An arrest has been made in the cold case murder of a woman in Sioux City four decades ago. Thomas Duane Popp is charged in the shooting death of 18-year-old Terri McCauley in 1983.

A grand jury convened in Woodbury County last week and indicted the 62-year-old Popp for first-degree murder and he was arrested this weekend in Washington State. No other details have been released on what led to the arrest. Former Sioux City Police Detective Tony Sunclades says he recommended that Popp be arrested in 1983, but the county attorney at the time didn’t think there was enough evidence for a conviction. “I’m just so happy for the family. They’ve been suffering, and they still have a tremendous loss, but at least there’s closure now, and we’ll have to see what happens in court,” he says.

McCaulley was reported missing after a night out with friends in September 1983. Her mother filed a missing person report on October 5th and her body was found less than 24 hours later. Sunclades believes there will be a conviction in the case. “I’m confident that our current county attorney’s office is going to be able to convince a jury that, yes, he did this, and there is no reasonable doubt,” Sunclades says.

Popp is being held on a $3 million cash only bond as he awaits extradition to Iowa.

(By Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)

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