She Was Followed By A Man After Leaving The Laundromat And Was Never Seen Again: A Year Later, Hunters Stumbled On Her Remains
Just a month before her high school graduation, 17-year-old Corinne Elaine Perry was killed after leaving a laundromat in Creston, Iowa, on April 17, 1983. The killer was never found. To this day, her sister is still searching for answers.
Corinne had a bright future ahead of her. She had earned a scholarship to Simpson College in Iowa and had plans to double major in psychology and acting. She was in the Creston High School’s mime troupe and had acted in multiple plays.
Corinne was close to her older sister, Letitia Perry DenHartog, and her other two older sisters. Their father, Donald Perry, was in the Air Force, so the family often traveled from place to place until he retired, and they moved to Creston, Iowa.
On Sunday, April 17, 1983, Corinne drove the car she shared with her mother, Barbara, to the local coin-operated laundromat to do her laundry. At the time, she was living at home with her mother.
Letitia, who was 19 years old, had moved out and was taking classes at Southwestern Community College in Creston. Their parents had divorced years earlier.
Corinne was last seen coming out of the laundromat between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. A man had walked out behind her, but he was not identified.
That day, Letitia was home, and when Corinne didn’t come back, she and her mother started to worry. They phoned Corinne’s friends, but no one had heard from her.
So, they called the police, but the authorities believed that Corinne was a runaway. A day after Corinne’s disappearance, her car was found parked outside the laundromat. There was a pile of clean clothes folded neatly on the seat.
Later that week, the police found Corinne’s purse on a highway bridge about seven miles from the laundromat between the towns of Kent and Lenox, Iowa.
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Their father lived in Kent, but Letitia said there was no reason for her sister to be on a highway bridge in that area, especially without a car.
Family and friends conducted searches over the next few weeks. Three weeks after Corinne’s disappearance, the Chief of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) announced a reward of $2,500, but they did not receive any information that led them to Corinne.
Finally, on November 3, 1984, the police discovered Corinne’s remains. Hunters had stumbled upon the remains in a shallow grave near a creek bed just south of Creston. It was located close to the bridge where Corinne’s purse had been found.
The remains had to be identified by dental records, and a cause of death could not be established. Creston High School started a Drama scholarship in her honor. Sadly, her killer was never found, and her case is still cold.
Anyone with information about the murder of Corinne Perry is urged to reach out to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at (515) 725-6010.
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