In the quiet corners of the Midwest, where the cities of Evansdale and Waterloo bleed into one another along the Cedar River, life usually moves at a predictable pace. For years, Evansdale enjoyed a reputation as an obscure town hidden in a sleepy section of Iowa that rarely received attention outside of election season. July 13, 2012, began as a typical Friday for ten year old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and her eight year old cousin Elizabeth Collins. Lyric was a girl who loved the outdoors regardless of the weather and was currently obsessed with the boy band One Direction. Elizabeth was a talkative third grader who adored her dog, Gus, and had a rambunctious side that came out on the hockey rink.
Around 12:15 PM, the cousins set off from their grandmother’s house on Brovan Boulevard for a simple bike ride. They were spotted shortly after near Meyers Lake, pedaling through a local fishing and recreational hotspot. By 2:48 PM, however, the afternoon sun felt much colder as their family reported them missing to the Evansdale Police Department. The panic intensified when local firefighters discovered their abandoned bikes on a trail near the southeast corner of the lake at 4:00 PM. Elizabeth’s purse was still there, but the girls had vanished without a trace. How does a person simply disappear from a public trail in the middle of a summer afternoon?
The search that followed was exhaustive, involving hundreds of volunteers, scent dogs, and even FBI divers who partially drained Meyers Lake in search of a clue. Investigators faced a haunting reality because the abduction of two children at once in broad daylight is an incredibly rare event
. The FBI has recorded only about fifteen similar incidents over several decades, making this disappearance a statistical anomaly. Was this a calculated strike by someone who knew the area, or a terrifying moment of opportunity? Suspicion initially fell on those closest to the girls, including Lyric’s father, Dan Morrissey, who was dealing with significant legal issues at the time. However, after a rigorous vetting process that included polygraphs and electronic searches, police began to believe the culprit was likely a complete stranger . This lead eventually turned toward a mysterious white SUV spotted near the crime scene by multiple witnesses. One witness even placed this vehicle near the woods where the bikes were found, yet the driver has never been identified. The mystery took a devastating turn on December 5, 2012, when the hopeful waiting came to an end.
Hunters moving through the Seven Bridges Wildlife Park, located about twenty miles away, stumbled upon human remains hidden in an isolated area. These remains were confirmed to be Lyric and Elizabeth, but their discovery brought more questions than answers. Why would a killer choose such a specific, local dumping ground like Seven Bridges Park, a place mostly known to those who live in the region?
Years have passed, and the "Trail of Angels" at Meyers Lake serves as a permanent memorial to lives cut short. Investigators have looked into potential connections with other predators like Michael Klunder or Jeff Altmeyer, yet no definitive link has been made public. Even a bizarre story involving a mother in a nearby town claiming to have a confession letter from the killers led to a dead end. The file remains open, and a reward of 170,000 dollars still waits for the one piece of information that fits the puzzle. If the killer truly is a local who blends into the community, could they still be walking the same streets as the families they broke?