ADEL, Iowa —

An urn holding the remains of a young man is now the center of a mystery in Dallas County, Iowa. The urn was recently discovered inside a mausoleum at a cemetery.

"We've been working on on a film about unclaimed cremated remains, and in that process of working on this film, we found a columbarium that had some unclaimed earns with the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office," Lanae Strovers said.

Strovers works as a funeral director at Hamilton Funeral Home in Iowa, but in her free time, she is on a mission to identify unclaimed remains and locate family members.

"It just made our hearts bleed, because we know there's this family out there that doesn't know who this kid is, and so we just started delving into it. We just want to share a story to hopefully some families going to be sitting there like, we know who this is," Strovers said.

The only clue inside this mysterious urn is a letter from the first responder who tried to save the young man on Oct. 19, 1987. Joseph Bray describes the victim as around 20 years old with red hair and blue eyes. He was hit by a car on Interstate 80. Bray writes that he and his wife were haunted by the fact that the young man was never identified.

"The person who hit him said that he had walked out of the median and looked like he was waving someone down. Now whether that was waving someone down to hitchhike or for help, we don't know that," Strovers said.

Strovers has tried to locate Bray, but she believes he moved out of state and has since died. She hopes someone will come forward with information to identify this young man.

"Some family is missing him, and we need to give closure to a family out there," Strovers said.

Mike Thomason, a Dallas County Medical Examiner Investigator, says he is working to streamline a process moving forward to make sure an unclaimed urn is never forgotten.

"Moving forward, I want to make sure that if we're having these we have an inventory of them, we know who they are, where they were cremated, any type of next of kin that we may have tried to get ahold of, and the story behind it," Thomason said.

Watch the full story in the video above.

BOUTON, Iowa —

Two Iowa towns are saying goodbye to their fire chief.

Ken Cavanaugh died of a heart attack, but not before pulling his school bus full of children off the road and saving their lives.

Cavanaugh was the fire chief in Woodward and Bouton.

"It's real tough. Real tough," said Karl Harris, the Bouton fire department captain.

"Losing one of your own is one of the toughest things you can do," Bouton firefighter Andy Wernli said.

Firefighters in Boutin, Iowa, are saying goodbye to their chief and their best friend. Ken Cavanaugh died Monday of a heart attack. He'd been in the hospital since Oct. 18. That's when he became ill driving a Woodward-Granger school bus. Despite his pain, he was able to pull the bus off the highway and into a soybean field. The kids got out safely.

"I'm sure the first thing he was thinking about is how am I going to keep these kids from getting injured or suffering with a catastrophic school bus crash," said Harris.

His friends are not surprised.

"He cares more about you than himself. He's always been that way," Harris said.

Cavanaugh has been a fire fighter here since 1977. Now the fire station is full of flowers from friends and family. All are remembering a brave and dedicated rescue worker, whose final act was saving so many lives.

"I think if anyone ever mentions Kenny Cavanaugh’s name, hero out to be right there with it," Wernli said.

Harris added, "He’s definitely a hero."

Watch the video above to learn more about this story.

FAIRFIELD, Iowa —

A Spanish teacher in Iowa was found dead in a park near the high school where she taught, and two teens have been charged in her death.

Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding said in a news release that the remains found in Chautauqua Park have been confirmed to be those of Nohema Graber. The Fairfield School District website shows Graber has been teaching Spanish at the school since 2012. She had been reported missing Wednesday.

Moulding said agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation conducted a preliminary investigation and ruled the death a homicide.

Court documents show Graber suffered from an injury to her head, and her body was found under a tarp. A police report states the suspects had items with blood on them.

Two teens have been charged in the investigation. Willard Noble Chaiden Miller, 16, and Jeremy Everett Goodale, 16, have been charged with first-degree homicide and first-degree conspiracy to commit homicide.

"Graber was employed as a Spanish teacher at Fairfield High School, where Miller and Goodale were students. Based on the circumstances and their ages, Miller and Goodale are being criminally charged as adults," Moulding said.

Moulding said law enforcement does not believe there is an ongoing threat to the public.

Miller and Goodale will be making their court appearance on Nov. 12. Both are being held on $1 million cash bonds.

Superintendent Dr. Laurie Noll released a statement to families and staff stating the school would not be in session Friday and school counselors and crisis response teams would be available.

In the statement Noll said, "We extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of Mrs. Graber. At this time our students’ and staffs’ well-being is our top priority. As a community, we will remain united in this time of tragedy."

DES MOINES, Iowa —

The Iowa State Patrol said a driver was clocked going 114 mph on Interstate 35 on Tuesday night during a snowstorm.

According to the Iowa State Patrol Facebook page, Trooper Denny Schnathorst said the driver’s excuse was: “In a hurry to get back to college in Minnesota."

“First responders were busy helping many motorists stranded during this storm- speeding like this is NOT being responsible,” ISP officials said.

A strong winter storm made its way across the Upper Midwest Tuesday, creating treacherous travel conditions, spurring warnings urging people to stay off the roads and more.

Interstate 35 was covered in ice and snow Tuesday night and troopers report they responded to 91 crashes and helped 372 motorists in the storm between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois.

This content is imported from Facebook.
You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEWTON, Iowa —

Hiring school bus drivers in Iowa has become a difficult task.

It's been such a challenge for the Newton Community School District that teachers are doubling as bus drivers.

"We've go the buses to go on the road, but we don't have the people to go behind the wheel," said Tom Messinger, Newton Community School District superintendent.

More than 700 Newton students rely on district transportation to get to school.

Several teachers and administrators are getting their commercial driver's licenses to help kids get to school.

The district says they can get kids to and from school, but there will be delays.

"We want to get the kids to and from school safely and as quickly as possible, but sometimes we cant the home as quick as we'd like," said David Kretz, Newton Community School District transportation supervisor.

Due to the driver shortage, the district has to combine routes.

Gena Neasham has a daughter in third grade who takes the bus to school. She doesn't want to see her daughter's commute get extended.

"It would just be stressful for the kids to have to ride any longer than they do. I mean, some of them are already riding 45 minutes or so," says Neasham.

The district is stretched thin just to get kids to school, so extracurricular activities could be the next trip cut short.

"If there are times where we can't get enough drivers, then we'd have to either reschedule an event or potentially even get there late, or drop kids off early with supervision," Messinger said.

The district said a third of the school's bus drivers left during the pandemic.

With retirees making up a large portion of their drivers, they're worried about future transportation.

"As far as people coming in and applying off the street, it's almost nonexistent," Kretz said.

"With it being more and more difficult to find drivers, we're going to have to continue to explore some of the other options," Messinger said.

Newton Community School District is looking to hire at least two more drivers.

Krtetz said nobody has applied for those spots.

The annual event is called Camp Grandma.Each year, the cousins get together at their grandparents' home a few miles east of Lake City, Iowa. On Wednesday afternoon, there were eight cousins at the home when the skies darkened and a tornado touched down. The game of hide and seek, which had been going on in the basement, switched to an impromptu duck and cover. The kids huddled under the pool table for safety from the tornado that was tearing apart the home just above them. "Most of the noises were just crashing from upstairs, but right before we dove under the pool table — it's like your ears in high altitude — it feels like that, and then they pop," said Holden Buse, one of the cousins. "And then that's when we heard all the crashing and we dove under the pool table."Everyone who is part of Camp Grandma survived, but there was little left of the home that the Buse family had lived in for more than 40 years. "This can all be replaced, but family can't," Holden said. "I think family is more important than any of this here, so it's great that one was hurt."Without prompting, dozens of neighbors arrived at the home Thursday with everything from homemade treats to heavy machinery. All set to work helping clean up the property and preserve what could be found. "This is the way we work in the rural community," said Dan Reynolds, a neighbor to the Buses. "I mean somebody has an event like this, everybody's going to show up to help. We're sorry for their loss but we'll do what we can do to make it better for them."

What would you do with an extra $100,000? Des Moines resident Bradly Hanawalt said he asks himself that every day after learning too late that he had a winning Powerball ticket. Hanawalt said his wife purchased the winning lottery ticket Nov. 26, 2019, at a QuikTrip. "My gut dropped," he said. "A chance to have $100,000 was awesome."According to Hanawalt, the lottery ticket expired Nov. 30, 2020. He said he tried to claim the prize on Feb. 8, 2021 after finding the ticket in his wife's car."It doesn't hurt because I didn't have that money, but it hurts because I could have had that money," Hanawalt said. "I have six daughters. It would have helped with bills and everything else."Hanawalt said his wife had COVID-19 in November and that he argued for an extension with the Iowa Lottery. The Iowa Lottery did not grant extensions on claiming prize money because the organization did not close during the pandemic."We feel great empathy for those folks (…) but Iowa law, Powerball law … the administrative rules are very clear," said Mary Neubauer, with Iowa Lottery. "Once a prize is expired it cannot be claimed."Neubauer said Iowa Lottery issued a statewide release about the unclaimed Powerball prize before it expired."We put out a reminder in the final week saying, 'Please, please check. Look at home. Check the sun visor on your car. If you have a pile of tickets, check them,'" she said. Despite checking the winning ticket too late, Hanawalt said he is focused on counting his blessings instead of his lottery losses."It’s money I didn't have, but I have everything I want," he said. "I'm blessed to have six healthy kids. I'm walking again. We're all healthy and happy, and we're loving life."Hanawalt said his wife believes luck will strike again and that she continues to buy lottery tickets each week.Watch the video above to learn more about this story.

WARNING: Some testimony and evidence presented during the trial may be upsetting to viewers.

Testimony entered its third day of the Cristhian Bahena Rivera murder trial on Friday. Bahena Rivera is charged in the 2018 death of Iowa 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts.

Below are summaries of each testimony:

DNA expert explains blood, semen testing done on evidence

Iowa State Crime Lab criminalist Tara Scott took the stand to testify about DNA in the case. They first discussed the items found at Blake Jack’s home when Tibbetts was originally reported missing. Scott and her colleagues took multiple items from the home including a water bottle, toothbrush and drinks.

The water bottle was compared to DNA collected from Tibbetts’ mother and father to confirm her DNA profile.

Scott also testified to testing items from the cornfield including the black running shorts, the pink fabric believed to be a headband, and the striped fabric believed to be underwear.

On 15 areas tested on the black shorts, results came back negative for sperm and inconclusive for blood. No DNA samples were taken on the short.

For the pink fabric, there were no stains so there were no tests conducted.

The striped underwear found presence of blood in one area, but not sperm. However, the blood sample was too weak for a DNA test.

Scott and her colleagues examined two items from Bahena Rivera’s residence, including a folding knife, which had tested negative for blood, and a stained napkin which tested positive for Bahena Rivera’s blood.

Scott reviewed her findings from the stains in the trunk of the black Chevrolet Malibu. The stain found on the seal of the trunk lid was confirmed as blood with DNA that matched Tibbetts. Scott said there was also blood confirmed to be Tibbetts on the trunk’s lining.

She said the football and fishing pole tested positive for blood, but the DNA was too weak to identify who it belonged to.

During cross-examination, Scott said she was unable to locate DNA through swabs of Tibbetts’ body including Tibbetts’ DNA.

The defense also asked about taking DNA samples from any of the individuals who were at Jack’s home when Tibbetts initially went missing. Scott said she didn’t request DNA samples and wasn’t provided any.

DCI testifies to bloodstains in vehicle, Tibbetts' clothing found distance away from crime scene

Amy Johnson, with the Division of Criminal Investigation, said she was involved in processing a black Chevrolet Malibu and a Nissan Altima.

Johnson said that in the trunk of the Chevrolet Malibu there were a total of four stains that tested positive for blood. Some of the stains were located on a football and fishing pole.

Johnson and her colleagues were called to 2478 460^th Ave. at about 6 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2018. When they arrived, her colleagues and the state medical examiner entered the cornfield where Tibbetts body was located.

She described Tibbetts’ body being found with her arms above her head and her legs slightly apart. Johnson stated Tibbetts did not have underwear or shorts on at the time they found her.

A sketch created by Johnson shows the underwear and shorts were found 15 to 24 feet away from the scene where Tibbetts’ body was found.

Johnson also processed Bahena Rivera's residence where she told the court there was no evidence of Tibbetts.

Cross-examination of Pamela Romero

Court proceedings began with the continued cross-examination of former Iowa City police Officer Pamela Romero.

During the investigation of Tibbetts’ disappearance, Romero conducted interviews with Bahena Rivera in Spanish. Some of his initial interview statements were thrown out because Romero failed to properly issue him a Miranda warning.

On Thursday, Romero testified that Bahena Rivera confessed to Mollie Tibbetts' murder and led investigators to her body.

During Thursday’s cross-examination, the defense argued Romero wore Bahena Rivera down after 14 hours of working on the farm and tried to provoke him into a false confession after an 11-hour interview.

On Friday, the defense showed fast-forwarded footage of Bahena Rivera appearing to fall asleep while alone in the interview room. Romero stated that she did not observe Bahena Rivera falling asleep during the interview.

The defense asked Romero why she accused Bahena Rivera of being untruthful during her interview with him, to which she stated, "At the beginning of the interview he said he wasn’t aware of (Tibbetts). Then we showed him the black Malibu that he admitted was his."