KDSN RADIO News
Woodbine Woman’s Disappearance Solved After 36 Years, Suspect Arrested
(Photo from KCCI.com)
Des Moines, Iowa — KCCI reports after 36 years, the mystery of a woman’s disappearance from Woodbine, Iowa, may finally be resolved.
Robert Allen Davis, 61, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on Monday and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the 1989 disappearance of Barbara Lenz. Davis, who was 25 at the time, is believed to be the last person to see Lenz alive. She was 31 years old when she went missing from her apartment in Woodbine.
Lenz’s body has never been found, but cold case investigators with the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation have spent months examining evidence in the case. The arrest is the first made by the state’s newly-formed cold case unit.
Court records show that Davis had a history of assaulting Lenz during their two-year relationship. In 1989, he admitted to having a violent temper and assaulting Lenz. Witnesses have reported Davis made threatening comments in the years after Lenz’s disappearance, further linking him to the case.
Davis has a criminal history, including convictions for kidnapping and sexual abuse in the 1990s. He was also convicted in 2008 for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Investigators are still working to locate Lenz’s remains, which her family and authorities hope will bring closure to the long-unsolved case.
