No Person Is Disposable: The Unsolved Murder of Wilma June Nissen

In October of 1978, a young woman’s body was found dragged into a roadside ditch along a rural gravel road in Lyon County, Iowa. She had been dead for months. She had no identification. No missing person report. No name. For 27 years, she was known only as Jane Doe. That woman was Wilma June Nissen. Wilma’s life was marked by abandonment and survival long before her murder. Born in 1954, she endured extreme neglect and abuse as a child, homelessness at a young age, and years in the foster care system. As an adult, she was repeatedly exploited, escaped dangerous relationships, and tried to rebuild her life while navigating a world that never truly protected her. After disappearing in 1978, Wilma resurfaced hundreds of miles from home, working for an escort service operating in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Northwest Iowa. Shortly after, she was brutally murdered. The details of her death remain largely undisclosed due to the extreme violence involved. Despite being identified in 2006, Wilma’s case has stalled. Evidence exists. DNA exists. Modern forensic tools exist. Yet law enforcement has declined to pursue updated testing, forensic genetic genealogy, or outside assistance that could move this case forward at no cost to taxpayers. Wilma was never reported missing. She was never prioritized. And today, she risks being erased all over again. This episode is told through the lens of her daughter, the only person still fighting for answers. It’s a story about systemic failure, silence as policy, and what it means to refuse to let someone be forgotten simply because their life was difficult. Sources: https://medium.com/@justice4wilma/no-person-is-disposable-5172b2deee95 https://projectcoldcase.org/2025/05/12/wilma-nissen/ https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/cold-case-spotlight/wilma-nissen-rock-rapids-iowa-homicide-unsolved-rcna232527 https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2021/02/14/the-murder-of-wilma-june-nissen/ https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Wilma_Nissen Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices