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Last Updated: Dec 12, 2008 - 4:54:39 PM |
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(Click here for part one of this column)
In 1979, the United States was embroiled in turmoil eerily similar to what is taking place today. Gas prices were high, people who were suspected of being Iranian were getting mocked and harassed in the streets, the US was gearing up for the presidential primaries, and even Ted Kennedy was disappointed with President Jimmy Carter.
In mid November of that year, the Grinnell State Bank was burglarized, and Dawn Kriegel, an employee at the bank, and her husband Dan were charged with the crime and a warrant was issued for their arrest. It seemed, by the state of their home, that they’d fled quite quickly. Lights and an electric blanket were left on, and the pets were unattended. Dawn had keys to the bank, knew how to disable the alarm, and had been having some financial troubles as well as some employee/employer-related troubles, so the Kreigels seemed the obvious culprits. Their green Volkswagen Beetle was found in Des Moines across from the bus terminal, and Dawn’s mom was quoted as saying Dawn had recently been talking about how she’d like to see Mexico. To make the story even more intriguing, the Poweshiek County Sherriff’s Dept. had enlisted the aid of three different psychics—one of whom was well-known in the area for assisting the law enforcement in previous cases---to try to locate the so-called fugitives. Of course, things aren’t always as they seem.
For awhile, the psychics insisted the Kriegels were still alive and well. One of the psychics claimed to have “seen” them in a brick building, but that lead proved futile as well. Eventually, based on a vision from one of the psychics, a search was conducted on four-wheelers and by foot, by volunteers from all over the area who eventually found Dan’s body in a culvert five miles southwest of Grinnell on Dec. 3rd. He had been shot five times. On Dec. 8th, two Marengo teen boys found Dawn’s body while rabbit hunting. One hand was behind her back and she had been shot several times. She was put over a fence and covered with brush in an attempt to conceal her, just west of what is now called Ghost Bridge.
The earliest I was able to pin down the nickname was 1996. One woman I talked to, who grew up in the country near the bridge said she had always known a body was found there, but didn’t actually start referring to it as Ghost Bridge until she was 16. She also mentioned that she’d heard a group of high school girls had gone out to the bridge with an Ouija board and things had happened, but she wasn’t quite sure what. Another Marengo resident I spoke with said she knew the story about the bridge, and had hated it when her friends wanted to go there at night, but said they never referred to it by a name. She graduated from Iowa Valley in the early 1990’s. Apparently it took a little over a decade for the bridge to become infamous.
Susie Turnbull Photo
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As usual, when stories pass through time and mouth, distortion of the truth occurs. I was first told that two people had been shot and killed at the bridge. In reality, Dawn was actually murdered in a brick building across from the bank (remember the psychic?), not at the bridge. I also heard rumors that the Kriegels were involved, particularly Dawn, but that was never proven. The authorities determined that they were forced against their will, but the whole scenario leaves me wondering how the bank robbers (who had both been involved in insurance fraud with the Kriegels prior to the theft) got the idea in the first place. Dawn was also rumored to be having an affair with one of the men convicted, however the person convicted of the murders was her cousin, and the other man’s wife appeared to be involved. I assume this rumor stems from the information that there was an attempt to lure Dawn away from a Brooklyn dance by implying Dan was having an affair and she should come meet the person who called on the phone to discuss it. She didn’t fall for it, but obviously in the long run, it didn’t matter. Two people died unnecessarily, in times when money was tight and tensions were high, affecting generations to follow.
I remain a skeptic about ghosts, but when I ventured out to the bridge in the daylight, I took my border collie Rave with me and something happened that I can’t easily explain. Rave fits her name. Everything is exciting to her and she approaches everything with an enthusiasm I wish I had for myself. She ran toward the bridge, raced over the hump of dirt apparently placed there to keep people from driving across it, hit the concrete surface of the bridge, stopped and started to shake. One of my friends, commenting on the pictures I took of her in those first few minutes said “She looks like she’s done something bad.” I wondered if she was afraid of heights (my oldest one is), but this is a dog who jumped off my neighbor’s garage roof while chasing a cat, hit ground and kept going. What I do know is dog’s senses are thousands of times more sensitive than ours, and she apparently felt something that made her uncomfortable that I obviously couldn’t feel--- My first thought after stepping over the hump was “This is beautiful.”
It really is pretty; Bear Creek runs under the bridge and gently meanders away toward the Iowa River, grapes and vines have overtaken the steel girders, and the evening sun streams through the overgrowth on the west end. I guess if I were going to haunt a place, I could think of worse places to be stuck.
Gordon “Butch” Earley, Jr. was charged with the murders and is currently serving his time in prison in Minnesota. His projected release is Dec. 5, 2009---29 years, 11 months and 27 days from the discovery of Dawn’s body. It might be an interesting time to visit the bridge.
© Copyright 2008 by The East Iowa Herald
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