Almost 40 years after authorities found the charred and decapitated physique of a lacking school pupil in Wisconsin, an arrest has been made in reference to the lady’s killing.
Michael Raymond Popp, now 60, of Tomah, Wis., was arrested Monday, Sept. 23 and charged with one depend of first-degree homicide in reference to the killing of 24-year-old Terry Dolowy, Monroe County District Legal professional Kevin Croninger and Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson introduced at a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Authorities stated Popp is being held within the Vernon County Jail and faces life in jail if convicted of the homicide cost. It’s unclear if he has entered a plea or retained an lawyer to talk on his behalf.
Dolowy was a senior on the College of Wisconsin-La Crosse, finding out finance, when she vanished within the early morning hours of Feb. 14, 1985, authorities previously said in an announcement. She was reported lacking by her fiancé, Russell Lee, whom she lived with on the Bostwick Valley Trailer Courtroom in Barre Mills, Wis., the place she had left her purse and automobile. Her canine was additionally lacking and authorities subsequently opened a lacking individuals investigation.
On the time of her disappearance, Dolowy labored full time as a bar supervisor at an upscale restaurant in La Crosse, Wis., often known as Piggy’s, per the assertion.
Vernon County Sheriff’s Workplace
4 days later, on Feb. 18, 1985, the Vernon County Sheriff’s Division responded to a location about six miles south of La Crosse after receiving a report of one thing burning in a culvert. It turned out to be the physique of Dolowy, who was discovered “decapitated and burned with using an accelerant,” authorities stated. Her head has by no means been positioned and many years handed with none arrests.
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In line with a prison criticism filed in Vernon County Circuit Courtroom and reviewed by PEOPLE, authorities stated Popp, who would’ve been 21 on the time of the killing, knew Dolowy and lived close to the couple. The criticism states that Popp, his girlfriend, Dolowy and Lee all went to pool tournaments collectively and that he had visited Dolowy and Lee’s trailer on a number of events.
It wasn’t till January 2023 that by search warrant, Popp’s DNA taken from a buccal swab was examined and allegedly matched the seminal fluid collected from Dolowy’s physique throughout an post-mortem again in 1985, per the criticism. He was recognized as an individual of curiosity in September 2022 after authorities claimed family tree testing of the proof taken from Dolowy’s physique was a match for Popp.
Vernon County Jail
Whereas talking with investigators, Popp initially claimed he solely noticed Dolowy “just a few occasions” and that he “didn’t actually know her that effectively,” the criticism states. However when investigators requested him why his buccal swab DNA was allegedly a match for the seminal fluid discovered inside Dolowy’s physique, he responded, “Possibly, I possibly had just a little affair,” for six to eight months, in keeping with the criticism.
Requested why he declined to beforehand share that data, Popp stated, “Effectively it’s a reasonably critical case there. Didn’t wanna be related to it,” per the criticism.
Popp denied killing Dolowy, saying, “No I’m not a violent individual.”
