In June 2015, Alicia Hummel of Sioux City, Iowa was murdered at a popular fishing and boating spot outside Vermillion, South Dakota.
About Alicia Hummel
Photo from NBC News
Alicia Hummel was born on June 27, 1985 in Sioux City to Lora (Folkers) Gilliam and James Wanned. She was one of six siblings. Alicia and her sister, Erica were raised by their grandparents, Duane and Jan Folkers.
She graduated from East High School in 2004 and later South Dakota State University (SDSU) with a Bachelor of Science in human professions and clinical sciences/human development and family/psychology, according to her obituary. She pursued a second Bachelor of Science degree in communications disorders at SDSU and graduated in 2012.
On July 30, 2011, Alicia married her high school sweetheart, Tony Hummel, at Church of the Nativity in Sioux City. However, the marriage didn’t last and the two separated in 2014.
Alicia taught Early Head Start for infants and toddlers at Siouxland Family Center in Dakota City, Nebraska since 2013. She loved working with the children and their families, and her co-workers.
The young woman was always smiling and loved hanging out with her friends. She enjoyed scrapbooking, camping and fishing, and loved country singer, Luke Bryan.
“Her life was very much by-the-moment. Very much spontaneity. She just went with things,” said Alicia’s good friend, Bethany Scavina in 2018.
The Murder of Alicia Hummel
On Monday, June 1, 2015, Alicia Hummel, 29, was excited to have a full month off from her job at Siouxland Family Center in Dakota City, Nebraska where she taught small children. That day, she decided to kick off her vacation by fishing at Myron Grove, also known as the Highline Area of Clay County, South Dakota. It is only an hour’s drive northwest from her home in Sioux City, Iowa and is located about seven miles west of Vermillion, SD.
Alicia called friends to see if any of them wanted to come along, but they declined. So, Alicia decided to go alone. On her way out, she asked her grandfather, Duane if he would help her clean any fish she caught when she returned home, and he said he would. It was the last time Duane saw his granddaughter alive.
Not much is known about Alicia’s activities that day. On her way to Myron Grove, she made a quick stop at Wal-Mart. Early that afternoon, she took a few Snapchat photos of herself with a fishing rod on the boat dock at Myron Grove. It is the last picture taken of the young woman, and no one else is seen in the pictures. Alicia did mention in a few messages that there were other people near her at the fishing spot, so she was not completely alone.
Between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m., a state park employee found her body in the Missouri River near the shore and boat ramp at Myron Grove.
An autopsy determined cause of death was drowning, but listed blunt force injuries to the head and an incised wound to the neck as contributing factors. Toxicology reports were negative for alcohol and controlled substances.
The Investigation
Even though Alicia mentioned other people nearby at Myron Grove, not one person came forward with information regarding her death. The place is usually busy with people in the summer because it’s a popular place to go boating and fishing. So, it struck police odd that nobody saw anything.
According to the Argus Leader, the only road in or out of the Myron Grove area forks a few yards before the dock, with one road branching to private properties and the other to the popular public fishing and water sport spot. Two parking lots are separated by a line of trees, a smaller one near the ramp and a larger one to park trucks and boat trailers. Next to a skinny dock, there is room for one boat to be loaded into the water. In the summer, when trees are thick with leaves, the dock area is hidden. You wouldn’t be seen until you get on the water.
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Alicia’s car was found parked next to the boat dock. Police said they were looking for a dark car with tinted windows and a loud exhaust system seen near Myron Grove around the time of the murder. Tips came in but they were unable to identify the driver, and the owner of the car did not come forward.
Police never recovered Alicia’s cell phone she used to take the Snapchat photos.
From the very beginning, police treated this case as a homicide because of the circumstances. They will not say if Alicia was sexually assaulted prior to death. Authorities believe that Alicia was fishing alone that day, and they are fairly certain she was killed at the boat dock area. The Clay County Sheriff’s Department has the lead on the case, but they are working closely with agents from the FBI and South Dakota’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI).
Authorities ruled out Alicia’s husband, Tony Hummel as a suspect when it was confirmed he was out of town with relatives. Police interviewed and ruled out other family and friends as well.
Currently, there are no suspects or persons of interest in Alicia’s murder.
Tony Hummel remarried in 2016. He currently resides in Wyoming with his wife and child.
Investigators continue following up on leads and have said that this is far from a cold case as they are still actively investigating Alicia’s murder. Duane and Jan Folkers are offering a $5000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Alicia Hummel’s killer.
If anyone has any information regarding this case, please contact the Clay County Sheriff’s Department Office at (605) 677-7100.
True Crime Diva’s Thoughts
There’s not a ton of info out there on this case. As far as I can tell, it only received local media attention. I chose to write about Alicia because her story needs to be heard, and the case needs to be solved.
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Why would someone want to murder this young woman? What the hell is motive? I almost feel like the killer is someone she knew – someone who knew she was going to Myron Grove that day. With blunt force trauma and incised wounds, you have to get pretty close to the victim – right in their face or behind them. It’s personal, and the killer is full of rage. However, I can also see this being a random attack and Alicia was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
What was the weapon used to slash Alicia’s neck? Knife, glass, metal? There’s no mention of LE recovering any murder weapons from the crime scene. So, either they are not disclosing that information or the killer took or tossed it into the river.
How did Alicia receive blunt force injuries to the head? Was it a big rock? There are several big rocks along the shore at Myron Grove that would do the trick.
Why did the killer hit Alicia on the head AND slash her neck? He or she could have done either one and then thrown her in the river. Hell, slashing her throat would have killed her. Hitting her hard enough on the head would have killed her. But the killer did both, and then dumped her in the river. It’s a bit of an overkill.
Was Alicia sexually assaulted? Police are hush-hush on that, but if she was, there’s motive. I would be more likely to believe a stranger killed her if she had been raped. Personally, I don’t know why police are refusing to say if she was raped or not. How would that hinder the investigation? If anything, it tells us motive.
What about the car people searched for? The driver/owner never came forward, which is strange if you were in the area, and you didn’t kill Alicia. The car was distinct, so maybe the driver was from out of town or out of state.
The more I thought about this case, the more I wondered if we might possible have two killers. I assumed there was only one, but there certainly could be more people involved. This could explain why she has two injuries from two different sources. One person hit her on the head, the other cut her neck. I also think it’s very possible that one or both killers was female. In a way, this does seem like a female-out-for-revenge killing.
What’s weird is the lack of any witnesses in this case. Despite other people being nearby at the same time Alicia was fishing, nobody saw anything, apparently. No one even came forward to say they were at Myron Grove that day. That’s the part I find strange.
Now, police have said they believe she may have been alone that day, but they are not 100% sure. If she was not alone, then her killer was fishing with her that day.
Police say they are fairly certain Alicia was killed at the boat dock area. Alicia said on Snapchat that other people were nearby. If she could see them, they could see her. So how is it possible she was murdered there without one damn person seeing the murder? Why didn’t anyone come forward to say they were at Myron Grove that day? It makes no sense. If it’s the whole I-don’t-want-to-get-involved bullshit, let me just take a minute to virtually bitch-slap those people.
Before heading to Myron Grove, Alicia went to Walmart. I have no idea which one. There is one in Vermillion, and 3 in Sioux City. Did authorities view surveillance tapes from the Walmart Alicia visited? I found nothing on this. Surprise, surprise. I suppose it is possible someone saw her there and followed her to Myron Grove.
Did Alicia have any enemies? While it doesn’t sound like it, nobody is perfect, and everyone has at least one person who doesn’t like them.
Police quickly ruled out Tony Hummel when they confirmed he was out of town with relatives. However, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved somehow or have knowledge of the crime. He and Alicia split in 2014 (not sure exactly when), but the divorce was never finalized. There were no children involved, so I don’t understand why the divorce never happened. If either party does not contest the divorce, it’s done and over very quickly. So, did Alicia fight it at some point? According to one of her friends, Alicia was “finally coming to terms with moving on, becoming independent and finding herself again.” But was she really? You don’t tell everything to your friends, not even your closest friend.
Tony married his current wife, Sarah, 14 months after Alicia’s murder. So, how long were they together before they married? Was she the reason he left Alicia? She’s similar in appearance to Alicia – eye color, hair color, body type AND she’s also a teacher. Weird. I noticed that Tony does not have any of Alicia’s relatives on his FB page, but Alicia is still on there. He made a few public posts after he got married again, but none before that. Same goes for his new wife. None of his public posts/pics are of Alicia. He doesn’t seem interested in finding his wife’s killer. From what I can tell, he refuses interviews with local media about the case. Why wouldn’t you be out there doing all you can to help find the killer? They were high school sweethearts, for Christ’s sake. They spent years together before the separation.
I met a woman a while back. Her ex-husband was murdered in the 80s. They were divorced by the time he was killed, but she has spent the last 30 years seeking justice. So, yes, I find it odd that Tony has pushed himself completely away from this case. Yes, he has the right to move and and he should move on. But how can he not be a part of finding her killer and getting justice for her?
I don’t know who killed Alicia or why. All I know is that she deserves justice.