25 to $65 per foot to put in complete system installation. The average cost to dig or drill a new water well is $3,750 to $15,300.

homeguide.com

"Residential water wells are typically 100' to 300' deep and 4" to 6" in diameter. Local well drillers or neighbors can give you an idea of how deep to drill."

That’s a drilled well. Old country farms and rural area have many “dug” wells even today that can be up to 36 inches wide. They’re a big safety hazard as many are overgrown or weren’t filled in properly. We have a 30-36 inch wide well still pumped today on ancestor’s property, dug originally in the late 1800’s.
Envision the old wells covered with a little roof and encased in brick siding, with a bucket to reel up and down to haul up water. They’re usually not that deep- maybe 50 feet or so but some neighbor’s reached over 80.

 

[Stunned]

Missing/Involuntarily Disappeared Women who were in their 20’s and 30’s in Iowa in the 70’s- 90’s below. I know there might not be a relationship but in the absence of more info, it’s a place to start. And they look like they fit the profile. MOO
Denise would have been 30

DENISE ORDENE FRALEY | Iowa Department of Public Safety

dps.iowa.gov

Grace was 24-25

GRACE ESQUIVEL | Iowa Department of Public Safety

dps.iowa.gov

Barbara was 32

BARBARA LEALYN LENZ | Iowa Department of Public Safety

dps.iowa.gov

Jodi was 27

JODI SUE HUISENTRUIT | Iowa Department of Public Safety

dps.iowa.gov

Beth Ann was 32

BETH ANN RICKETTS | Iowa Department of Public Safety

dps.iowa.gov

And those are the ones reported?

 

[Curiosa20]

And those are the ones reported?

Yes. That’s all the women that fit the profile from 70’s- 1999. There are several others in their late 40’s or older I did not include. There were a few from early 2000’s but I didn’t list them, either.
Until we have more details it is just too vast; I wouldn't know where to end. And many purported victims may be from other states. Then there’s the two men Lucy mentioned..
Only 3-4 in Nebraska which surprised me, in general and because Lucy said Omaha was a source site. Missouri’s Missing persons page looks like a don’t ever go out at night or alone kind of place.

 

[RainyDayRumHam]

The other daughter's claim that their father was a decent man flies in the face of every other person who knew this man in life. Neighbors, LE, the daughter, and even just people around town have said that he was feared and not a nice person.

I'm trying to find information on what he did for a living, does anyone know? Other than allegations about drugs & illegal activity.. but what was his tax paying job? Did he have coworkers? I'd be curious to know if that was how he traveled & brought women from other areas back so he remained undetected.

 

[Tricialsand]

Donald Dean Studey had 4 children with Lucy Mae Hogan (1953 -1970)
She appears to have been from and is buried in Nebraska.
Parents and siblings are listed in Gary's obituary.

Lucy Mae Hogan Studey (1943-1970) - Find a Grave...

www.findagrave.com

 

[Tricialsand]

I do not think this is the correct wife. If you look at the headstone it shows the death of the 1st wife as 1984. The second wife-Annie was alive and well in 2004 per Gary’s obit.

So there is a link missing somewhere.

Does anyone know when Annie committed suicide? I have not yet been able to locate this.

 

[Curiosa20]

First wife- maybe mother of the children.
It’s strange she has no other relatives noted.
And she fits the profile of his victims per daughter Lucy…

Charlotte Marie Johnson Studey (1941-1984) - Find...

www.findagrave.com

Correction- Charlotte was DDS second wife. She committed suicide. As did his first wife.
DDS was buried next to Charlotte with a taunting inscription IMO

Edited to correct error related to death date of third wife.

 

[Curiosa20]

I do not think this is the correct wife. If you look at the headstone it shows the death of the 1st wife as 1984. The second wife-Annie was alive and well in 2004 per Gary’s obit.

So there is a link missing somewhere.

Does anyone know when Annie committed suicide? I have not yet been able to locate this.

First wife and mother of the 4 siblings was Lucy Mae Hogan. She died in 1970.
Second wife was Charlotte M. Studey- no maiden name. She died in 1984.
Third wife was Annie. I believe she died in 2006.
Edited to correct death of Annie.

 

[bbqkaren]

First wife and mother of the 4 siblings was Lucy Mae Hogan. She died in 1970.
Second wife was Charlotte M. Studey- no maiden name. She died in 1984.
Third wife was Annie. I believe she died in 2016.

Annie died 2006