Patricia Ann Lange, 36, moved from Denver to West Des Moines in August 1993 for a new job and was staying temporarily at the University Park Holiday Inn in Room 732. She arrived on August 13 and on the morning of Monday, August 23, 1993, a housekeeper found her body on the floor near the bed. Patricia had been gagged, her hands bound in front of her with a torn pillowcase, and a wire coat hanger twisted around her neck; an autopsy confirmed death by strangulation. Her clothing was disturbed and she was nude from the waist down, wearing only tennis shoes and socks.

There were no signs of forced entry and her wallet with $209 remained in an open briefcase, suggesting robbery was not the motive. Investigators traced her activities, interviewed guests, employees and colleagues, and sent questionnaires to more than 750 hotel guests and staff, but the case went cold until DNA from seminal fluid on the bedspread and a sock matched Donald Piper, a former chief engineer who had hotel access with an E key. Piper was charged in February 2000 and convicted by a jury on June 4, 2001.

Does anyone who stayed at or worked in that hotel in August 1993 have information that could clarify Patricia’s last hours?