DUBUQUE, Iowa — A vehicle fished out of the Mississippi River on Iowa’s eastern border turned out to be related to a decades-old cold case. On October 12th, 2023 the Dubuque Police Department was notified that employees from Newt Marine Services, while conducting dredge operations in the Mississippi River near the Hawthorne Boat Ramp, located a submerged vehicle. The vehicle they pulled out was identified as a 1981 Mercury Zephyr belonging to Paul Joseph Knockel, a man who was reported missing in Dubuque on Nov. 25, 1990.

Knockel was 53 at the time he was reported missing by family, and his case has remained open since then. No human remains were located while investigators processed the vehicle.

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact Investigator Corporal Clark Egdorf at 563-589-4430 or Cegdorf@cityofdubuque.org. Anonymous tips can be submitted online via the Dubuque Police Department’s Official Page: www.cityofdubuque.org/209/Police or by calling Dubuque/Jo Daviess Crime Stoppers at (800)747-0117.