Forty-one years after an Ohio man went missing, an Iowa cold case is solved and his family finally has answers.
In March of 1986, a rural Winneshiek County resident found the body of a man wedged between hay bales in his barn. While moving bales, he found a pink blanket on the ground. Then a shoe. Then the body. The bales, each weighing more than 1,000 pounds, hadn’t been moved since the summer before.
The man found between the bales had dark brown hair and had notable dental work. He was wearing brown suede shoes, blue corduroy pants, a V-neck shirt, a heavy flannel jacket and a blue windbreaker, according to a news release from the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office
A lead at the time identified the man as a hitchhiker from Ohio trying to get to California, previously reported to the sheriff’s office. No one was located by deputies at the time, according to the release. Later in the spring of 1986, the man’s skull was taken to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for clay facial reconstruction. No identification was made.
The case went cold, and the man was buried at Freeport Cemetery near Decorah. At the time of his burial, DNA testing was not yet available.
DNA test identifies victim in Iowa cold case 40 years later
Forty years after the man was buried, his DNA was retrieved.
Winneshiek County Deputy Cole Tweten pushed for DNA testing of the man’s remains. His body was “very well preserved,” according to the release, and it was retrieved in April 2026. The remains were transported to the Iowa DCI Crime Lab for autopsy and DNA retrieval.
The man’s dental records matched a man missing from Ohio since 1985. Clifton Womack, 28, was last seen leaving his Eastlake, Ohio, home in 1985, telling his parents he was “going out to look for a job,” according to the news release. He was reported missing and was never seen again.
His mother submitted his dental records in hopes of finding him. His brother, Terry Womack, submitted his DNA in 2021 to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database in hopes of making a match.
In 2026, when DNA analysis and forensic genealogy were completed on the man’s body, the dental records and the DNA sample were a match for Clifton Womack.
“This breakthrough in the case represents not only the culmination of a 40-year mystery for the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office, but for our entire community,” Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx said in the release. ” I am grateful that we were able to bring the Womack family the closure they have sought and hoped for over these past four decades.”
Womack’s siblings confirmed their brother suffered from schizophrenia, was medicated for it, and that their family used to live in California.
The Elizabeth Collins Foundation, a nonprofit created after the abduction of Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins in Evansdale, Iowa, in 2012, fully funded the recovery and identification, according to the release.
“I am equally thankful for the diligent work performed by this office back in 1986, which gathered and preserved information and case facts that ultimately allowed us to complete this investigation all these years later,” Marx said in the release.
Clifton Womack’s cause of death still remains “undetermined” after the 2026 autopsy. With no evidence of criminal activity, the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office considers the case closed, according to the release.
‘A lifetime of unanswered questions’ finally answered for Womack family
Clifton Womack’s disappearance came with “a lifetime of unanswered questions,” his older siblings Jay, Terry, Sheyry, and Amber wrote in a letter to the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office.
Their mother, Peggy Jo Womack, died not long after Clifton’s disappearance, never knowing what happened to her youngest son. Now the Womacks finally have closure.
“This discovery has given our family something we have waited 41 years for to receive: the truth, and a measure of peace,” his siblings wrote in the letter.
“Now, we can begin to remember him and honor his life, knowing that he was not forgotten. The compassion and commitment shown by so many have helped give us the closure we prayed for. Our brother was loved. He was family,” his siblings wrote. “Today, we hold on to the memories and the gratitude we feel toward everyone who helped make this day possible.”
Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ohio man missing since 1985 ID’d as victim in 1986 Iowa cold case
Reporting by Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
