The new documentary covering the abduction and murder of Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook-Morrisey recently released on Max has added a Waverly connection to the man many believe committed the crime. 10 year old Cook-Morrisey and 8 year old Collins were abducted in the summer of 2012 while riding their bicycles in Evansdale. Their bodies were found later that winter in the Seven Bridges Wildlife Area in Bremer County. Law enforcement believe the killer must have known about Seven Bridges and did not just happen upon it. The top suspect for many, including Collins’ father, is Michael Klunder. Klunder lived a troubled life even as a youth. He lived for a time at Bremwood in Waverly. He ran away from Bremwood and allegedly went directly to Seven Bridges Wildlife Area. Later, two former jail-mates, including one formerly of Janesville, put Klunder in Evansdale at the time of the murder. Not long after the Evansdale abductions Klunder abducted two slightly older girls in Dayton, Iowa. On that occasion he killed one girl but the other was able to escape and alert authorities. While police hunted Klunder he hung himself. Earlier in his life Klunder had also abducted two three year olds in Charles City before leaving them in a dumpster in Northwood. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison in that case but was released early for good behavior. Klunder was controversially cleared in the Evansdale case.
