In the early hours of November 18, 2015, a 25-year-old Caucasian woman named Adele Kathleen 'Addie' Jensen was last seen in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her disappearance would unravel a grim story of domestic violence and a desperate cover-up. Adele, the mother of a young daughter, had recently moved back into her parents' home after an alleged assault by her boyfriend, Joshua Dow.
Initially, Dow, the father of Adele's daughter, told her concerned family and the police a story of abandonment. He claimed that after a night out at a cabaret with his brother, Adele had refused to get in the car with them and had simply walked off. He suggested she had run away, leaving her toddler behind. As the investigation deepened, Dow's story shifted. He then alleged that Adele had died by suicide, shooting herself on his couch, and that he had disposed of her body in a panic, fearing he would be blamed and wanting to shield their daughter from the knowledge of her mother's suicide.
The truth, however, was far more sinister. The investigation continued for years, and new evidence and witness accounts eventually painted a clear picture of murder. It was revealed that Dow had shot Adele in his north Minneapolis home in the early morning of November 18, 2015. He then concealed her body at a warehouse where he worked. Dow's own brother came forward to police, revealing that he had been forced at gunpoint to help move Adele's body, with Dow threatening to kill him and their mother if he didn't cooperate. Dow later dismembered Adele's body and scattered her remains in various garbage cans across the city, and her body has never been recovered.
In December 2019, faced with the mounting evidence against him, Joshua Dow pleaded guilty to second-degree unintentional murder. This plea was part of an agreement that led to a 20-year prison sentence. For years, it seemed he might get away with the killing, having only been convicted of interfering with a dead body. The new murder charge and subsequent conviction finally brought a measure of closure to Adele's devastated family and friends.
