Tama County Sheriff’s Officers, County Attorney Jared Bauch and Medical Examiner Dr. C.W. Maplethorpe with Marshall County authorities and state DCI agents check the scene of the discovery of body of Helen Mae Bown, 61, north of Montour along the Iowa River north of Montour on Oct. 31. 1973. Bown was reported missing on Oct. 7 from her home in Marshalltown and believed murdered. No one was ever charged in the death. Toledo Chronicle / Marshalltown Times Republican photo/John Speer

By John Speer

Central Iowa Press

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Halloween day, Oct. 31, 1973, was typical of many in late fall in Iowa- cold, overcast and threatening rain. It included the discovery of the body of Helen Mae Bown, 61, of Marshalltown, on the bank of the Iowa River northwest of Montour in Tama County. Her body was found that day by Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents. Bown, a widow, had been reported missing to Marshalltown Police on Oct. 7.

Those on the scene of the discovery included Tama and Marshall county sheriff’s officers, Marshalltown Police, the DCI agents, Tama County Medical Examiner Dr. C.W. Maplethorpe, as was Tama County Attorney Jared Bauch.

Bauch, of Traer, said recently in an email response for this article,

“I remember the case and the scene. Ms. Bown had been in the water several days.

“As I recall there was an idea that she had been drinking quite a bit at the time she disappeared and her companions were rough customers. The DCI was on the case from the outset. I think we concluded she got in the Iowa River near Marshalltown and that it was likely a Marshall County case.

“Her appearance in Tama County was probably due to the vagaries of the Iowa River currents. We had nothing to tie her to a Tama County location at the time of her death.

“We did consider hers to be a suspicious death.”

Rita Janelle Papakee

And it was suspicious to Marshall County authorities. Then-Marshall County Attorney Ron Kaiser convened a Grand Jury on Nov. 7, 1973, according to a news report in The Marshalltown Times-Republican. He told the TR the reason for impaneling the Grand Jury “was to present evidence that has been uncovered.”

However, no indictment was handed down and the newspaper report said Kaiser “would not comment” on whether he thought “foul play may have taken place or the nature of the evidence.”

The state medical examiner had ruled the death due to “probable drowning.”

Tama County Sheriff Dennis Kucera and Deputy Bruce Rhoads both said they have no direct knowledge of the case as neither were serving with the sheriff’s office then.

Present Marshall County Attorney Jennifer Miller replied to an information request: “My office doesn’t have any records or information on this case…so sorry!”

Cora Ann Okonski

The Marshalltown Police Department nor the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office responded to email requests for information for this story.

Helen Bown’s obituary in the Nov. 7, 1973, Times Republican said her husband, William, had died in 1972. The couple had always lived in Marshalltown.

She was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown.

A native of Red Cloud, Neb., she had married William in 1964. She had previously married Orville Berger in 1926 when she was 14 years old.

The Bergers had two sons.

The website – iowacoldcases.org – includes this information about the case:

“In a Des Moines Register article dated Nov. 2, 1973, one official not directly connected with the case said the manner in which the investigation was being handled would lead one to believe “the Watergate tapes or the atomic bomb secrets” were involved.

“Additionally, the paper also reported that no one in an official capacity would say why the search for the woman was concentrated in the area northeast of Le Grand.”

If you believe you have information about this case contact the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office or Marshalltown Police or local law enforcement.

2nd Marshalltown Murder

The year 1973 would include a second Marshalltown case in which the body of the victim ended up in Tama County.

The body of Rochelle Lass, Marshalltown, was found on a rural Tama County road north of Montour on Feb. 22, 1973.

That case was solved with the arrest and subsequent conviction of her husband, Dennis Lass for 1st degree murder.

Lass, who had been employed as an insurance adjustor, died in prison in April, 2014, at age 73, while serving a life term.

The couple had lived in Toledo for a period of time before moving to Marshalltown.

MISSING IN

TAMA COUNTY

Two women are unaccounted for in Tama County. Neither case has officially been declared the result of foul play.

Missing Person

Rita Janelle Papakee

Age at Report: 41

DOB: June 1, 1973

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Incident Type:

Other adult missing

Missing From: Tama, Iowa

Tama County

Missing Since: January 16, 2015

Rita Papakee was reported missing to the Meskwaki Nation Tribal Police on the Settlement, Jan. 16, 2015, and they are asking for assistance in locating her. Papakee was last seen leaving the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel, and her whereabouts after she left the casino are unknown.

Contact Meskwaki Nation Tribal Police:

641-484-4844 –

1632 305th Street, Tama IA 52339

Missing,

Presumed Dead

Cora Ann Okonski

Age at Report: 23

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Blue

Missing From: Tama, Iowa

Tama County

Missing Since: April 16, 2000

Cora Ann Okonski was last seen at her Tama, Iowa, residence at approximately 9 p.m. on April 16, 2000.

She lived with her young son, Austin, and her fiance, Tait Otis Purk, to whom she’d planned to marry the following month.

Contact Tama Police Department:

641-484-3223

305 Siegel, Tama IA 52339