Ernest Kummer, a 60-year-old White truck driver from Monroe, Iowa, was found dead in the sleeper cab of his semi-truck in the late hours of September 6, 2017, at a westbound Interstate 80 rest stop near Victor, Iowa. Kummer died of multiple gunshot wounds. A woman who had been traveling with him made a 911 call and was taken into custody at the scene as the sole suspect.

The woman, identified as Mariana Lesnic, was charged with first-degree murder. Investigators reported the two had met while she was hitchhiking in Nebraska; Kummer had offered her a ride and sheltered her at his home for three days before they left on the trip. At trial Lesnic, representing herself with a standby attorney, said she shot Kummer while he was asleep because she felt threatened by his behavior and the presence of firearms. A jury convicted her of first-degree murder and the court sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Did anyone who knew Ernest or saw his truck near I-80 around that time notice anything unusual during his trip with Lesnic?