Geraldine Lempke Maggert was 25-years old in April of 1968. She was a farm girl, the only child born to Roslyn L. Ihde and Lester Philip Lempke in Elkader from a line of Germans who had lived in Iowa for several generations.
She was a small, attractive young woman with a pleasant face and smile. She was quiet, even shy; and someone described her as reserved...
...In 1961, She graduated from Elkader’s Central Community High School, where she fell in love with fellow student, Richard Maggert. The following year, Geraldine graduated from the secretarial training program at American Institute of Business in Des Moines. She married Richard, and their daughter Richine was born in 1964.
The couple first lived in Elkader, Iowa. Richard served in the military during part of that time and then attended classes at Upper Iowa College in Fayette. Geraldine was a secretary in the Clayton County Department of Social Welfare in Elkader.
By February of 1967, the Maggerts had moved eighty miles south to Cedar Rapids, the second largest city in Iowa. Built along the Iowa River, the town is home to numerous employers and industries such as Quaker Oats and a place where jobs could had for the couple.
Richard found employment in construction work at one of Cedar Rapids’s premier companies, Collins Radio; Geraldine took temporary positions through Manpower, Inc. Reports from the offices where she was placed described her as “a good worker” and gave her excellent marks. Then she landed a permanent job as a secretary in the Cedar Rapids Urban Renewal Relocations Office.
But things were not going well personally for the Maggerts, and Geraldine asked for and was granted a divorce in early June of 1967. Richard moved to Ithaca, New York, and took work as an IBM operator.
Geraldine and Richine stayed in Cedar Rapids, living in a second-floor apartment at 3111 1st Avenue SE; they joined the Cedar Rapids First Congregational Church.
Richard and Geraldine continued to have at least some contact, as her co-workers reported that she told them about recent phone calls between the two before she disappeared. Her colleagues also said she was unusually “moody and worried” the last few weeks of her life.
She also might not have felt well, as she was about three months pregnant. Geraldine seems not to have told anyone of the pregnancy, so it is unknown who the father of the child was.
Geraldine Maggert
Geraldine made arrangements for her parents Lester and Roslyn Lemke to drive to Cedar Rapids on Friday morning, March 22, 1968 to pick up Richine. The plan was for the little girl to visit their farm near Elkader. When Geraldine’s parents bid their daughter goodbye, there was no indication anything was wrong.
An hour after her parents departed, Geraldine left the apartment and drove away in her car. Neighbors saw no one else coming or going from the building.
Before leaving, she phoned the Urban Renewal Office and said she would not be in that day because she was “feeling ill.”
The last time anyone saw her was about noon, when Geraldine exited a downtown Cedar Rapids bank.
Some accounts said she withdrew a thousand dollars from the bank, half in cash and half in money orders. Later it was revealed that instead she cashed and deposited a check and kept some of the money. According to the Linn County Sheriff, the exact amount was “considerable.”
It was cold that day, the temperatures starting out at 15 and never rising above 26; and there was snow from 8:00 in the morning until about 1:30 in the afternoon.
To protect against the weather, Geraldine wore an olive green coat with a fur collar...
During the week following her withdrawal of money from the bank, Geraldine did not report to work. Her co-workers — worried about the reliable and punctual young woman — stopped by her apartment but found no one there. They then telephoned her parents, who had no information either and whose calls to Geraldine’s phone also went answered.
Remembering Geraldine’s phone calls from her ex-husband, her work colleagues drove to the Cedar Rapids Airport and found her car parked there. They then assumed Geraldine had flown to New York to visit Richard, so they didn’t file a missing person report.
Geraldine’s parents were becoming more worried, however. Mrs. Lempke traveled to Cedar Rapids and notified law enforcement, who accompanied her to Geraldine’s apartment and used a ladder to climb into the second floor apartment. Geraldine was not there, and her suitcase was gone. This was the first time her parents knew that she might have been traveling out of town.
The weather improved quickly over the next week after the snow on March 22, with highs in the 60s and even mid-70s, although the skies were mostly overcast and there were thunderstorms. However, about April 1 it turned cold again; and 40s were the norm with cloudiness and rain and more snow.
The Coralville Reservoir, known now as Coralville Lake, was formed by an Army Corps of Engineers dam on the Iowa River just upstream from the city of Coralville near Iowa City. The area is popular for boating and other recreational activities.
On Saturday, April 6, a troop of Boy Scouts hiking through the Reservoir about four and a half miles northeast of North Liberty found a body face down in a wooded ravine near a popular party and picnic area known as “The Rock.”
It was a Caucasian woman, clothed only in a bra...
A death investigation began immediately under the direction of Johnson County Sheriff Maynard Schneider and his chief investigator Francis W. “Bud” Sueppel, Jr.; they coordinated their information with Johnson County Attorney Robert Jansen.
Agent Tom Hopewell of the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) assisted them; and because the Reservoir was on Federal property, the FBI became involved as well.
Investigators did not know the woman’s identity. A sketch artist drew an approximation of her: she was tiny — 5′ 4″ and 105 pounds — and her long, brownish-blonde hair was accented with three subtle frosted platinum strands in front.
After the artist’s sketch was circulated on local television, as many as 20 calls came into the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office from around Iowa and neighboring states.
Geraldine’s co-workers and family recognized the sketch and notified police. The body was then officially identified by friends, family members, and dental records as Geraldine Maggert’s...
More at link below...
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Murder Victim Geraldine Evelyn Florence Maggert 25-year-old Secretary Urban Renewal Relocations, Cedar Rapids Office Single Mother of a Daughter Cause of Death: Beaten and Strangled Motive: Sexual Psychopathy 1943-1968 Murder and Date Last Seen: Downtown Cedar Rapids Linn County, Iowa … Continue...
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