Iowa Radio News

FAYETTE COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A 19-year-old is facing charges after an incident that allegedly happened on June 4. KCRG-TV reports Wilmer Elias Soy of Postville picked up two 13-year-old girls, took them to a remote area in the Fayette County and allegedly sexually assaulted them. Soy has been charged with Kidnapping in the first degree, a class “A” felony. First-degree kidnapping is when the person kidnapped, as a consequence of the kidnapping, suffers sexual abuse. If convicted Soy could face life in prison without the chance of parole. POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Given recent heavy rains with more on the way, precautions are in place at Saylorville Lake to keep the river from rising too quickly downstream in Des Moines. Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that they plan to test the crest gates on Friday. The gates were installed after the flood of 1993. When inflated, the gates allow for an extra 6 feet of water to be retained. The lake currently measures 28 feet higher than normal. NEWTON, IA (IRN) – Authorities in Jasper County have launched an investigation into the death of a Des Moines man who was found dead in a vehicle in Newton. The Des Moines Register reports Jeremy McDowell, 38, was found dead Friday. McDowell’s manner of death is pending autopsy results. CHARLES CITY, IA (IRN) – Charles City police were able to locate two juveniles who ran away from the Bremwood Residential Treatment Center in Waverly. KIMT-TV reports the two minors stole bikes and rode them into Floyd County, and then stole a vehicle from a rural residence. That vehicle was located in Charles City and the two juvenile males were caught and returned to representatives of the Bremwood Center. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Parents in Cedar Rapids will soon be able to track when their child gets on and off a school bus. KCRG-TV reports the app will also let parents know if a bus is running late, or if there is a crash or major delay. The app will be free for all families, and will cost the district approximately $70,000 a year.

MT. PLEASANT, IA (IRN) – A verdict has been given in the cold case murder trial of 22-year-old Elizabeth Syperda. KCII-radio reports 53-year-old Michael Lee Syperda has been found guilty of murder in the first degree in the death of his estranged wife. Elizabeth’s July 2000 disappearance in Mt. Pleasant was classified as a homicide after the investigation into her disappearance was reopened in March 2017. OSCEOLA, IA (IRN) – An Osceola couple facing child endangerment charges kept two adopted children locked in a room subdivided by wood and kept plastic buckets for the children to use as a toilet. KCCI-TV reports the children were also malnourished. An investigation that began in January resulted in the arrests of 42-year-old Kenneth Fry and 40-year-old Kelly Fry. The couple have seven children, and the two of them who were abused had been adopted from Ghana, one age 8 and one age 9. DRAKESVILLE, IA (IRN) – A hit and run crash has killed a nine-year-old and seriously injured his sibling in southeast Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol reports a vehicle hit the two at about 10 last night in Davis County near Drakesville. Troopers say they were walking against traffic when a vehicle came up from behind, hit them and then drove off. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police arrested one man early Sunday morning after they heard gunshots near Klub Elite in the East Village of Des Moines. WHO-TV reports police found a woman with a gunshot wound to her arm. A man was seen running from a vehicle that was leaving at a high rate of speed, which then hit a parked car. Police caught Leonardo Castellanos and found a handgun and evidence of narcotics distribution in his possession. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A documentary film made in eastern Iowa by eight Cedar Rapids teenagers won a top prize at a Toronto film festival. KCRG-TV reports “Somewhere Only We Know” explains the life of a Shueyville couple who choose to live simply, and without modern conveniences on an 83-acre property called “Wildwood Farm.” The purpose of the film was to answer the question, “What is worth more than money?” The students say they learned there is more to life than material things, like caring about others.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A 6-year-old girl died Saturday evening after being pulled from Gray’s Lake in Des Moines, according to the Des Moines Register. The girl is at least the fifth person, three of whom were children, to have drowned in Iowa waterways in the last nine days. DOON, IA (IRN) – A train derailment near the northwestern Iowa town of Doon has dumped an estimated 230,000 gallons of crude oil into floodwaters, with some making its way to nearby rivers. A total of 33 oil cars derailed. CLAYTON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – At least one person is dead after a crash involving multiple vehicles in Clayton County on Saturday. KCRG-TV reports two motorcycles and a compact SUV were involved. One person was pronounced dead at the scene. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Jeep SUV was pulled out of Ellis Harbor in Cedar Rapids after it was accidentally driven into the water. The owner told officers he pushed the accelerator instead of the brake. A crane from a local Cedar Rapids company was brought in by the fire department to pull the Jeep out.

FORT MADISON, IA (IRN) – A man, his wife, and their two children were all injured after he fell asleep while driving and crashed into another car in rural Fort Madison Thursday. WQAD-TV reports the man fell asleep at the wheel of his Honda Pilot and drove into the median, went airborne, and hit a car on the opposite side of the highway. The impact ejected one of the children from the car, resulting in major injuries. Everyone was wearing seatbelts. No one in the oncoming car was injured. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A maintenance worker for a Waterloo apartment complex has died after he was beaten last week and left with a broken neck. KCRG-TV reports Johannes Rodenburgh, 72, died Tuesday. Martavis Wise, 27, faces second degree murder charges. Wise allegedly punched and kicked Rodenburgh repeatedly, knocking him down and a slamming a bicycle on top of him. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A chase through Des Moines yesterday may have put a wanted man behind bars. WHO-TV reports the chase started when a deputy spotted a vehicle with license plates stolen in Sioux City. The driver refused to stop, leading police on a pursuit that ended on the east side of Des Moines. The van was stolen in Florida. IOWA (IRN) – Nitrogen pollution flowing out of Iowa to the Gulf of Mexico has grown by close to 50 percent over nearly two decades. The Des Moines Register reports a new University of Iowa study shows the voluntary Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy isn’t working. The pollutants reduce oxygen in the gulf, causing a “dead zone” that threatens the Gulf’s seafood industry. Farming is the source of most of the pollution, although urban wastewater and industrial operations contribute as well. STORY COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Nearly one-third of rest stops along Iowa interstate highways could be closing. The Iowa Department of Transportation is asking for public input on the issue. Officials say the specific areas they want to close are not being used or are too close to other stops. The agency is also looking to get rid of all 16 parking-only areas, which are usually used by semitractor-trailer drivers.

DOON, IA (IRN) – Oil is leaking out of a Burlington, Northern, and Santa Fe train that derailed just south of the town of Doon in northwest Iowa this morning, and is flowing into the Rock River. The Sioux City Journal reports no one was injured in the 31-car crude oil train derailment. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Public Safety says it is looking into a test Amber Alert message that was sent out Thursday afternoon. They didn’t send the alert, and are working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to see what triggered the test alert. MANCHESTER, IA (IRN) – Frozen assets limited a Manchester’s man’s ability to defend himself at trial for shooting his girlfriend, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled. KCRG-TV reports the court granted Robert Krogmann, now 60 years-old, a new trial for shooting his then girlfriend three times in 2009. Before the trial, the prosecution requested to freeze Krogmann’s roughly $3 million in assets and a judge granted it. The Supreme Court ruled the asset freeze did not have any legal basis. MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – The Mason City Police Department is investigating a case of shots fired. KIMT-TV reports the incident involved shots being fired from one vehicle at another vehicle last night. WASHINGTON, DC (IRN) – The House of Representatives narrowly approved a five-year farm bill Thursday, according to CNN. The vote was 213-211. Most Republicans favored the bill, while Democrats rejected it. The vast majority of the bill’s funding addresses food stamps, more formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The bill adds more work and training requirements for those who receive benefits — the main reason why Democrats unanimously opposed the measure. LINN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in south Florida arrived in eastern Iowa Thursday. KCRG-TV reports it was part of the nationwide March for Our Lives Road to Change Summer Tour. The students are survivors of the February 14 massacre at their high school in Parkland which took the lives of 17 people and injured several others. The group favors stronger gun control. LINN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A group of teenagers gathered Thursday in Cedar Rapids to show that not all people their age want stricter gun laws. KCCI-TV reports the students say they don’t support any additional forms of gun control because it’s unconstitutional. One Marion High School student says the Second Amendment is the country’s most important amendment because it’s “the backbone of the Constitution.”