Adele Kathleen “Addie” Jensen was a beloved 25-year-old mother, daughter, and sister from Minneapolis, Minnesota, known for her love of nature, animals, and above all, her young daughter, Chloe. Having recently earned a degree in radiology from Dunwoody College of Technology, Addie was working as a radiology technician and saving money to get her own apartment where she could raise her daughter. In the weeks leading up to her disappearance, she had been struggling in her relationship with Joshua Dow, the father of her child, and had moved back into her parents' home in Carver County for safety after an alleged assault. Her mother, Cinda, recalled that Addie was trying to create a better life for her daughter, hoping to enroll her in preschool. Friends and family described her as a wonderful and loving mother who cherished her role more than anything in the world.
The last time Addie was seen alive was in the early morning hours of November 18, 2015, in downtown Minneapolis. She had been out at the Downtown Cabaret with Dow and his brother. Dow initially told Addie’s worried parents and the police that she had refused to get in the car with them after the club closed and had simply walked off. He suggested she had run away, a story her parents found highly uncharacteristic. The truth of that night was far more horrific. Investigators later determined that Addie returned to Dow's north Minneapolis home, where she was shot and killed around 5:00 a.m. The investigation revealed a history of domestic turmoil; just a week before her death, on November 11, Dow had sent Addie a message saying he had "knocked" her out, and she had responded that she was leaving him. Dow had then threatened that she would never see their daughter again.
The investigation into Addie’s disappearance quickly focused on Joshua Dow. His story began to crumble when his own brother came forward to the Minneapolis police on November 22, revealing that Addie was dead. The brother told investigators he was awakened by a gunshot on the morning of November 18. Dow initially claimed he had dropped a gun, but later told his brother that Addie had shot herself. Dow then forced his brother at gunpoint to help him cover up the crime, threatening to kill both him and their mother if he didn't cooperate. They wrapped Addie’s body in plastic, removed a blood-soaked couch from the home, and painted over blood-splattered walls. Dow transported his girlfriend's body to a warehouse where he worked and hid it in a locker.
Over the next few days, as he was lying to Addie's family about her whereabouts, Dow dismembered her body and disposed of her remains in various garbage cans across the city. Despite an exhaustive search by police, who sifted through 60 to 100 tons of garbage, Addie's body has never been recovered. Dow initially maintained that Addie had died by suicide and he had panicked, fearing he would be blamed and wanting to shield their daughter from the truth. In February 2016, he pleaded guilty to interference with a dead body and an unrelated drug charge, receiving an eight-year prison sentence. For years, it seemed he might avoid being held accountable for her death.
However, persistent work by Minneapolis police homicide investigators uncovered new evidence, including witness interviews and digital forensics. In May 2019, nearly four years after Addie's death, Joshua Dow was charged with second-degree murder. Faced with the strong circumstantial case built against him, Dow pleaded guilty to second-degree unintentional murder in November 2019. In December 2019, a judge sentenced the 35-year-old to 20 years in prison.
During the sentencing, six of Addie's family members delivered powerful victim impact statements. Her mother spoke of the widespread devastation caused by Dow's actions, stating, “Joshua Dow is solely and heinously responsible for taking away a beautiful young soul from God’s world.” Vigils were held in the days and months after her disappearance, with hundreds gathering to pray for answers and for justice for Addie. Community fundraisers were organized to support a future college fund for her daughter, Chloe. As of December 2019, the case is legally closed, but for Addie’s family, the pain of their loss remains, compounded by the fact that they have never been able to lay her to rest.
