Cedar Rapids Mystery Finally Solved

Maureen Brubaker Farley’s murderer has been identified after 50 years of hiding in plain sight.

Josie Klakström
5 min readOct 6, 2021

The autumn season hadn’t yet hit Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and teenagers Kevin Coppess and Danny Lineweaver had one thing on their minds; they wanted to hunt. They’d taken their guns down to the woods and come across a woman asleep on top of a car in the ravine just off Ely Road. They didn’t want to disturb her, so they slung their rifles over their shoulders and continued on their way, not giving the sleeping woman another thought. However, later that day, they headed back the way they came, not realising what they were about to discover.

The sleeping lady hadn’t moved in the hours they’d been gone, and the two boys decided to take a closer look. The colour of the woman’s skin likely gave away her condition, and the boys ran home, returning later, dragging Danny’s mother back to the car.

Maureen via Lisa Schenzel on Facebook

Maureen Brubaker Farley was a vivacious 17-year-old, originally from Sioux City, Iowa. The oldest of seven, Maureen would often look after her siblings while her parents went out in the evenings. Promises of monetary gain meant the children liked their sister looking after them, and they were devastated when Maureen announced she was moving to Cedar Rapids, over four hours away.

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Josie Klakström
Josie Klakström

Written by Josie Klakström

Josie is a freelance journo who writes about writing, true crime, culture and marketing. www.truecrimeedition.com

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