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Investigators hope to find new forensic evidence that might solve the 1985 homicide of 24-year-old Terry Dolowy, a University of Wisconsin-
La Crosse senior who disappeared along with her poodle on Valentine’s Day.
Dolowy’s headless remains were removed early Thursday from the Calvary Cemetery in Steger, Ill., about 30 miles south of Chicago.
“Given the improvements of forensic science over the years, investigators are confident that new evidence can be obtained that may be useful in the resolution of this homicide,” said Vernon County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy James Hanson.
Authorities declined, however, to discuss specifics on what they are looking for or when forensic reports might be available.
“We’ve always felt the murder case is solvable and we continue to believe, now more than ever, that it’s solvable
and the person or persons responsible will be brought to justice,” said La Crosse County Sheriff Steve Helgeson.
Dolowy’s fiancé, Russell Lee, told authorities he last saw her about 1 a.m. Feb. 14, 1985, when she returned to her mobile home near Barre Mills, Wis., after a shift at Piggy’s Restaurant in downtown La Crosse. He then left for work at the Radisson hotel, according to Tribune archives.
Lee said he came home about 4:30 a.m. that same day to find the front door open and Dolowy gone, along with her white poodle Suzie. The house showed no signs of struggle and none of her possessions were missing, according to Tribune articles.
Dolowy’s body was found four days later in a roadside ditch in the town of Bergen, just south of the La Crosse County line in Vernon County. It had been set ablaze, and her head was missing and has never been located.
A Cook County (Ill.) court approved the order to exhume Dolowy’s body in early November, Hanson said.
The body will be re-examined by forensic pathologists and anthropologists at the Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s office in Hastings, Minn. The Hamline University Anthropology Department, Cook County Medical Examiner and State’s Attorney’s offices and Vernon and La Crosse County District Attorneys are assisting in the investigation.
La Crosse County Sheriff’s Capt. Kurt Papenfuss and Vernon County investigators Don Henry and Scott Bjerkos were in Illinois on Thursday, Hanson said. La Crosse County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jeff Wolf and Hanson will join the trio today in Hastings.
Dolowy’s killer was “not human,” said her mother, Judy Pritzlaff, 68, of Milwaukee.
“To decapitate her and start her on fire …” she said, voice trailing off. “How could anyone do anything like that?”
Later, she said, “But no punishment would equal what happened. He must be evil.”
Pritzlaff was not aware her daughter’s body would be exhumed, though authorities spoke with her son. Thursday’s news left her “numb” and “frozen,” she said.
While she hopes for an arrest, she also fears the strain of having to re-live her daughter’s death.
“I don’t know if I’m strong enough to endure going through that,” Pritzlaff said. “Can you imagine the things would come out in the trial?”
Pritzlaff still has suspicions about Lee, who she said has moved to California. Authorities did name Lee among several suspects in the days after the body was discovered, but he never was charged.
The couple had a “tumultuous relationship,” crippled by Lee’s gambling problems, Pritzlaff said. Dolowy was going to leave him and move to Chicago, her mother said.
“He was a bum,” Pritzlaff said.
Just last week, Pritzlaff said, she put her daughter’s winter coat on for the first time since the death.
“I put it on and said, ‘I’m comfortable now, her arms are around me,’” she said.
La Crosse and Vernon County authorities said they never stopped working on the case, dedicating thousands of hours over 22 years to follow tips, leads, forensic evidence and possible suspects.
New tips poured in after a 2005 Tribune article about the 20th anniversary of Dolowy’s death, but authorities still are trying to piece together who was with Dolowy from when she vanished until her body was left in the ditch.
“This case has never fallen off the radar screen,” said Hanson, who has worked the case since 1985.
Retired La Crosse County Sheriff Mike Weissenberger, who also was involved in the Dolowy investigation from the start, said he and other retired officers continue to meet with La Crosse, Vernon and state Division of Criminal Investigation staff about the case.
“I’m aware what they’re looking for, but I can’t say,” Weissenberger said of today’s re-examination.
Officials stressed how important it is to solve the homicide, even 22 years later.
“A young person with her whole life ahead of her was taken,” Helgeson said. “It’s important to her family and the community that the person or persons responsible be brought to justice.”
Anne Jungen can be reached at (608) 791-8224 or ajungen@lacrossetribune.com.
