The investigation into a missing-persons case in Tama has gained new energy, three years after it hit an apparent dead end. Police chief Dan Wilkens says the boyfriend who lived at the time with 23-year-old Cora Okonski at a rural Tama County farmhouse reported her missing more than 3 years ago. The chief says she was reported missing in April 2000, and while police have followed up reports of locations and sightings, they’re now checking on new information that led them to a location on highway 21. Chief Wilkens says last week they tried a new tactic, and put an ad in the local paper asking for information in the cold case. They’re looking for any evidence that will lead them to the woman. Wilkens says the ad brought response, and information that has now led officers to search a rural home on Highway 21 five miles north of Belle Plaine. a home that belongs to relatives of the former boyfriend of the missing woman. He hopes they’ll find something there that will lead investigators to her. Neighbors say officers searched all day Monday at the rural property, but they aren’t giving specifics about the leads they got. Dan Wilkens just took over the job of Tama police chief a week ago.
