DECORAH, IA — Authorities have identified human remains found in Winneshiek County nearly four decades ago, closing a long-running missing person case and giving an Ohio family confirmation of what happened to their loved one.
Clifton “Todd” Womack was 28 when he disappeared after leaving his mother’s home in Eastlake, Ohio, on April 5, 1985, saying he was going to look for work. His family never heard from him again.
Remains were found in a rural hay barn and buried near Decorah
Womack’s remains were discovered in March 1986 in a rural hay barn in Winneshiek County. Even after two autopsies and a clay facial reconstruction at Mayo Clinic, investigators could not identify him at the time.
He was later buried at Freeport Cemetery near Decorah while the case remained unsolved for decades.
Deputy secured exhumation in 2026 to obtain DNA
Deputy Cole Tweten, who joined the sheriff’s office in 2022, obtained funding, permits and legal approval to exhume the grave in April 2026 so investigators could try to recover DNA.
The remains were still well preserved. A forensic anthropologist then matched dental X-rays to Womack using the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database on June 11.
Brother's DNA confirmed the identification on June 11
DNA testing later confirmed the identification through a biological connection to Womack’s brother, Terry, who had submitted his DNA to the database years earlier. The Elizabeth Collins Foundation paid for the exhumation and testing.
Sheriff Dan Marx praised Tweten’s work, saying his persistence led to the most meaningful outcome possible for the family.
Family gets answers as investigators still list the death as undetermined
Womack’s siblings — Jay, Terry, Sherry and Amber — were notified on June 18. Their mother, Peggy Jo Womack, died in the late 1980s without learning what happened to her son.
The sheriff’s office has officially closed the case, but the manner of death remains listed as undetermined in the autopsy report.
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