Post by Joanna on Aug 1, 2014 0:47:43 GMT -5
Norwalk murder, woman's disappearance unsolved
NORWALK, Iowa – Investigators hoping for a break in the 2011 death of an elderly Iowa man and his missing wife reached out to the public Wednesday, saying they need more information to solve the case.
Exactly three years after Bill Wood was found fatally shot in his burned rural Norwalk home, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation released a statement to highlight the case. Wood’s wife, Kay, went missing the day her husband’s body was discovered.
DCI Special Agent Michael Motsinger said information involving the case still comes in but not as frequently, and he hopes that reminding people of the circumstances of the case may help uncover an important lead. “I don’t know if the public realizes it’s still not solved at this time, so with the three-year anniversary, we’re trying to get it back in the public’s eye and hopefully people will come forward if they have information,” he told the Associated Press in an interview.
Bill Wood was 79 when he was shot multiple times and his home was set on fire July 30, 2011. His badly burned body was recovered from the home. His 72-year-old wife has never been found.
“This is definitely unique,” Motsinger said. “You don’t run across that every time where you find one of the victims and haven’t found the other one.”
The couple’s 2009 red Chevrolet Silverado pickup was found at an apartment complex in Kansas City, Mo., the day after their home was burned. A witness reported seeing a man walking away from the truck, and a police sketch of a slender white man in his late 40s to early 60s with short gray and white hair has been circulated as a person of interest. (Sketch above.)
Motsinger said the fire may have been set to cover up Wood’s murder. The weapon has not been recovered.
The couple was last seen the morning of July 30, a Saturday, at an auction house in Stuart. Family members have said Bill and Kay Wood enjoyed collecting antiques and they speculate robbery could have been a motive.
Motsinger said it’s difficult to tell whether anything was stolen because the home was destroyed by fire. “We’re following up on that lead,” he said. “At this time any theory on what may have occurred is still open to be looked at and investigated. There are still a lot of unanswered questions.”
The couple’s family is offering an $8,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Source: Associated Press, July 30, 2014.