Twelve years after the disappearance and murder of cousins Lyric Ray Lynn Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth June Marie Collins, 8, the case remains one of Iowa’s most haunting unsolved crimes. A new three-part documentary, Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth?, now streaming on MAX, revisits the investigation and the families’ ongoing pursuit of justice.
The girls were reported missing on Friday, July 13, 2012, after riding their bicycles near Meyers Lake in Evansdale, a northeastern Iowa community of about 4,700 residents. The Evansdale Police Department received the missing persons report later that afternoon after the girls failed to return home.
Surveillance and witness accounts placed the cousins on Brovan Boulevard around 12:23 p.m. before they were later seen between 12:30 and 1 p.m. on Gilbert Drive near Meyers Lake. Their bicycles and Elizabeth’s purse were discovered around 4 p.m. on a bike trail on the lake’s southeast side. Despite an extensive search involving hundreds of volunteers, law enforcement found no immediate clues explaining their disappearance.
On December 5, 2012, hunters discovered two bodies in the Seven Bridges Wildlife Area near Readlyn in Bremer County, approximately 25 miles from Evansdale. Authorities were notified at 12:45 p.m. The following day, Black Hawk County officials announced they were confident the remains belonged to the missing girls. The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the identification on December 10, 2012, ruling the deaths a homicide. Officials have never publicly disclosed the cause of death.
The documentary is directed by Dylan Sires, a former KWWL cameraman who covered the case from the beginning. Sires began filming interviews with family members in 2015 with their permission. The series focuses on the emotional toll the case has taken on loved ones while documenting the investigation’s many twists, leads, and unanswered questions.
Elizabeth’s father, Drew Collins, continues to speak publicly about the case, maintaining pressure on investigators and the public to keep the murders from fading into obscurity. He has repeatedly said advancing technology gives him hope that the person responsible will eventually be identified.
Over the years, authorities have followed numerous leads. In 2013, witnesses reported seeing a large, older-model white SUV parked near the bike trail around the time the girls went missing. Investigators also examined possible connections to other Iowa abduction cases, including the 2013 murder of Kathlynn Shepard. State officials later announced they were confident convicted killer Michael Klunder was not involved in the Evansdale case.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit have concluded the offender was likely familiar with both Meyers Lake and the remote Seven Bridges Wildlife Area. Investigators believe the suspect may be local or connected to the surrounding communities and used “quiet coercion” to gain the girls’ compliance.
Despite more than 1,000 interviews, hundreds of tips, and multiple confessions later ruled out, no arrests have been made. At one point, the reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction exceeded $170,000.
The Evansdale community has continued to honor the girls’ memory through memorial rides, murals, and the renaming of the trail around Meyers Lake as the “Trail of Angels.” July 13 has been designated “Lyric and Elizabeth Day” in the city.
Elizabeth Collins
Lyric Cook-Morrissey
