IL - Trudy Appleby, 11, Moline, 21 Aug 1996 *Arrest in August 2025*

[crcap]

He was a family friend? Did Trudy have siblings or cousins around the same age the suspect was when she went missing?

 

[airportwoman]

This is potentially worse than I thought. There's new evidence that her death was "tied to a drug debt."

Prosecutor: Trudy Appleby’s death believed to be tied to drug debt

Jamison Fisher, the man indicted in the 1996 kidnapping and murder of Trudy Appleby appeared in Henry County Courthouse Tuesday to face those charges for the first time.

www.kwqc.com

 

[airportwoman]

Jamison Fisher took a plea deal for his drug charges in Scott County, Iowa.

It also appears that a lot of people knew what he did to Trudy, where, and why. I do understand witness intimidation, but for TWENTY-NINE YEARS? What a nightmare of a life this precious girl must have had.

Links will follow as they become available.

 

[airportwoman]

This is just a beginning.

Trudy Appleby murder case: What new court documents say witnesses will testify

Newly filed documents detail what prosecutors say several witnesses will testify to in the upcoming trial of Jamison Fisher, charged in Trudy Appleby’s 1996 death.

www.wqad.com

 

[rob525]

It was stated earlier in the threads that Trudy claimed to be talking to a"20 year old" male. Fisher is at the correct age in 1996. I almost wish I had not read the last article. The uncle asks why it took so long however, I wonder if the father disclosed his drug dealings and suggested drug debt early on? Although, killing Trudy over a drug debt doesn't make a ton of sense as it doesn't get his money back. I wonder if there is not some combination of nefarious deeds involved? Is Whipple still alive?

 

[Blue Girl1991]

It was stated earlier in the threads that Trudy claimed to be talking to a"20 year old" male. Fisher is at the correct age in 1996. I almost wish I had not read the last article. The uncle asks why it took so long however, I wonder if the father disclosed his drug dealings and suggested drug debt early on? Although, killing Trudy over a drug debt doesn't make a ton of sense as it doesn't get his money back. I wonder if there is not some combination of nefarious deeds involved? Is Whipple still alive?

Regarding David Whipple, he died in 2022. Regarding Ed” Smith, Police said he had access to a similar vehicle Appleby was last seen in, he died in 2014.

So many times over the years I have hoped for an update and a breakthrough, it was very frustrating that there wasn't one until I checked back in around the end of August and saw the updates, What a sense of relief and also hope that there will finally be justice and closure and closure for Trudy's loved ones.

 

[dotr]

Jan. 30, 2026

Prosecutors name new witnesses in 29-year-old Appleby murder case

New court documents in the Trudy Appleby cold case list additional potential prosecution witnesses as Jamison Fisher faces murder charges in Henry County, with allegations tied to a 1996 abduction, drug debt, Kershaw Trailer Park train bridge, possible body movement, and remains never found.

www.kwqc.com

'Fisher is being tried for murder in Henry County, where prosecutors believe the killing took place.

Among the potential witnesses listed in the new documents are former girlfriends and people associated with Fisher through drugs.

KWQC is not naming those potential witnesses because they have not been charged with crimes in connection to Appleby’s death.

Prosecutors say Fisher abducted Appleby because her father owed him a drug debt. They say in court papers that Appleby was killed near the Kershaw Trailer Park train bridge on Aug. 21, 1996.'

 

[dotr]

Feb 1, 2026
TV6 Investigates: What to know about new witnesses in Trudy Appleby cold-case murder