Rhonda Knutson case remains unsolved 33 years after killing

Rhonda Knutson was killed while working the overnight shift at a truck stop off Highway 63 in Chickasaw County on Sept. 7, 1992, and the case has remained unsolved for 33 years. She was clocking in during the late hours of Sept. 6 when the killing began to unfold.

Just before 5 in the morning, the store owner found Knutson badly beaten and unresponsive in the back of the store. Her death was ruled a homicide, and investigators never found the weapon.

Chickasaw County search

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was called in after the killing. Investigators searched corn fields and ditches, took evidence from the scene, and logged over 100 hours of interviews over several days.

Chickasaw County Sheriff Ryan Shawver said, “In a small rural county like this, we need all hands on deck,” and added, “Every vehicle was literally stopped, because At the time where that gas was located was a four way stop,” describing the effort around the truck stop that night.

Store witnesses

The last person who admitted to being in the store came in around 3:15 a.m. Other witnesses reported seeing two men in the store, described as medium height, heavy set, white, and between 35 to 45 years old.

Investigators later used polygraphs and DNA, but they still have not identified the person who killed Knutson. Her oldest brother, Robert, said, “She was murdered. That is true. But she was tortured,” and, “It was hate, it was not just murder.”

Robert and Rhonda

Robert also said, “They knew what they were doing, and it wasn’t just an in and out thing. It was something that lasted so she she went through hell before she died,” as the family continued to live with a case that has stayed open for more than three decades. Knutson was the youngest of seven children, and Robert was nine years older than she was.

The case remains unresolved with no identified weapon and no named suspect, leaving investigators with old evidence, witness descriptions, and a homicide that has outlasted every round of testing so far.