Edward Leroy Hickson, 32, died in the early morning hours of February 15, 1978, after firefighters found him unresponsive inside Rock Island Bunkhouse No. 27 on the 1500 block of South Sixth Street in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was removed and taken to Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead; authorities classified the death as a homicide and opened case B78-1173.

Witnesses reported a white man, unusually tall at about six feet three inches to six feet four inches, enter the bunkhouse around 4:05 a.m., leave, retrieve an unidentified object from a nearby 1975 or 1976 Buick or Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a burgundy-over-white color scheme, reenter the building, then depart a few minutes later in the same car. Investigators have not publicly stated how Hickson was killed, whether the fire’s origin was determined, or exactly what was removed from the vehicle.

No arrest, charge or conviction has been publicly reported. The Council Bluffs Police Department lists the homicide as unsolved and seeks anyone who recognizes the man, his clothing or the burgundy-and-white Monte Carlo.