Police believe body found in ditch was Beatrice woman
The following was written by Larry Peirce and appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star in Lincoln, Nebraska on Friday February 25th 2000:
BEATRICE - Investigators are seeking answers in Lillian Meisenbach's death now that they are almost certain a body found Thursday morning in northern Gage County is hers. "Certainly this makes us even more concerned than we were," Beatrice Police CHief Bruce Lang said. "No doubt foul play was involved. Now we'll have more information."
Thursday, almost three weeks after the active, 83-year-old Beatrice woman was last seen, a man walking his dog and searching his property found an elderly woman's body. County Attorney Dick Smith said the body of a woman matching Meisenbach's age and stature was found chest down on the north side of a bridge on Birch Road, half a mile west of U.S. 77. The bridge is 13 miles north of Beatrice, at the bottom of a hill and barely visible from the highway.
Arnold Unbefunde, 56, who lives less than a mile southwest of the bridge, made the discovery about 10:30 a.m. He had decided to walk east, beyond his property on the minimum maintenance road. "I couldn't believe what I saw. I backed up and took a second look," he said.
The body was clad in tan slacks and a dark-colored jacket or sweater. One shoe was missing, Unbefunde said. A small stream, only a few inches deep, flowed nearby. "I was sure it was her," said Unbefunde, a former construction contractor. Investigators had asked landowners to search their properties for the missing woman, he said. "As the policemen said, it's good it's come to an end," Unbefunde said.
By 3 p.m. Thursday at team of investigators from the Gage County Sheriff's Office, Beatrice Police and the Nebraska State Patrol brought the body to the highway and transferred it to a van. An autopsy is scheduled today in Omaha, and dental records also will be used for identification.
The county road, muddied by an inch of rain this week, was barricaded Thursday after the body was found. Investigators also brought county road crews, which used a torch to remove a section of steel from the bridge. Earlier this week authorities had stepped up the search for Meisenbach. A Nebraska State Patrol helicopter helped with an aerial search, and reserve deputies marked out grids for ground searches. Searchers recently had scoured the road east of where the body was found and were about to start on the westside of the highway.
Sheriff Jerry DeWitt said the body would have been obscured from someone driving a car down the road, but a tractor or SUV driver might have seen it. Until this week the road had been dry and passable for months, Smith said. Smith declined to elaborate on the condition of the body, the suspected cause and time of death or how long it had been in the creek bed.
"Whoever did it knows how they did it," Smith said. "It will be brought up at some point." Chief Lang said he was reluctant to call the death a homicide until he saw reports from the autopsy. "Certainly something unnatural happened," Lang said.
Investigators announced Feb. 16 that a crime was likely in in Meisenbach's disappearance, saying a large amount of blood had been discovered Feb 9 in a 1993 Mercury Topaz she had rented while her car was being repaired. The blood was believed to be Meisenbach's, but test results have not been released.
The amount of blood found in the rental car indicated some kind of serious injury, according to police reports. If the body proves to be Meisenbach's, it will aid in tests on the blood found in the Topaz. Meisenbach's son, Roger Meisenbach, 58, of Kansas City, MO., has told police that he returned the rental car to Ron's Body Shop Feb 7 but that his mother wasn't at her north Beatrice home when he returned her car. He also told police he didn't notice the blood in the Topaz, which had a red interior that made the blood hard to spot.
Meisenbach's chiropractor told police Feb. 9 that she had missed an appointment the previous day. Police described the woman as mentally sharp and energetic. Despite a knee replacement last fall, she was still active. Police said Meisenbach's home, 1415 N. 11th St., showed no signs of a disturbance.
Smith said Beatrice police had identified a handful of suspects in the case, but he declined to elaborate on a prime suspect. Roger Meisenbach has spoken to police and apparently has hired an attorney, he said.
"A part representing him has been contacted about this," Smith said. Smith made a public plea for help in the case. Authorities have confirmed reports from three people who said they saw Meisenbach Feb. 6 at the Beatrice Wal-Mart, he said, but more help is needed. "Anybody who thinks they saw (Meisenbach) or talked to her at Wal-Mart, we really need to talk to them," Smith said. "We really want them to call."
Timeline: A chronology of events in the disappearance of 83-year-old-Lillian Meisenbach of Beatrice:
Feb. 6: Police say Meisenbach was last seen at the Beatrice Wal-Mart.
Feb. 7: Meisenbach misses appointment with her chiropractor; son Roger Meisenbach returns his mother's rented 1993 Mercury Topaz and picks up his mother's car. He later told police his mother wasn't home when he stopped that day.
Feb. 8: Police list Meisenbach as a missing person.
Feb. 9: Investigator spots a "large amount" of blood in rental car; the car's red interior made the blood difficult to see. Police believe it was Meisenbach's, but DNA tests are not complete.
Feb. 22: Nebraska State Patrol helicopter is called in to aid in the search. Authorities ask landowners to check their properties.
Feb. 24: Body of elderly woman found 13 miles north of Beatrice; investigators believe it is Meisenbach.
Daniel Pinna 
