Thomas DeWayne “Ernie” Adkins, age 29, was found on September 14, 1985, in the Van Buren Wildlife Area near Douds, Iowa. The investigation falls under the jurisdiction of the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office.
Thomas DeWayne “Ernie” Adkins of Fairfield, Iowa, was fatally shot on the morning of September 14, 1985, while hunting with his close friend, 24-year-old Robert Alan Tisor. The two men had gone to the Van Buren Wildlife Area to hunt squirrels when Tisor fired multiple rounds from a .22 caliber Ruger rifle. The fifth shot struck Adkins in the head. Tisor later claimed that he mistook Adkins, who was wearing a ball cap and had long hair tied back, for a squirrel.
Investigators from the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Conservation Commission responded to the scene. While Tisor insisted the shooting was accidental, his statements to officials varied significantly. In one account, he stated that after being shot, Adkins gestured toward his pocket to indicate where his vehicle keys were located. This claim conflicted with medical findings from Johnson County Medical Examiner Dr. T.T. Bozek, who documented severe brain and skull trauma inconsistent with Adkins being capable of communicating after the gunshot.
Adkins received emergency medical aid in Douds and at Van Buren County Memorial Hospital before being transported by helicopter to University Hospitals in Iowa City, where he died at 2:26 p.m.
In the hours following the shooting, Tisor drove off in Adkins’ vehicle and was gone for several hours. When he returned, items that had been in the vehicle—including a small amount of marijuana and Adkins’ wallet—were missing. Family members reported that Tisor thoroughly cleaned out the vehicle before authorities regained possession of it.
The preliminary death certificate listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head but left the manner of death as “pending.” The brief two-page autopsy report focused on medical findings but indicated that a bullet fragment from the temporal lobe was released to Van Buren County Sheriff Hugh Hardin for investigative purposes. Despite this, family members were later told the case had been classified as an accident and that the investigative files had been discarded after ten years.
Decades later, Adkins’ daughter, Kaylea, attempted to obtain the full autopsy file but was informed the remaining documents could not be released without a subpoena. This response raised questions about why records would be restricted if the death had been officially deemed accidental. Family members believe the inconsistencies, missing items, and conflicting accounts suggest the shooting may not have been an accident.
Thomas “Ernie” Adkins was born in Fairfield on March 2, 1956, and grew up in Lockridge. He graduated from Fairfield High School in 1975 and worked as a molder at Dexter Foundry. He lived with his wife, Sherri, and their two young children, Christopher and Kaylea. He was a member of the Free Methodist Church and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fairfield.
Although nearly four decades have passed, questions continue to surround the circumstances of Adkins’ death and whether the initial ruling accurately reflects the evidence. The manner of death has remained officially undetermined.
