LISBON, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety today (Saturday), issued a follow-up report on an investigation into the 1996 death of a newborn child.

Authorities say on November 10, 1996, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a deceased newborn at a rural farmstead at 14 Highway 30 near Lisbon, IA.  The caller reported the body of a newborn female had been found in a garbage bag in the barn.  Law enforcement responded to the scene and located a deceased newborn female as reported by the caller.  After an exhaustive investigation, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) were unable to identify the infant, her parents, or the circumstances surrounding her death.

The unidentified infant was ultimately named “Baby Jane Lincoln” as Highway 30 was previously known as the Old Lincoln Highway. The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on Baby Jane and listed her cause of death to be “probable exposure” and the manner of death to be “undetermined.”

Recent advances in DNA testing have identified the parents of Baby Jane as Luke Dean Wilson (43 years old) and Samantha Light Hope (43 years old). The circumstances surrounding the death of Baby Jane remain under investigation and the public is encouraged to contact the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office should they possess any information that may assist in the investigation.

Additionally, the public is encouraged to contact the Iowa DCI Missing Person Information Clearinghouse at 515-725-6036 if they have any information related to any missing person or unidentified human remains investigation.

No further information will be released at this time.

(Cass County, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Transportation reports Interstate 80 eastbound at mile marker 48 (about 1 mile east of Walnut), remains closed due to a multiple-vehicle crash that occurred at around 7:50-a.m.

According to reports, two semi’s collided, with multiple vehicles involved in a chain-reaction crash that followed, include an Iowa Western Community College bus. As many as 15 vehicles were said to have been involved at the crash scene.

No injuries have been reported. Persons on the bus were transferred to another bus and continued on to their destination.

RED OAK, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) will host a town hall meeting in Audubon County on February 3rd. Senator Ernst’s office says she looks forward to hearing from constituents in the area about the issues most important to them. This town hall meeting is open to the public.

Saturday, February 3, 2024

Audubon County Town Hall Meeting

10:00am CT

Audubon Rec Center

703 Southside

Audubon, IA

(Cass County, Iowa) – A multiple-vehicle crash has Interstate 80 eastbound blocked near the Cass/Pottawattamie County line (48 mile-marker), this morning. Cass County Dispatch says a bus was one of the vehicles involved, and passengers were standing on the side of the road, which was said to be very slick. We’re told as many at 15 vehicles were involved. Rescue crews were sent to the scene. There was no immediate word the possible number and/or extent of any injuries, however.

511ia-org reports the crash occurred at around 7:50-a.m., between Exit 46: County Road M47 and Exit 51: County Road M56 (1 mile east of the Walnut area). Drive with caution!

DES MOINES, Iowa (WHO-TV) — Eight Des Moines firefighters are currently battling cancer, while the Firefighter Union calls on Iowa to cover all forms of cancer. Paul Storbeck is an Iowa native and a successful businessman turned firefighter for the Des Moines Fire Department. He is now a Senior Medic for the department. After years of service, his life changed unexpectedly in 2019 while caring for his father during his final days.

Storbeck was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2023. After more testing, he learned the cancer had spread to his pelvis and lungs. Fortunately for Storbeck, prostate cancer is one of the 14 cancers covered by the state of Iowa for firefighters. However, this isn’t the case for many on the frontlines.

Des Moines F.D. Lt. Rick Thomas said of the 10 or so firefighters diagnosed with cancer,” two have died, and none were covered by the State. With over 200 diagnosable cancers, officials with the Des Moines Fire Department are urging legislators to pass a law that would cover firefighters from all types of cancer. Lieutenant Thomas told WHO-TV “[Firefighters] are 9% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer and 14% more likely to pass away from cancer than the general public.”

This month, the Des Moines Firefighter Union launched a social media campaign for Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month. The CDC reported that cancer is the leading cause of death among firefighters.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KETV) — A broken water pipe has left  a big mess for more than a dozen businesses in the historic Park Building in the heart of Council Bluffs. Pam Carter, owner of Stella and Irene’s Cafe and Boutique, said she walked into work on Jan. 14, during sub-zero temperatures, only to find a waterfall coming from the ceiling. Carter said she’s spent the past two weeks picking up what’s left of her business after a pipe burst on the fourth floor of the historic Park Building in downtown Council Bluffs.

The entire historic Park Building is closed and will be for the foreseeable future.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) — The Iowa DOT is rejecting a recommendation from the Federal Highway Administration asking them not to use certain messages on highway signs.

The Federal Highway Administration recently released an updated 1,100-page manual that spells out how signs and other traffic control devices are regulated. In it, the agency strongly recommends against overhead electronic signs with obscure meanings, references to pop culture or those intended to be funny, the AP reports.

Rather, signs should be “simple, direct, brief, legible and clear,” when relaying important information like warning drivers of crashes overhead, adverse weather conditions and traffic delays, the agency said. Seatbelt reminders and warnings about the dangers of speeding or driving impaired are allowed.

The Iowa DOT has been using the signs for just over a decade now, and believe these signs aren’t a threat.Officials say the point of the signs is to help people remember traffic safety messages. Previously, there was confusion that the FHA was trying to ban these types of messages, but the measure is only a recommendation. The DOT will keep the messages up for now, but could reconsider once more research is available.

The idea originated when the department decided to display the number of traffic deaths.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Iowa’s new private school scholarship program will cost the state millions of dollars more than the original estimate. As of October, 16,757 students were using taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition and other academic resources. That’s about 3,000 more than they expected.

Since each student receives their own Education Savings Account with more than $7,500, the ESA program will cost the state $127,939,695. That’s $20 million more than the $107 million the state projected this would cost. The governor’s office says that additional money will come from the general fund, which is all of the state’s available revenue from things like income, corporate and sales taxes.

School funding in Iowa is based on a complicated formula, but it relies on certified enrollment totals, which give the state a baseline of how many students are attending Iowa schools. The numbers determine how much the state will spend on education in the next school year. It also gives state lawmakers — who are currently in legislative session — a benchmark on which to base laws and funding.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop a little before 2-a.m. today (Saturday), in Montgomery County, led to a pursuit and the arrest of a Pottawattamie County man. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports Deputies tried to initiate a traffic stop at 1st and Cherry Streets, in Red Oak, but the vehicle sped-off and began to elude them. The vehicle drove through Red Oak without its headlights on, at a high-rate of speed.

While trying to turn into an alley at 4th and Grimes Streets, the vehicle slid on the snow and struck a house before coming to rest a short distance later, due to being stuck in the snow. The driver got out of the vehicle but refused to obey Deputies’ commands. A struggle ensued, but the driver, 40-year-old Kyle Anthony Zeigler, of Council Bluffs, was eventually taken into custody.

Ziegler faces charges that include Felony Eluding/2nd offense (A Class-C Felony), Driving While Barred (Aggravated Misdemeanor), and Interference with Official Acts (Simple Misdemeanor). He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $10,000 bond.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was assisted during the incident by Red Oak Police, Red Oak Fire and EMS, and the Montgomery County Communications Center.