A Carroll County man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a man whose body has never been found.
Twenty-six-year-old Christian Balke-Thompson of Carroll was reported missing in May of 2020. Yesterday, authorities arrested 33-year-old Albert John Wolfe of Lanesboro and charged him with first degree murder.
Court documents indicate Wolfe’s former girlfriend told authorities she was driving Balke-Thompson’s car and he was sleeping when they reached Wolfe’s farm early on a Saturday morning. The woman says Wolfe had her to park the car in a shed, she went inside the house, heard a gunshot, ran back out and saw Balke-Thompson had been shot. She indicated he was wrapped in a tarp and his body was set on fire.
Two days later, Wolfe’s neighbors reported a fire on Wolfe’s property and local officers soon found a burned out car in a shed that had been burned, but didn’t know the car’s owner had been reported missing. The next day, after learning of the missing person’s report, a Carroll County deputy and a state patrolman went back to the farm and found Balke-Thompson’s car had been buried under dirt, manure and debris.
Court records indicate there have been several searches of the farm since then, but Balke-Thompson’s body has not been found. Wolfe has told authorities he dismantled the car after it caught fire and burned the shed, but Wolfe has denied knowing anything about Balke-Thompson’s disappearance.
Attorney General Bird says the investigation is still active and the Iowa Cold Case Unit has been involved in investigating the case.
