Iowa serial killer: Authorities investigate after woman claims her father was a prolific killer

CNN
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A western Iowa sheriff says local, state and federal authorities are « actively investigating » a rural area where a woman claimed her late father disposed of dozens of bodies of people he killed decades ago.

« We are actively investigating this, and who wouldn’t? » Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope told CNN affiliate KETV.

« We have a scene, but we don’t know if it’s a crime scene, » the sheriff told KETV. “We have no victims, no bodies. Nothing. »

The search follows a Newsweek article quoting Lucy Studey, who claimed her father Donald Studey killed ’50 to 70′ people years ago – and that she helped dispose of the bodies in a well on property he owned near Thurman, Iowa.

Susan Studey, Lucy Studey’s older sister, later told Newsweek that her sister’s claims were not true. « My dad wasn’t the man she claimed to be. He was strict, but he was a protective parent who loved his kids…Strict dads don’t just turn into serial killers…I’m two more than Lucy. I think I would know if my dad had murdered, » she told Newsweek.

CNN has reached out to Lucy Studey for comment.

“All we have is that a woman came forward and told us a story of bodies in a well,” Aisotrope said. “We brought in a few dead dogs. Cadaver dogs looked in there or looked around the area, and they pointed in the area. I’m not going to say it was right over the well, but they pointed it to the area.

Donald Studey died in 2013, according to KETV.

« We’re going to do everything we can to prove or disprove that there may be a crime scene, » Aisotrope said.

Local, state and federal agencies are involved, including the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations and the FBI, Aistrope told KETV.

« They had asked us to help with the investigation as well as the FBI and we’re happy to do that, you know, and try to provide manpower and resources, » the director said. deputy of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations at KETV.

CNN has contacted the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Criminal Investigations Division for further details.