Credit: Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office
On March 23, 1986, the Winneshiek County Dispatch Center received a call from a rural resident reporting the discovery of a decomposed body in his hay barn in northeast Winneshiek County (Iowa).
Deputy Robert Ward of the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office responded and confirmed the finding. The resident reported that while moving hay bales from the east end of his barn, he noticed a pink blanket on the ground. Upon removing the blanket, he discovered a shoe, and then a body, wedged between two large round bales stacked two high. Each bale weighed approximately 1,500 pounds and had been stored in the barn since the summer of 1984.
The victim was a Caucasian male, with dark brown hair. He was wearing brown suede shoes with brown laces, blue corduroy pants, a V-neck shirt, a heavy flannel light-brown plaid western jacket, and a blue windbreaker jacket. The victim had notable dental work.
Two autopsies were conducted following the removal of the body from the barn. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) assisted with the investigation.
An earlier encounter
Following the discovery, investigators learned of a potentially related report from nearly a year prior. On April 9, 1985, a nearby neighbor reported that a hitchhiker had stopped to ask for directions to Highway 44 South. The man also stated he was from Ohio but trying to get to California. The man was described as approximately 35–40 years old with dark hair, wearing dark-colored clothing, and carrying a light-colored blanket. Two deputies responded at the time but were unable to locate anyone. Records from Des Moines weather services confirmed that the temperature that April night was 23°F with a light wind from the north.
The search for identity
In Spring 1986, efforts to search for an identity of the remains were underway. Chief Deputy Floyd Ashbacher and his son, Mike Ashbacher, transported the victim’s skull to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where clay facial reconstruction was completed. Photos of the clay reconstruction were generated and shared with multiple law enforcement agencies, but no identification was made.
Ultimately, Winneshiek County Sheriff Mel Lee coordinated a burial of the unidentified male at the Freeport Cemetery near Decorah. At the time of burial, DNA technology was not yet available, and no DNA sample was collected.
Over the next four decades, the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office worked diligently to identify the unknown male, following up on all inquiries and reports submitted regarding the case. The case remained open until a recent breakthrough.
The breakthrough
With the advancement of today’s DNA technology, Deputy Cole Tweten with the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office secured the necessary funding, permits and legal authorization to disinter the grave with the goal of retrieving DNA. On April 16, 2026, the vault was located and, remarkably, the body was very well preserved.
Forty years after first transporting the skull with his father to Mayo Clinic, Mike Ashbacher, now employed with the Winneshiek County Medical Examiner's Office, transported the remains to the Iowa DCI Crime Lab for a third autopsy and DNA retrieval.
The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office, along with Dr. Heather M. Garvin, Forensic Anthropologist with Des Moines University, examined the remains and then elements were submitted for DNA analysis. Garvin completed a detailed dental examination.
On June 11, 2026, Garvin utilized the NamUs database to compare the dental X-rays against reported missing persons. The X-rays matched those of Clifton Womac, who was reported missing from Ohio in 1985.
DNA analysis and forensic genealogy further supported the identification, revealing a biological association with Clifton Womack’s brother, Terry Womack. Tweten later learned that Terry had submitted his DNA to NamUs approximately five years earlier, creating the critical connection that ultimately helped identify the remains.
While Clifton Womack’s identity has now been confirmed, questions surrounding his death remain. The official autopsy report lists the manner of death as "undetermined," leaving us all with an incomplete picture of what circumstances led to his passing.
About Clifton Womack
Clifton Todd Womack was last seen on April 5, 1985, in Eastlake, Ohio. Known to family and friends as “Todd,” he was a 28-year-old white male, 5'8" tall, weighing 130 pounds, with a scar on his left forearm. At the time of his disappearance, he was living with his mother, Peggy Jo Womack. Before leaving home that day, Clifton told his mother “I’m going out to look for a job,” and was never seen again. Peggy Jo reported him missing to the Eastlake Police Department. As part of that investigation, she also provided Clifton’s dental records, which would prove critical nearly four decades later.
Clifton was one of five children. His siblings, brothers Jay and Terry, and sisters Sherry and Amber, never gave up searching for him.
On June 18, 2026, Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx, Deputy Cole Tweten, Detective Chris Wuebker, and former Chief Deputy Floyd Ashbacher met virtually with Clifton’s siblings. His family all agreed that Clifton was the smartest of the siblings and, due to his natural intelligence, he never had to study in school. The siblings explained that Clifton did suffer from schizophrenia and depended on medication to manage it. Additionally, they stated that their family used to live in California prior to moving to Ohio so the story that Clifton was trying to make his way back to California made sense. Clifton’s mother passed away in the late 1980’s but until her last breath she never gave up hope that one day her son would be found.
Closing thoughts
Tweten was not even born when Clifton Womack’s remains were found in 1986, but he knew of the case and was determined to close it.
“I grew up in northern Winneshiek County and was always aware of this case. After reviewing the complete case file, what began as a fascination quickly became a responsibility—a responsibility to the Winneshiek County deputies who came before me and dedicated portions of their careers to identifying this man, and, more importantly, a responsibility to a family that spent more than four decades celebrating birthdays, holidays, and milestones without their loved one,” said Tweten. “Getting to know the family of Clifton Womack has been incredibly rewarding. While we cannot erase the years of heartache they have endured, we hope we have provided them with a sense of peace and closure that will help them move forward.”
This recovery and identification would not have been possible without the generous support of The Elizabeth Collins Foundation, which fully funded the endeavor. The Elizabeth Collins Foundation is a non-profit organization created in the wake of the abduction of Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins on July 13, 2012—a case that remains unsolved with no arrests. The Foundation supports cold case awareness, provides funding and resources to assist in solving cases of missing individuals, and aids families of the missing with search efforts and crisis support.
Republished courtesy of Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office