IA IA - Barbara Lenz, 31, Woodbine, 6 May 1989

[Romulus]

The Doe Network:
Case File 54DFIA

Barbara Lealyn Lenz
Missing since May 6, 1989 from Woodbine, Harrison County, Iowa
Classification: Involuntary

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Vital Statistics

• 
  [*]Date Of Birth: August 30, 1957
  [*]Age at Time of Disappearance: 31 years old
  [*]Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'7; 130 pounds
  [*]Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; blue eyes.
  [*]Marks, Scars: She has a purple colored scar 2 inches below the elbow on her left forearm and a scar near her left eye.
  [*]DNA: Available

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Circumstances of Disappearance
Lenz was last seen in Harrison County, Iowa on May 6, 1989.
Barbara lived about 17 miles northeast of Missouri Valley in Woodbine. Barbara, the mother of a 3 year old daughter, had been visiting her mother every day in the Missouri Valley Hospital. When she didn't show up for two days her mother became worried and sent the family to check on her. When her family checked on her apartment, they found the coffee pot was on and half full. Barbara's purse, car and keys were there and the laundry was half folded.

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Investigators
If you have any information on the Lenz's case, please contact:
Harrison County Sheriff's Office
712-644-2244
OR
Iowa Missing Persons' Clearinghouse
800-346-5507
Email
All information may be submitted on an anonymous basis.
NCIC Number: M-360981053
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Source Information: Iowa Missing Persons' Clearinghouse
NamUs

 

[Coffee56]

Barbara Lealyn Lenz: Missing | Iowa Cold Cases

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up Barbara's case. I hope her family will still get answers and soon.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)



Missing Person / NamUs #MP5423
Barbara Lealyn Lenz
Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact: May 6, 1989
Missing From: Woodbine, Iowa

Missing Age: 31 Years
Current Age: 63 Years

Nickname/Alias
Barbara Lealyn Gruber

Height: 5' 7" (67 Inches)
Weight: 130 - 135 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue

Circumstances
Date of Last Contact: May 6, 1989
NamUs Case Created: March 12, 2010

Last Known Location:Woodbine, Iowa
County: Harrison County

Circumstances of Disappearance
Barbara was last seen in Harrison County, Iowa on May 6, 1989. At the time of her disappearance, her mother was hospitalized and Barbara visited her every day. When she did not visit her mother for two days in a row, her mother sent relatives to check Barbara's residence. They found her coffee pot half-full and switched on inside her home, her laundry half-folded, and Barbara's keys and purse left there. She has never been heard from again. Investigators believe Barbara was taken against her will. Her case remains unsolved.

Distinctive Physical Features
Scar/mark: Purple-colored scar two inches below left elbow; Scar near left eye

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Barbara Lealyn Lenz: Missing | Iowa Cold Cases

Very interesting alleged additional information at this link. I do not know if it's an approved source so won't quote.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up for Barbara.

 

[Romulus]

54DFIA - Barbara Lealyn Lenz​

Name: Barbara Lealyn Lenz
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: May 6, 1989
Location Last Seen: Woodbine, Harrison County, Iowa

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: August 30, 1957
Age: 31 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 130 to 135 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Barbara Lealyn Gruber
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Purple colored scar 2" below left elbow; scar near left eye

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance​

At the time of her disappearance, Barbara's mother was hospitalized with pneumonia. Barbara made the trip from Woodbine to the Missouri Valley Hospital every day to visit her. When Barbara had not visited her for two days in a row, her mother sent relatives to check on her. Inside the home they found the coffee pot half-full and still turned on, her laundry half-folded, and her keys and purse there. Barbara has not been seen since.

Investigating Agency(s)​

Agency Name: Harrison County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 712-644-2244
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 89-26

Agency Name: Iowa - DCI
Agency Contact Person: SAC Phil Kennedy
Agency Phone Number: 712-396-3821
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 8903215

NamUS Case Number: MP5423
NCIC Case Number: M-360981053

Information Source(s)​

NamUs
IA DPS
KETV-7/ABC
The Des Moines Register - Aug. 29, 2018

54DFIA - Barbara Lealyn Lenz

 

[spartanx]

I have the impression that, as the police say, she was kidnapped against her will, any psychopath can do that... Was she divorced? Did she have a bad relationship with her ex-husband or her partner? She always goes around investigating... and it must have been quick for her house to look as if she had gone to the corner store and come back a few minutes later...
whatever it is rest in peace

 

[Pennysmom1]

Barbara Lenz

Barbara Lenz, 31, went missing from her Woodbine, Iowa home May 6, 1989, under mysterious circumstances. Officials believe she was murdered.

iowacoldcases.org

Barbara Lealyn Lenz - Iowa Missing Person Directory

Details and Pictures of Barbara Lealyn Lenz, Missing since May 1989

www.missingin.org

Aug 28, 2018

After Mollie Tibbetts, others with missing loved ones try to cope with decades of pain

A researcher calls it "ambiguous loss." It's an affliction that Iowa relatives manage in varying ways, but the lack of resolution weighs on them all.

www.desmoinesregister.com

Lindsy Crews, 32, was just 3 when her mother, Barbara Lenz, went missing at age 31. She has flashes of memories of her mother with their cat and its kittens or sitting in their apartment in Woodbine.

Her father raised her in Omaha. She found out a few years later that her mother was not coming back. She felt a significant part of her life had been taken from her — a mother with a free spirit who loved art and horses. At age 18, she decided to talk to detectives and got hope that someday there might be a resolution.

“I believe as some people come to the end of their life, they might say something,” said Crews.

In 2006, remains were found in a barrel. Crews had her DNA entered into a database, but there was no match. The hard part is keeping on top of the case, knowing when remains are found so she can call to authorities to confirm they didn't belong to her mother.

The hardest part is hearing or reading the name “Barbara.” Against her rational thinking, she thinks it could be her mother, who might walk back into her life and tell her why she's been gone so long.

Crews said it was jarring when she turned 31, the same age her mother went missing.

“Becoming a mother myself and seeing the moments she experienced has helped — it helped me get over some of the bitterness and have peace,” Crews, the mother of children ages 11, 8 and 5, said. “But it never goes away.”

A couple of years ago, she took her children to visit a memorial marker that her aunt and uncle had planted nearby. It had been a surprise gift to her.

The stone is engraved with these words: “Mother of Lindsy.”

 

[dotr]

March 11 2025

Iowa cold case: Council Bluffs man charged with murder 36 years after woman's disappearance

Barbara Lenz was 31 when she disappeared from her western Iowa apartment in May 1989. Her body was never found.

www.kcci.com

''DES MOINES, Iowa —
The family of an Iowa woman who disappeared 36 years ago might finally get justice.

Robert Allen Davis, 61, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree murder more than three decades after his then-girlfriend Barbara Lenz disappeared in Harrison County.''

Mar 11, 2025 rbbm

''Iowa cold case: Council Bluffs man charged with murder 36 years after woman's disappearanceRobert Allen Davis, 61, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Monday, March 10, 2025, and charged with first-degree murder more than three decades after Barbara Lenz disappeared in Harrison County. His arrest is the result of an investigation by the state's cold case unit, launched last summer by Attorney General Brenna Bird's office to investigate Iowa's more than 400 unsolved murders. It's the unit's first arrest.Cold case investigators believe Davis is responsible for the death of Lenz, who was 31 when she disappeared in May 1989. She was last believed to be in her apartment in Woodbine. Lenz's body still has not been located.''

 

[fictionisbetter]

Thanks for posting this update. I came here intending to post it, too.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Barbara Lealyn Lenz – The Charley Project

 

[dotr]

Mar 13, 2025
Iowa cold case suspect had a violent past including rape and attempts to kidnap another woman

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Attorney General Brenna Bird in July re-established the Iowa Cold Case Unit with "the goal of aiding local law enforcement in their unresolved homicide cases," according to its website.

The unit brought "fresh eyes and a focused team to dig through information, meet with witnesses, and loosen up leads in Lenz’s case," a news release from the Attorney General's Office said Tuesday

35 years later, boyfriend charged with murder in connection to Iowa mother's disappearance

Barbara Lenz went missing in 1989 but the case went cold. Her boyfriend was charged Monday with first-degree murder thanks to a new cold case unit.

www.desmoinesregister.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Court records say Lenz told others she was scared of Davis just days before her disappearance, and feared he would "kill her if she ever left."

A criminal complaint alleges Davis had assaulted Lenz several times during their two-year relationship, including multiple incidents where he strangled her. The documents show Davis admitted in 1989 to assaulting Lenz and having a violent temper.

Iowa man accused of murder in 1989 cold case pleads not guilty

A western Iowa man recently accused of murder in a 1989 cold case is pleading not guilty.

www.kcci.com

 

[dotr]

Apr 7, 2025
Iowa man accused of murder in 1989 cold case pleads not guilty