Barbara Nelson:1982, Albion, Wisconsin

   


  Barbara Jean Nelson was born Barbara Jean Dahl on April 18th, 1948 to Jean P. Hedeman Dahl and Elmer Dahl. She was born in Chicago, Illinois. 


  Barbara Jean Dahl grew up on farms in Wisconsin. She was an Honor Student at Edgerton High School in Edgerton, Wisconsin. Edgerton is southeast of Madison, Wisconsin. The area is rural beautiful farmland dotted with small towns.


  In June of 1968, Barbara married Terry Lee Nelson. The couple welcomed a daughter ten years later. 



  Barbara Jean was working at a mini-mart near Albion, Wisconsin called the “Mini Stop and Shop” on Thursday August 5th, 1982. This was a time when a lot of women were entering the work force. Many women were heading to work out of necessity. The 1970's had been a very tough economic decade. But, families also saw that if both parents worked, they could get a bit ahead financially. With a bit of savings they would not have to live paycheck to paycheck. 


  Barbara was working a night shift at the rural and isolated gas station and mini mart called the Mini Stop and Shop. Sometime that evening, she was abducted. Customers arrived and found the place unlocked and empty.


  Agonizing days went by. Searches were conducted. Police and the newspapers got the word out about her disappearance. 



   Six days later Barbara Jean Nelson was found further southeast from Albion. On August 11th, 1982 a town worker was mowing tall grass along the road near Lafayette, Wisconsin. Barbara Jean Nelson had been shot in the back and in the arm. She also had suffered blunt force trauma injuries to her head. 


   Her case was investigated thoroughly in 1982 but no leads produced a solution. Barbara's murder is now a cold case. 



   I believe that she might have been a victim of serial killer Harry Edward Greenwell. He abducted and murdered women who worked alone at night. He lived in Wisconsin in 1982 and traveled for work for decades. He was not known to be a serial killer in his lifetime but DNA has since revealed a hidden life.


  On March 3rd, 1989, he struck twice. Margaret Mary Gill was assaulted and killed as she worked her night shift at the Days Inn. She was not abducted from the premises. She was found in a vacant wing of the hotel. I think she ran from him that night into the vacant wing but was unable to escape. Greenwell assaulted and shot her there in that empty wing of the hotel. 


  Further South along I-65, Jeanne Gilbert was abducted, assaulted and murdered. He took her from the Days Inn. He assaulted and murdered her a few miles further southeast. 


  I think he struck twice that night because the first attack did not go as he normally liked it to go. I think he got some satisfaction out of taking the woman from her workplace. He would maybe say that he would let her go after a few miles. Maybe he could see the victim start to relax when he pulled over to “let her go”. Maybe he enjoyed inflicting the terror when the victim realized that he was not just going to let them go free. 


  Earlier that year in February of 1989, Vicki Heath was murdered by Greenwell in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She also worked at a motel near I-65. She was found shot behind the motel. I believe she might have tried to run from him.


  In 2022, Investigators would use DNA technology to connect Harry Edward Greenwell to these three murders and another attempted assault in Indiana that occurred in 1991. That victim was able to escape. 


   In 2013, Harry Edward Greenwell died in Iowa. He had been married a few times. His first wife Terry Jo Hastings Greenwell died in a suspicious house fire in 1978. His other marriages ended in divorce. 

   

    For many years he traveled for work as a construction worker and later repairing railroad track for the Canada Pacific Railroad. 


   I don’t think he started killing in February of 1989. I think there are many victims out there across the midwest. Those I-65 killings gave this mystery killer the name "The I-65 Killer" at the time. I think Greenwell is also "The I-70 Killer". The Interstate 70 killer robbed small businesses and shot the female workers inside. (One victim was a man with long hair that investigators believe the killer mistook for a woman.) He killed victims in Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Indiana and Kansas.


Greenwell and sketch of I-70 killer.

   Barbara Jean Nelson was a beloved wife and mother. She should have been here to raise her daughter and enjoy her life. She should still be here. 


   If you have information about the murder of Barbara Jean Nelson, please call the Dane County Sheriff’s Office at 608-266-4948. 

   


  

   

  


   



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Raymond Charles Lamb:Indiana Serial Killer

Image
         One thing about writing something and publishing it on the internet is that people reach out with feedback. Sometimes, if you write about true crime, that feedback can come from a victim’s family or even from the granddaughter of a serial killer.     When that granddaughter appreciates what was written and is also doing research you can find a very welcome, if unexpected, collaboration.     When you hear from the family member of a victim it is always a very humbling feeling. I feel dreadful about what happened. I feel bad about writing about it. (Even though I feel very strongly that these cases need to be talked about.)     That scenario is exactly what happened to me recently. I began to look more into the past of that serial killer. He has been serving a life sentence in Indiana since 1973.    Raymond Charles Lamb was born in August of 1946 according to the India...
Read more

51:Brenda Ginter:1975, North Judson, Indiana

Image
        Brenda Lou Ginter was born on October 20th, 1952. She grew up in Lake Station, Indiana. It’s a town very close to Gary, Indiana. It appears almost like a neighborhood of Gary, Indiana on the map. Brenda’s parents were Joseph Ginter and Esther (Scalf) Ginter. She had three brothers and a sister.  Joanana Ida Ginter was born in 1931. Joseph Junior was born in 1935. The two other brothers and Brenda came along later. I am not sure but I think Brenda and Dennis were twins. They were in the same class in high school. I found an Edison High School 1969 yearbook and they are together in the Junior Class. Brenda and Dennis would have graduated from high school in 1970.    Brenda was pretty with dark brown hair. Her middle and high school pictures from Lake Station show a smiling and vibrant young girl with the many changing hairstyles of the time.     In 1973 Brenda had a son, Stephen. One newspaper article said that she...
Read more

Laurie Jo Lopez and Gerald E. Bunche III: 1975, Gary

Image
    On the evening of April 6th, 1975, two teenagers went on a date. The eighteen year olds were Laurie and Gerald. They borrowed Laurie’s Mom’s car.  It should have been a fun night out. But, the two teens never made it home.    Laurie Jo Lopez graduated from Kankakee Valley High. She lived southeast of Gary, Indiana at 10 Windsor Drive, outside of Demotte, Indiana.    Gerald Ellsworth Bunche III was born on January 3rd 1957. He went to Lew Wallace High in Gary and lived at 1145 Whitcomb Street. He was the son of Erdell and Gerald Bunche Jr.  He was an active highschool kid. He played basketball and was pretty good.    Laurie Lopez was the daughter of Frank Lopez. Her mother’s name is not known to me. (Her mother is not listed on her death certificate and I was unable to find any information about Laurie’s Mom or possible siblings.) Laurie’s stepfather was Sgt. James E. Rodriguez.    I usually am ab...
Read more