(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs report an arrest was made today (Wednesday), in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found in a ditch. 61-year-old Ivan Samuel Brammer, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody on charges that include Abuse of a Corpse, and Theft in the 2nd Degree. Brammer is charged in the death of 60-year-old Ilene Gowan, of Council Bluffs.

Ivan Brammer

Authorities say that on February 15, 2023, Ilene Gowan was reported as being missing to the Council Bluffs Police Department. According to Gowan’s daughter, her mother had not been seen or heard from since February 13, 2023. Gowan’s deceased body was located on February 26, 2023, in a roadside ditch in the area of 152^nd Street and Old Mormon Bridge Road, near Crescent, Iowa. View an affidavit for the case Brammer Affidavit

On May 23, 2023, an arrest warrant application was submitted and approved, charging Ivan Brammer with the aforementioned offenses.  The investigation into the circumstances of Gowan’s death remains active. The State of Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office, after Gowan’s autopsy, indicated an unknown cause and manner of death.