Arlene Gehrke:1976, Iowa Falls, Iowa

  

  Arlene Gehrke was 58 in 1976. She had grown up in a very large family. She was a wife and mother and the church organist. She often practiced at Cottage Community Church all alone. I have not been able to find a photo of her.  That is upsetting because her cold case should be investigated. Without a photo it is hard to get people to care.

  Farm wives can often be lonely. It’s good to have a church to go to. It’s a good way to keep up friendships and a way to do nice things for other people. Your little community can celebrate each other’s milestones. Arlene would have played for many Weddings and Christenings and Funerals. She would have played at all the Easters  and all the Christmases. How many people learned all the words to a hymn because she played it often? How many people get a tear in their eye when they think about the church music they grew up hearing her play? 

  On Saturday, September 4th, 1976 Arlene went to church to practice. She wanted to get things ready for the following day. It should have been a Saturday like any other. It was Labor Day weekend but it was probably pretty quiet around there. 

  Instead of a normal Saturday, Arlene was shot and robbed at the door of her church. Her husband and son found her there later. They had come to check on her when she hadn’t made it home yet. How long had she lay there? A few hours? No one saw her there as they drove by? 

  Arlene was robbed of her wallet and wedding ring. The killer also took her CB radio out of her car. (It wasn’t actually working at the time but her killer couldn’t know that. Probably her family and close friends knew it. But, her killer did not.)

  Arlene was killed a few days before Lisa Peak was murdered in Waverly. It’s interesting that Arlene and Lisa were killed when convicted murderer, Gary Frazer,  was still on the run. He had been found guilty of the 1975 murder of  Sheila Foley on May 29th 1976 but escaped from jail that night. Frazer sawed a hole in the metal ceiling with a hack saw blade. How did he get a hack saw blade? He was free until October 21st, 1976 when Frazer was apprehended in Colorado. 

  I doubt that he was in the area in September and then all the way in Colorado in October. But, it’s possible. 

  Perhaps Frazier had originally fled westward toward California originally back on May 29th. Maybe he’d always dreamed of California. Maybe West felt like the direction of “away”. Maybe Frazer got tired of California and all the stealing and running. Maybe he needed money and came back home to get that money from family. Maybe he went to Colorado after this stopover visit at home?

  Guys like Frazer are not criminal masterminds. They are impulsive. They are reckless. They take dumb chances. So do the women who are loyal to men like Frazer. Maybe his wife or a girlfriend was the perpetrator?

   Frazer would make sense as Arlene’s killer as he would have needed money and might have been interested in the CB radio. Whoever killed Arlene probably wanted the radio to sell or to listen in on police radio chatter. 

   But let’s talk about the basic police work here. Were any fingerprints found in or outside the car? Did Arlene scratch her killer? His DNA could still be under her fingernails. What kind of handbag was she carrying? If it was patent leather it might have had the killer’s fingerprints as well. 

   What was the caliber of bullet used to kill her? I imagine it was a common caliber. But, what if it was some old antique gun that not everyone owns. That would narrow down the pool of suspects.

   Who lived around there? Cottage Community Church is in a very rural area. It isn’t the type of road that loads of out of towners would be driving along on. Maybe there was a stranger. It was a Saturday. But, it’s far more likely that this is someone that was local. 

  Gary Lynn Frazer is still incarcerated in Iowa. I wonder if any testing has been done to rule him out on Arlene Gehrke and Lisa Peak’s murders? 

   Unsolved crime is usually just a matter of funding. It’s often a budget choice. If enough people demand justice then the money appears. If no one says a word then the cold cases get colder and colder. 

  Arlene Gehrke deserves justice. We deserve to know her killer’s name. She spent years serving her community. She deserves justice. 

  If you have information about the murder of Arlene Gehrke please  email coldcase@ag.iowa.gov