True Crime

48 Years Later — The Gitchie Manitou State Preserve Murders

Five teens entered the park, but only one of them would live to tell the tale

The murder site as it looked at the time of the murders (Photo Credit: Cedar Rapids Gazette)

On November 17, 1973, a group of five teenagers from Sioux Falls, South Dakota were attacked at Gitchie Manitou State Preserve in Lyon County, Iowa. The four male teens were murdered, and the remaining female teen was kidnapped and raped.

The victims were 17-year-old Roger Essem, 18-year-old Stewart Baade, 15-year-old Dana Baade, 15-year-old Michael Hadrath, and 13-year-old Sandra Cheskey (surviving rape victim).

The four murder victims ((Photo Credit: Cedar Rapids Gazette)

The three brothers who committed the crime were also from nearby Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 29-year-old Allen Fryer, 24-year-old David Fryer, and 21-year-old James Fryer were out in Gitchie Manitou that night looking to poach deer when they came across the five teens gathered around a campfire. After watching the teens for a bit, they believed they were smoking marijuana and decided to take it for themselves. The brothers returned to their truck and retrieved their shotguns.