Three victims. Three lives lost. And one date that remains difficult for the families left behind — August 12.
Among them was 23-year-old Dennis Clougherty, a Vietnam veteran preparing to begin graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. While his plans for the future were just beginning, his life was cut short during a trip that was meant to retrieve his motorcycle and continue on to a family celebration.
According to investigators, Clougherty left Madison during the afternoon hours of August 12, 1974, planning to hitchhike to Torrington, Wyoming. Earlier that year, his motorcycle had broken down there and was left behind for repairs. Once he retrieved the bike, he intended to ride to Detroit, Michigan, where he had promised family members he would attend a wedding that weekend.
Rather than taking the faster route along Interstate 80, Clougherty chose to travel along Highway 20, a road he was more familiar with and one where he may have hoped to find a ride with someone heading the same direction.
Investigators determined that around 7 p.m. that evening a motorist traveling westbound along Highway 20 near Dubuque picked up Clougherty and drove him to Independence, Iowa. He was dropped off at a local café around 8:15 p.m., where he stopped to eat before continuing his journey.
After leaving the café around 9:15 p.m., Clougherty resumed hitchhiking west along Highway 20. Another driver later gave him a ride to the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 63 in Waterloo.
That would be the last confirmed sighting of him alive.
Authorities believe two men in their early twenties, driving what was described as a brown or gold 1962 to 1964 Chevrolet — possibly a four-door vehicle with a beige interior — picked Clougherty up around 10:30 p.m.
Sometime later that night, Clougherty was shot multiple times in the chest and left along Union Road south of First Street near Cedar Falls. His body was discovered the following morning by a passing motorist.
Some of his belongings, including a backpack, a clothing bag, and his motorcycle helmet, were later located about five miles away along Viking Road.
More than five decades later, the case remains unsolved, leaving unanswered questions about who was responsible and what led to the violent end of a young veteran’s journey across Iowa.
