In 2018, Jerry Lynn Burns was finally arrested and charged with the teen's murder and, although it had been decades after the crime, the once cold case is now a subject of discussion on A&E's Killer Cases. Burns' wife, Patricia . Through his research, he discovered that a woman named Brandy Jennings had uploaded her DNA to a website service to trace her own family history. In 2018, the company entered the DNA data from the case into the public genealogy website GEDmatch, where it found a familial DNA match. Almost 40 years later, with the help of DNA Technology, the culprit was nabbed and justice was finally served to Martinko and her grieving family. Thanks to advances in technology and DNA evidence, a jury in an Iowa courthouse . County, FL. Burns denied any involvement in the murder. However, in 2006, a tip came into the Cedar Rapids police department. [21] Psychics were also consulted early on in the investigation. [39], Last edited on 20 February 2023, at 04:20, "Michelle Martinko's murder 'haunted' the Cedar Rapids community for 40 years. People around him considered him to be a professional but everything fizzled out shortly after. Parabon made predictions for "ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face shape," police said, and the department released the composite images to the public in May 2017. JERRY M. LYNN "Bear" Crown Point, Indiana Jerry M. "Bear" Lynn, age 59, of Crown Point, IN passed away on April 4, 2010. A Felony. Suspect in Martinko murder not suspected in wife's death or cousin's disappearance, Bobcats and beyond are wearing orange to support Benton Communitys Tatum Schroeder, UIHC library offers resources for and about people with disabilities. . We would also like to extend our sympathy to the Martinko family.. Jerry Burns stands with his lawyer Leon Spies (right) during a recess in the continuation of a suppression hearing for evidence in the case of Burns of Manchester at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020. On December 19, 2018, he was arrested in Manchester, Iowa, on the 39th anniversary of Michelle's death. In a press conference during which the new image was shared, a former classmate of Martinko exclaimed that the face looked like another one of their classmates, but that classmate had been investigated and was cleared based on a DNA swab several years before. He and his wife, who now reside in Florida, said they . It goes beyond the simple news reporting of case solved using genetic genealogy. The podcast explores who these perpetrators are, possible motives and features interviews with investigators who are willing to talk because the cases have already been resolved in court. Ken and Don were not a match but Jerry Burns' DNA was a match, to an almost perfect scientific certainty. Even though the police were tipped over 200 times in the weeks following the murder, the case eventually grew cold as investigations stretched on. GEDmatch returned one person who shared DNA markers with the suspect in Martinko's murder, and it determined her to be likely the killer's second cousin once removed. "It looks personal, it's a lot of stab wounds, it's overkill," said lead Detective Matt Denlinger of the Cedar Rapids Police Department. The wait ended Monday, when a jury convicted Jerry Lynn Burns of first-degree murder in the 1979 stabbing death of 18-year-old Martinko. While that tip did not yield any new leads, it did cause Det. Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, was apprehended and charged with first-degree murder after authorities matched his DNA with blood samples found on the Martinko family car's gear shift knob. Reporter covering state and federal courts. Burns pleaded not guilty at his February 2020 trial but the jury deliberated just three hours and returned a guilty verdict. Grab your popcorn & get comfy as we dive into some dusty old cases revitalized thanks to genetic genealogy (& a bit of good ol' fashioned detective work! 20-1150). Jerry Lynn Burns was finally arrested in October 2018 for the murder of Michelle Martinko, that took place 39 years prior. Denlinger then told him he had a search warrant for his DNA. Over 40 years ago, teenager Michelle Martinko was stabbed to death outside a mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 24. I am a brokenhearted mother.. But the software he used allowed him to review history and activity only to January 2018. [7] Martinko was the younger of two daughters of Albert F. Martinko and Janet Martinko (ne Zillig). Yet they had a DNA match linking the Manchester man to the Cedar Rapids teenager, slain in 1979 outside the Westdale Mall. The results were entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the national DNA database, but no matches were found. Jerry Burns' mugshot and a family photo of Michelle Martinko. [2], In 2006, 27 years after Martinko's killing, a new cold case investigator working for the Cedar Rapids Police Department received a tip connected to the case. [18][19], Controversy arose five months after the murder, after a woman who was driving by the mall parking lot in the early hours of December 20 came forward with information. Jerry Lynn Burns appeared in Linn County this morning on a video monitor from jail where he had his bail set at $5 million. Investigators matched DNA found in the car to Jerry Burns and arrested him in 2018. [24], In 2018, the DNA phenotyping company took the data they had collected the year before and entered it into GEDmatch, a public genealogy website that has been used by law enforcement to solve other cold cases, most famously that of the Golden State Killer. 'As far as I know, I wasn't there.. [33] Prosecutors called a criminalist to contradict the defense's witness; the criminalist said that the storage of Martinko's clothing was not unusual. "[2] When asked if he had killed someone that night in 1979, Burns repeatedly told investigators, "Test the DNA". While these occurrences sounded suspicious, the police didn't believe Burns had anything to do with them. JERRY LYNN BURNS, Defendant-Appellant. The case was solved, but there were lingering questions about Jerry Burns. ", First published on November 6, 2020 / 8:47 AM. And the crucial link is a man named Jerry Burns. [9] She was last seen almost 9p.m. outside of a jewelry store in the mall. The Delaware County Sheriff said it did review the case after Burns' arrest and "feels that was clearly the case.". Convicted murderer Jerry Burns, 66, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in the 1979 murder of Michelle Martinko, 18. Denlinger said they were uploaded to GEDmatch by Parabon NanoLabs, a private company the department worked with. [2], Martinko's father, Albert, died in 1995. DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWWL) - State prosecutors called a former cellmate of Jerry Burns in his murder trial, which continued Tuesday in Scott County. While the information is believed to be accurate, the Iowa Department of Corrections makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information. Police covertly obtained Burns' DNA from a drinking straw he left it on a table after eating lunch Oct. 29, 2018, at the Pizza Ranch in Manchester, testimony showed. He was born in Hundred, WV on April 24, 1930, a son of the late Robert Lee and Rebecca Taylor Merriner. The family of the man suspected of murdering Michelle Martinko 39 years ago said the arrest came "as a complete shock.". A jailhouse informant also testified in the case Tuesday. He was also ordered to pay $150,00 in restitution to Martinkos estate, according to KWWL. [9] Martinko was found inside collapsed over the passenger seat and stabbed to death. Now, her suspected killer is set to go on trial", "Search warrant shows how relative's DNA led police to Manchester man in Michelle Martinko's death", "40 years later: What we know about Michelle Martinko and the arrest that re-opened the cold case", "Jerry Burns found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Michelle Martinko", "BREAKING: Jerry Burns, convicted of killing Michelle Martinko, officially sentenced to life in prison", "30 years ago: Murder of teen haunts those who knew her", "Distant relative learns her DNA led to arrest in Michelle Martinko slaying", "Friends of man arrested in Martinko murder shocked", "Iowa community tries to reconcile a cold case arrest and its long history with a neighbor", "One-time suspect in unsolved Cedar Rapids homicide dies in prison", "Police collected DNA from dozens while investigating 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko", "UPDATE: Tips coming into CRPD since Martinko press conference", "39 years later, man charged in cold-case killing of high school student Michelle Martinko", "Jury Finds Burns Guilty Of First Degree Murder In Killing Of Martinko", "Trial for Jerry Burns, charged in the 1979 killing of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko, moved out of Linn County", "No delay in trial for man accused of killing Michelle Martinko", "Burns' Second Hearing Focuses on Pornography", "From the crime to conviction, a timeline of events in the murder of Michelle Martinko", "Witnesses describe murder scene in trial of man accused of killing Michelle Martinko in 1979", "Witnesses describe procedure in collecting, storing, and tracking evidence as part of cold-case murder trial", "Jerry Burns defense calls one witness, rests its case after testimony from self-defined forensic DNA consultant", "After denied mistrial motion, testimony in Michelle Martinko murder case concludes", "Iowa man guilty in 1979 killing of high school student", "Lawyers for Jerry Burns file motion for new trial", "Jerry Burns attorney files for new trial", "Burns Files Appeal on Murder Conviction", "Offender Information | Iowa Department of Corrections", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Michelle_Martinko&oldid=1140457418, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 04:20. "In a genetic genealogy database we can reverse engineer the [suspect's family] tree from their distant" relatives who have submitted DNA, Moore said. . The hearing will continue in Linn County District Court, though a date has not been set. Jerry Lynn Burns was arrested in the 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko. "I cried a lot and I looked out windows all hours of the night," Martinko's mother, Janet Martinko, told Cedar Rapids' CBS station in 1987. Over 40 years ago, teenager Michelle Martinko was stabbed to death outside a mall in Cedar Rapids . He asked Burns for a sample of his DNA, but Burns said no - not without an attorney. . Parabon. Currently, in his late 60s, he is going to spend the rest of his days behind bars. physical distance - it was a 2 hour drive to and from mason city to cedar rapids. On February 24, 2020, after three hours of deliberation, the jury found Jerry Lynn Burns guilty of first-degree murder of Michelle Martinko. The black dress Michelle Martinko was wearing when she was murdered was sent to the lab for testing. [22][12] From that, police were able to build a partial DNA profile. She had goals for herself, things she wanted to do with her life, and she would write them down and achieve them., I dont know if Ill ever get over this, Mrs. Martinko added. Some thought that Martinko had received harassing phone calls before her death, but police stated that they did not think so. The defense requested the case be declared a mistrial as a result, but the judge denied the request and asked the prosecutor to rephrase the question. They then started to locate all the people that they had originally interviewed in the investigation and collected DNA samples from over 100 different people. Now in his late 60s, Burns is currently behind bars and will stay there till he dies. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and is currently being held at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. In 2017, a company specializing in DNA phenotyping was hired to produce a new approximation of the killer's appearance based solely off the DNA sample. The final nail in the coffin was when a witness gave his statement to the court. The detective looked through the case files and found what he thought to be the murderer's blood. timing. Jim was born on April 20, 1933 in Walsenburg, Colorado to Geraldine Hudson McAlpine and Victor Paul Hudson and passed away on February 24, 2023 at his home in Amarillo, Texas with his family by his side at the age of 89. In October 2018, an investigator was able to snag a straw used by one of the three brothers, Jerry Lynn Burns, and tested it against the sample, getting a match. wife was deter mined to be a distant cousi n to many of the Subject's more . Kayla Lemieux, the transgender high school teacher in Canada, has been put on paid leave after pictures emerged of her dressed as a man proving she does not wear the prosthetics all the time. Iowan law mandates a life sentence without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder. The murder was closely followed within her community, and the police received more than 200 tips in the weeks following her killing. In her ruling, Judge Fae Hoover said the . This evidence was inadmissible at trial but was the subject of a public suppression hearing. On April 5, 1975, Pat was united in marriage to Jerry Lynn Burns at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Manchester. [31] The defense argued that DNA evidence had been mishandled,[31] and that different articles of clothing from the scene should not have been stored together in one evidence bag. [2] The police received more than 100 tips following the release of the new images. Could Jerry Burns have committed murders other than Michelle Martinko's? 39 years later after the murder, a person named Jerry Lynn Burns was arrested in Manchester, Iowa, and charged with first-degree murder. The case had remained a mystery for 39 years until police say new DNA genealogy technology identified Burns' DNA at the scene. Like all the cases I cover, Michelle's was solved using forensic genealogy, which led police to Jerry Lynn Burns. Jan. 16, 2020 7:49 pm, Updated: Jan. 17, 2020 2:37 pm. The Gazette is Iowas independent, employee-owned source for local, state, and national news coverage. After the arrest this week of Jerry Burns in the 1979 killing of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko, an Iowa city is left shocked, saddened, and skeptical. [2][16] At 2a.m., since Martinko had still not returned home, her father reported her missing. Jerry Burns is still behind bars on a $5 million cash bond, charged with first-degree murder in the 1979 murder of Michelle Martinko. [29] The judge determined the search history was not usable in the trial due to the decades of time separating the murder and the searches. A Manchester man convicted of first-degree murder has announced he has hired a new attorney who will seek to exonerate him of the crime, a private investigator has told the Manchester Press . Cutting-edge DNA technology was used to solve the cold case. Accountability doled out to suspects. Burns is accused of murdering Michelle Martinko in 1979. Investigators had reviewed Burns' 2018 internet searches and found that he regularly visited websites showing blonde women being raped, stabbed, and strangled, and which depicted sexual intercourse with murder victims. Burns has hired a very high profile attorney and has said he plans to appeal his conviction, which was very largely . The Cedar Rapids teenager was found stabbed to death in her parents car parked at Westdale Mall. Investigators used the blood samples to develop a partial male DNA profile. [34], On February 24, 2020, after three hours of deliberation, the jury found Jerry Lynn Burns guilty of first degree murder of Michelle Martinko. Pat was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, and enjoyed quilting, collecting teddy bears, gardening and farming with her husband. On December 19, 2018, exactly 39 years after Martinko's murder, the police confronted Burns and arrested him after his DNA matched the one found on Martinko's clothes. Burns is being held at the Linn County jail on a $5 million cash-only bond. ), Press J to jump to the feed. His first wife, Patricia, died by suicide in 2008. In earlier testimony, Matthew Denlinger, a Cedar Rapids police investigator who testified last week, was recalled to testify about Burns' interview with police Dec. 19, 2018. The police considered the murder personal in nature based on the manner of death, according to Little Village magazine. At the time of arrest, Burns had his own power-coating company called Advanced Coating Concepts. Place of rest will be in the Dickson County Memorial Gardens. The victim, Martinko, was an 18-year-old high school student from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who was visiting a mall to buy a winter coat. Michelle Martinko, pictured in a photo released by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, was stabbed to death in December 1979. Your login session has expired. Might be nothing, but Jerry has a cousin who went missing in 2013 and it has become a cold case and Jerry's wife committed suicide in 2008. Her mother, Janet, died in 1998. After her parents reported her missing at 2 a.m., police discovered the teen's body in her vehicle about four hours later. Hernando . Want a job? [2][5] Her hands bore defensive wounds, which police said to indicate that she had fought back against her killer. 19, 2018. The similarities were eerie two pretty, young women, both meeting their final fate in parking lots in Iowa, 16 years apart, in cases that went unsolved for decades. The murder of Michelle Martinko in the parking lot of Cedar Rapids' Westdale Mall has some eerie connections to the Huisentruit case. [2] She did not have many close girlfriends or confidantes, which was speculated to be caused by jealousy from other students over her beauty and stylish clothes[11] or conflict over a boy she had dated. When the police executed a search warrant for Burns home and office, they found a computer search history that included blonde females, assault, rape, strangulation, murder, abuse and rape of a deceased individual, and cannibalism.. The case got nationwide media attention but has remained an unsolved mystery for more than 25 years. [35] On May 29, 2020, Burns' attorneys filed a motion asking for a new trial, claiming his constitutional and state rights were violated and that the court made a mistake in overruling the request for evidence to be suppressed. Cedar Rapids police arrested Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, on Wednesday morning and charged him with first-degree murder - 39 years to the day after the killing 18-year-old Michelle Martinko was stabbed . "It's always the boyfriend, the girlfriend, the husband someone really close to the person. I couldnt have said it better myself, and Im the podcaster! She had been stabbed 21 times in the face, neck, and chest. Detectives considered charging the Commissioner with failure to pass along the information to police, but no charges were pursued. At the department, Burns sked for a lawyer. Denlinger told him authorities would come back to talk to him after they got the results of the DNA test. At the time of the murder, Burns was 25 and lived in Manchester, Iowa. On August 7, 2020, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Authorities said Burns was last seen at his 1381 180th St. residence in Delaware County on Thursday, December 19 . While being questioned about . He grew up in Manchester, Iowa, and graduated from West Delaware High School in 1972. Around 4 a.m., Martinko was found inside her familys Buick Electra. Michelle was a high school senior when she was found stabbed to death in 1979 in a parking lot at the Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids. 'If I was there, I don't know, Burns told Denlinger. Ahead of the Dateline NBC episode about her death, heres what you need to know about the crime, the perpetrator, and what sentence he received at trial. After tracing the suspect's family tree, investigators zeroed in on Burns, covertly collected his DNA and sent it to a lab for analysis, according to Moore and Jerman. Born in 1953, Jerry Lynn Burns grew up in Manchester, Iowa, and graduated from West Delaware High School in 1972. On Dec. 19, 1979, Michelle Martinko, 18, left a school banquet and drove her family's car to the Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to buy a winter coat, Cedar Rapids police said. He previously co-owned a truck shop and worked for John Deere. Dr. Obrecht Learns if She's a Bone Marrow Match for Willow Plus, Nikolas' Whereabouts Are Revealed. Now, the solving of another long-cold casea young blonde woman murdered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, two hours away may shed new light on Huisentruit's disappearance and presumed murder. They then used genealogical data as well as a covertly collected DNA sample from Burns to positively identify him, authorities said. Burns also built himself a new home on his parents' land and opened a gas station and convenience store nearby. 1, 2023 9:40 am7h ago, Crime and Courts Feb. 28, 2023 5:22 pm23h ago, Crime and Courts Feb. 28, 2023 5:19 pm23h ago, Jeff Linder High School Basketball 21m ago21m ago. Tests eliminated the other two brothers as suspects, but the DNA from Burns' straw matched the blood found on Martinko's clothing. Jerry Lynn Burns will be in prison for the rest of his days. In December 1979, Martinko, a high school senior who was on the twirling squad at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, went to the recently opened Westdale Mall after her choir banquet at school to buy a new winter coat. More than 40 years after Jerry Lynn Burns stabbed Michelle Martinko to death, a family and a community has closure. Anthony Rex officiating. jerry lynn burns defendant-appellant. He was never charged with the Martinko murder, he denied the accusations, and DNA evidence, found later, did not match his DNA. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. She will be remembered as a wonderful mother and wife, loving to spend time with her granddaughter . FILE - In a Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 file photo, Jerry Burns enters the courtroom during the continuation of a suppression hearing for evidence in the case of Burns of Manchester at the Linn County . Despite being known as a professional, Burns arrest got people talking about his family. [26] When the DNA sample was tested, it matched the blood sample found at the crime scene. Authorities pored over 300 pages of internet search terms and 400 pages of website history, according to court testimony Thursday - almost all of it involving blonde females and most web searches starting with queries about blonde strangulation. Jerry Lynn Burns' DNA sample was collected from a plastic straw he drank soda with. Jerry Lynn Burns faces a first degree murder charge in the killing of Michelle Martinko. [10] Police considered the killing to be "personal in nature" based on the number and location of stab wounds. [9][2], Police had few leads and appealed to the public for tips. Burns was born in Manchester, Iowa in 1953 and graduated from West Delaware High School in 1972. So Denlinger drew up an elaborate genealogy chart going back to Brandy's great-great grandparents to sleuth out a trail that could lead to the killer's DNA. [2][3][4] Burns was arrested and, on February 24, 2020, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Martinko. [23] Out of more than 80 potential suspects that had been identified over the years, more than 60 people were tested and cleared of suspicion. In 2006, a cold case investigator discovered unidentified blood, presumably belonging to the killer, while he was reviewing case files. Thus began the quest to finally nab Martinko's killers. A hearing over whether to allow the evidence at trial continued Thursday for a second day. Jerry Lynn Burns, the suspect in the 1979 murder of Michelle Martinko, makes a court appearance via video in Linn County, Iowa, Dec. 20, 2018. Burns repeatedly said he didn't know how his DNA was found at the crime scene. A struggle followed in which Michelle was stabbed and sliced by a knife almost 30 times in a horrific murder that police initially believed had to be a crime of passion. CBS "48 Hours" on Saturday will spotlight a 40-year-old Iowa murder case that has raised questions about whether the killer could be linked to Jodi Huisentruit's abduction.. Jerry Burns was convicted last February of killing 18-year-old Michelle Martinko. The defense brought only one witness, a self-described forensic DNA consultant, who testified on the possibility that police could have mishandled the evidence. Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, of Manchester, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday, nearly 40 years after the brutal murder of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko in the parking lot of . Sonny arrives at his restaurant and gives Dex, who is there, the night off. Denlinger recorded him using a camera that was hidden inside a coffee mug. Burns stated that DNA evidence had been mishandled in 1979 in one instance, but denied ever being present on the night of the murder in another. Wednesday, March 1, 2023: Today on General Hospital, Obrecht is furious with both Liz and Scott, Finn offers to stand by Liz, and Sonny and Dex bond over a meal. He lived in Manchester at the time of his arrest in 2020 and owned a powder coating business in the city. [6] In September 2020, Burns filed a notice of appeal. Michelle Martinko was an 18yr old student from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. [30] The doctor who performed Martinko's autopsy and investigators in the original case, all now retired, took the stand to testify to how the investigation was conducted, and to Martinko's cause of death. "Murder at the Mall: The Michelle Martinko Case," reported by "48 Hours" contributor Jamie Yuccas, airs on Saturday, August 7 at 9/8c on CBS. [2][23] On December 19, 2018, investigators went to Burns' business in Manchester, Iowa, to interview him. At the time of her death, police had found Martinko stabbed to death in her car in a local mall parking lot. On May 29, 2020, Burns' attorneys filed a motion asking for a new trial, claiming his constitutional and . Roberta Williams' Phantasmagoria, a group of 39 people. 2. He had followed them and secretly recovered their DNA. Burns is accused of murdering Michelle Martinko in 1979. But he said he and another investigator had no plans to arrest Burns that day. What we know about Jerry Burns and the woman he's accused of killing 40 years earlier Dec 19, 2019/ updated Feb 17, 2020 Four decades ago, 18-year-old Michelle Marie Martinko was found stabbed to death in the family's car in the parking lot of a Cedar Rapids mall. Rumors began to circulate about the crime. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette). Burns was arrested on Dec. 19, 2018. He had worked for John Deere and co-owned a truck stop. But then Denlinger's supervisor, who had been listening to the recorded interview from across the street with other officers, sent Denlinger text message telling him to arrest Burns. Hi all - I discuss the case of Michelle Martinko, who was murdered in 1979 in Iowa, this week on DNA: ID podcast. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. The primary evidence police had to go on was blood on Michelle's dress and on the car's gearshift that in 2005 was finally identified as male DNA. Police looked at numerous suspects during the initial investigation, including a man who raped a woman at knifepoint and later died while in prison for that crime, but DNA testing ruled him out. She was unsure her information would be of any use because she had read that the murder happened between 10p.m. and midnight, and it was 2a.m. when she drove by. Hi! I just began listening to the DNA:ID podcast. The Delaware County Sheriff's Office says Brian Burns remains an active missing person case but, at this point, has no link to his cousin. Allison also recounted a time when Burns tried to tear down a cellmate's bunk bed because he was snoring too loudly. This "tragic case" had been "haunting this community for 39 years," Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman said Wednesday. The first piece of progress in the case came in 2006 when a sample of the suspect's DNA from Michelle Martinko's car was submitted to a lab for processing, police said. But Denlinger did get consent from Janice Burns, Burns' first cousin, and collected her DNA for testing, he said. [25] He refused to voluntarily provide a sample of DNA, but was compelled to do so with a search warrant. CEDAR RAPIDS - Police investigators couldn't find evidence that Jerry Burns and Michelle Martinko knew each other. I hope you enjoy it!! Lives in Tyler, Texas. She claimed to have seen two cars in the lot, one of which was Martinko's, and a man standing next to the open driver's side door of Martinko's car. On February 24, 2020, after three hours of deliberation, the jury found Jerry Lynn Burns guilty of first-degree murder. Fifty-five-year-old Brian "Farmer" Burns was reported missing to the Delaware County Sheriff's Office in Manchester, Iowa, on Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, and the sheriff's office is asking for the public's help in locating him. Powered by. Jerry Burns. LEON SPIES: The state's scenario here is that Jerry Burns, a married man with two young children at home, leaves, drives to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the night, leaving his wife and children behind . Burns originally refuted every charge of involvement in this crime during interrogation by claiming he was unable to provide the authorities with a "plausible explanation" for why his DNA was found at the crime site. In her parents car parked at Westdale mall and graduated from West Delaware High School in 1972 first published November! 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