One of the most disturbing stories I’ve covered at KCRG happened in 2006. This story resurfaced today in relation to a murder, a death of a 13 year old, and a suicide that spanned from Dubuque Co. Iowa to Dane Co. Wisconsin.
After this week it’s likely there won’t be much coverage of any of these losses or crimes again. Because (almost) everyone involved is now dead.
Let’s start in 2006. Three men saw a photo of a pretty 20 year old girl in an obituary. She’d died in a motorcycle crash. The twins and a friend found her fresh grave intending to dig it up and use the condoms they’d brought. They tried but couldn’t get into her casket.
The three men had committed this crime in Wisconsin. But a court decided in 2007 that the state’s law was ambiguous when it came to rape and corpses. So the charges were dismissed. The Wisconsin Supreme Court weighed in and reversed that, so the charges were re-instated.
Fast forward from that incident in 2006 to now. The same man who tried to access the casket is now dead. In the last 48 hours investigators believe he killed an Iowa woman, kidnapped her 13-year-old - WHO THEN DIED - and eventually killed himself.
Sometime on Wednesday investigators believe one of those twins from the grave robber incident, Alexander Grunke, went to his ex-girlfriend’s house, Tana Poppe, in Dubuque Co., and shot her. He took her 13 year old daughter and 5 month old baby and started driving to Wisconsin.
About 250 miles away they pulled over and handed the baby to a stranger living in Dunn, Wisconsin. The baby was OK. The stranger called 911.
A state away, the Dubuque Co. Sheriff’s Office arrived at a home on Haxbylane Road near Zwingle, and found Poppe dead. Her kids were gone.
A state away, the Dubuque Co. Sheriff’s Office arrived at a home on Haxbylane Road near Zwingle, and found Poppe dead. Her kids were gone.
Dane County and Dubuque County investigators realized their cases were connected. Wisconsin investigators were chasing the vehicle with the 13 year old and Grunke inside. Investigators say the two were shooting at the patrol cars giving chase.
Law enforcement used stop sticks to disable their car and the two ran. Police followed the 13 year old passenger into a wooded area and found her body. They don’t know how she died, and said there were no visible signs of injury.
What happened to Alexander Grunke? Police say he ran to a house. It was occupied. An adult and two children were inside. Deputies were able to safely get those people out. Then a standoff lasted overnight. At around seven in the morning Thursday, Grunke was found dead-suicide.
Court records show the mom who died, Tana Poppe, was worried her ex-boyfriend was molesting her teenage daughter. Earlier this year the girl disappeared with Grunke and he was facing charges for that incident. He also was the father of her baby.
The complexity of these series of events and the weight of these losses could fill weeks of news coverage. But with no pending charges, no search for suspects and no survivors, the story will likely abruptly end. People in the area who miss a day of news won't know it happened.
But for the law officers involved, the loved ones of those who died, and for the many who saw some portion of this unfold, they'll never forget. My heart goes out to that baby, who lost her parents and sister. May each day forward be filled with calm, safety and love.
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