In the spring of 1984, the quiet communities of southeastern Iowa were shaken by a series of brutal murders. One of the victims was a 19-year-old Caucasian female named Tina Marie Lade from Ottumwa. She, along with her 20-year-old fiancé, Justin Hook Jr., and his 41-year-old mother, Sara Link, fell victim to a crime that would remain a mystery for nearly three decades.
The tragic events began to unfold on April 13, 1984, when firefighters discovered Justin Hook Jr.'s body near his burned-out mobile home in rural Drakesville. He had been beaten to death with a blunt object.
As authorities worked to notify his mother, Sara Link, they soon realized she too was missing. The search for her ended in heartbreak on April 16, when her body was found in a farm field in rural Eldon. She had also been fatally beaten. The investigation then turned to finding Tina Lade, who was reported missing. Two days later, on April 18, her body was discovered in a ravine, about half a mile from where Sara Link's body had been found. The cause of her death was the same as the others: blunt force trauma. The young couple had just gotten engaged on Tina's birthday, sharing dreams of a future that was violently stolen from them.
For years, the investigation into the triple homicide yielded no arrests, and the case grew cold. Investigators had a few persons of interest, including a man named Andrew Wessel Six, who was known for local burglaries. During an interview in 1984, Six denied knowing Tina Lade, and with no concrete evidence, the case remained unsolved. The turning point came decades later with advancements in DNA technology. In 2012, investigators resubmitted DNA evidence that had been collected from the inside of Tina Lade's jeans.
The DNA analysis led to a definitive match: Andrew Wessel Six. It was believed a dispute over a car deal may have been the motive for the killings. However, justice for Tina, Justin, and Sara would not come in a courtroom. By the time he was officially named as the killer in January 2014, Six had already been executed in Missouri in August of 1997. He was on death row for the 1987 abduction and murder of a 12-year-old girl, Kathy Allen. Though the suspect was deceased, the DNA evidence finally provided long-awaited answers to the families and the community haunted by the brutal deaths of three innocent people.
