On a cold fall morning in October 1978, near Rock Rapids, Iowa, a crew burying telephone cables made the grim discovery of a young woman's body hidden in an overgrown ditch off Highway 182.
With no identification found at the scene, the woman was immediately classified as a Jane Doe.

For 27 years, Jane Doe lay beneath a gravestone reading "Unknown Female" before she finally reclaimed her name: Wilma June Nissen.

Now, investigators and Wilma's daughter, Krissi, a daughter she never met, are trying to piece together Wilma's final years and finally solve her brutal murder.

If you have any information about Wilma’s murder, "Sugar" or "Peaches," please reach out to one of the following links:

Crime Stoppers: 800-222-TIPS

Cold Case Coalition Tip Line (385) 258-3313

Lyon County Sheriff’s Office: 712-472-8300

And the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office email: sheriff@lyoncountyia.com

The Iowa Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit 1-800-242-5100 and their email: coldcase@ag.iowa.gov

Links to Krissi’s social media and GoFundMe:

Email: Justice4Wilma@aol.com

Instagram: @wilma_june_nissen_cold_case

Reddit: Wilma June Nissen cold case discussion page:  r/WilmaJuneNissen

TikTok- Krissi_1977 

X- @MyMomsMurder 

And Krissi’s Go Fund Me: https://gofund.me/663f6d31

If you have any information about Wilma’s murder, here are the following links: 

Lyon County Sheriff’s Office: 712-472-8300

And the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office email: sheriff@lyoncountyia.com

Crime Stoppers: 800-222-TIPS

Cold Case Coalition Tip Line (385) 258-3313

The Iowa Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit 1-800-242-5100 and their email: coldcase@ag.iowa.gov

Current Sheriffs of Lyon County: Sheriff Brian Hilt: (712) 472-8310

Amy Stoner (712) 472-8326

A huge thank you goes to Charity Dodd for sharing her research with us. You rock!!

As always, thank you to our team.

Listener Discretion by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Edward October ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen

Executive Producers Nico & Jesse of The Inky Pawprint

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://theinkypawprint.com⁠⁠⁠

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_zhYznrqiQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZKyyLs2Kx4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk-_5Hfsk20

https://seasonofjustice.org/featured/wilma-june-nissen/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/131684186/?match=1&terms=dead%20body%20found%20Rock%20Rapids

https://www.newspapers.com/image/358217961/?match=1&terms=dead%20body%20found%20Rock%20Rapids

https://www.newspapers.com/image/336088160/?match=1&terms=dead%20body%20found%20Rock%20Rapids

https://www.newspapers.com/image/337648775/?match=1&terms=Wilma%20June%20Nissen

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193751059/june_eva-nissen (Wilma's mother's Findagrave entry)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19379833/wilma-june-nissen

https://www.nwestiowa.com/news/new-lead-for-lyon-county-cold-case/article_31e9c062-1961-11e6-a014-53443c67e206.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74110707/charles_clarence-nissen

https://www.the-sun.com/news/14825036/wilma-nissen-cold-case-mom-murdered-krissi-atkisson-iowa/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1174347428/?terms=%22June%20Eva%20Nissen%22

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1174347457/?match=1&terms=%22June%20Eva%20Nissen%22

.https://www.jurrensfuneralhome.com/obituaries/4722694 Det Craig Vinson obituary

https://projectcoldcase.org/2025/05/12/wilma-nissen/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/335769175/?match=1&terms=%22John%20Van%20Gammeren%22

https://www.dglobe.com/news/perjury-charges-dismissed-in-cold-case-murder

Petition: https://c.org/wPThnwH2LC 

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