In the quiet, rural landscape of Davis County, Iowa, a horrific discovery in April 1984 shattered the peace of the small community of Drakesville. The body of 20-year-old Justin Hook Jr. was found outside his burned-out mobile home on April 13, 1984. It was soon determined that the young, White male had been bludgeoned to death. This grim finding was only the beginning of a tragic series of events that would unfold over the following days, revealing a triple homicide that would haunt the area
for decades.
As authorities began their investigation into Justin's death, they attempted to notify his mother, 41-year-old Sara Link, only to find that she was missing. The search for Sara ended in heartbreak on April 16th, when her body was discovered in a wooded area near Eldon, about 15 miles from her son's home. She, too, had been killed by blows to the head. The horror intensified two days later, on April 18th, when the body of Justin's 19-year-old fiancée, Tina Marie Lade, was found by police dogs in a ravine just half a mile from where Sara's body had been located. She had suffered the same fate as Justin and his mother. The successive discoveries of the victims sent waves of fear and grief through the rural community.
For years, the investigation into the brutal murders of Justin, Sara, and Tina remained cold, with a list of suspects but no concrete evidence to lead to an arrest. A man named Andrew Wessel Six was questioned by investigators in 1984 and was considered a suspect, but there was not enough evidence to charge him. The case languished for nearly three decades, a painful open wound for the victims' families. It wasn't until 2012, with advancements in forensic technology, that the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation's Cold Case Unit reopened the case.
A breakthrough finally came when DNA evidence was recovered from the inside of Tina Lade's jeans. In 2014, it was announced that the DNA profile matched that of Andrew Wessel Six, a man who had been executed in Missouri in 1997 for the 1987 kidnapping and murder of a 12-year-old girl. While Six was never tried for the murders of Justin, Sara, and Tina, the DNA evidence posthumously identified him as the perpetrator, finally bringing a sense of closure to the long-suffering families and community. Investigators believe a possible motive for the killings was a dispute over a car deal.
