The Green Bay Northwoods Killings — Ch 12
Chapter Twelve: The unsolved murder of two indigenous women on Ray's home turf.
On October 7th, 1979, two dead females, one just a child, were found in the woods near Amberg, Wisconsin, by a hunter. According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette:
A woman and child, whose bodies were discovered near Amberg Sunday, died from gunshot wounds to the head, according to the Marinette County Sheriffs Department. A police spokesman said an autopsy report from the State Crime Lab in Madison confirmed the cause of death late Monday.
Two bodies were found, but who was missing?
A nationwide search is being conducted for information leading to the victims' identification since they do not fit the description of anyone missing from the area, Police said.
Another homicide in Marinette County. However, Marinette is a relatively rural county with a small population. If somebody was missing, everybody would have known it. Nobody knew of anybody who was missing.
In addition, the state of decomposition in which the bodies were found made accurate physical descriptions difficult.
The woman, estimated to be between 33 and 39 years old, was 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-6 inches tall and was heavy set. She was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, size extra large, red shorts and blue and white Trax-brand tennis shoes, size 5 1/2. The child was 3-to-4 years old with light brown, shoulder-length hair. Police said due to the type of clothing the child was wearing, they are assuming it was a female. The youngster was dressed in a yellow, floral print, pullover blouse with shirring on the front and a back zipper. She wore blue shorts, blue knee socks and white patent leather shoes. Both victims may be of Indian origin, according to tests done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, police said.
The manner in which the bodies were found and manner of death didn’t leave much question. They were murdered.
The bodies were discovered lying face up in a heavily wooded area about noon Sunday by an Amberg man who was hunting with his dogs. The victims were found about 2 miles southeast of Amberg off Highway 141 on Barker Road, about a quarter of a mile north on Wontor Road. Marinette County Coroner Ken Mattison indicated the victims may have been dead about six weeks.
The deaths of these two women appear to be an early example of a problem we still struggle with today—a lack of attention to missing and murdered indigenous women—because unless I’ve missed it, it does not appear these women were ever identified and their killer has never been brought to justice.
The site where the womens’ bodies were found was approximately 9 miles from the site where Patricia Wisniewski’s murder took place four years earlier. The murder of these two indigenous women also took place inside the 90-mile circle that includes:
The site of David and Ellen’s murder,
the site of Patricia Wisniewski’s murder,
the spot where Cynthia Allen’s body was found,
and Ray Vannieuwenhoven’s future Lakewood home.
If you’re keeping track, that brings us to this:
1972: Cynthia Allen murdered near Grover, Marinette County. Unsolved. Ray Vannieuwenhoven possible perpetrator.
1975: Mrs. Pat Wisniewski murdered near Amberg, Marinette County. Unsolved. Ray Vannieuwenhoven possible perpetrator.
1976: David Schuldes and Ellen Matheys murdered in Marinette County. Ray Vannieuwenhoven convicted, 2021.
March 12, 1977 (approx): Reported rape by Badgeman in Marinette County. Unsolved.
March 14, 1977: De Pere woman raped by Badgeman in her home. Unsolved.
March 16, 1977: Olive Cunningham and Vera Zimmer raped by Badgeman in Appleton. Unsolved.
Aug/Sep, 1979 (approx): Two indigenous women murdered near Amberg, Marinette County. Unsolved. Ray Vannieuwenhoven possible perpetrator.
In the next chapter, we’ll talk about the territorial nature of serial killers, and still to be addressed, the length of time Ray Vannieuwenhoven was a free man. So far we’ve only covered crimes that happened from the 1950s into the 1970s. However, Ray wasn’t arrested until 2019. If he was a serial killer, how long did it go on? The 1980s? The 1990s?
Troy Larson is a harbinger of things that go bump in the night; a true crime writer, researcher, and digital content producer with hundreds of podcast and broadcast credits to his name. Subscribe to the Until Night Falls Newsletter on Substack. Reach out: troy@untilnightfalls.com