In October 1986, 24-year-old Denease Monson Latham was found face-down in a shallow creek beneath a bridge just north of Rose Hill in Mahaska County, Iowa. She had suffered blunt-force trauma to the head, yet her death was officially ruled an accidental drowning. From the very beginning, that ruling didn’t sit right with those closest to her—or with Sheriff Paul DeGeest, the original investigator.
The night she disappeared, Denease’s young son remembered hearing his parents argue. She left the house on her bicycle, and her husband, Robin Latham, went after her. When her body was discovered, authorities told the family she must have crashed into a guardrail. But that explanation quickly fell apart: there was no blood on the guardrail, and strangely, the chain was missing from her bicycle.
Concerns deepened when Sheriff DeGeest learned that the mortician had washed and embalmed Denease’s body before county officials or the state coroner could examine it. This decision destroyed potential evidence, including her clothing. DeGeest pushed to bring charges against the mortician, but other officials blocked his efforts.
Denease’s family has long believed foul play was involved. Her sister later revealed that just two weeks before her death, Denease had stayed at a women’s shelter, adding more weight to suspicions of trouble at home. Sheriff DeGeest never let go of the case, pursuing answers for decades, though the official ruling has never been changed.
