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He was a charming and appreciated man. Beautiful. The women swooned over him as if he was Elvis Presley.
His name was Melvin James Gallagher, but everyone called him Jimmy.
“Everyone loved Jimmy,” her younger sister, Joann Heideman, told Dateline. “He was a good, nice guy. Beautiful. Like Elvis Presley. A real ladies’ man. And, well, he just had that way of him.
Joann and Jimmy, only a year apart, were still close. Joann told Dateline that she still remembers playing make-believe as a child, such as taking turns being a cashier while playing groceries or cooking an elaborate meal at their supposed restaurant.
As they grew into teenagers and then young adults, Joann said Jimmy naturally stepped into the role of an older brother, protecting his sister at all costs.
“He always looked out for me,” she said. “And even though he’s not here now, I still feel him watching over me from Heaven. Protect me. “
After serving in the US Army, Jimmy returned to his hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, where he focused on finding a good job and settling down to start a family.
Joann told Dateline that his brother was popular among the women in their town and that he quickly fell in love and got engaged. But soon after, he broke off the engagement to be with another woman.
After Jimmy and his first fiancée split up, she found out that she was pregnant with Jimmy’s child. Shortly after, Jimmy’s new fiancée discovered that they were expecting twins.
With his family growing, Jimmy applied for a job with the Waterloo Police Department and also applied to enter a chiropractic school. For months he worked the night shift at the Clark Super 100 gas station in Waterloo.
But on January 3, 1959 – just a week before Jimmy’s wedding – the 22-year-old’s life was brought to an abrupt end. He never had the chance to marry his fiancée. Or meet her unborn children.
It was very cold and snowy that morning in Waterloo, as Jimmy finished his night shift at the station. Investigators believe it was around 5:15 a.m. when he was shot in the head, Waterloo Police Sgt. Michael L. Rasmussen told Dateline.
Sergeant Rasmussen added that $ 179 had been taken from the station and while there are still many theories as to what happened that night, the money could be a motive. Another theory is that Jimmy knew his killer because he was allegedly found with his left hand in his pocket.
According to the Waterloo Courier article published in 1960, Clark Company officials said their employees were ordered never to resist attempted robberies. When speaking casually with clients or friends, Jimmy frequently held his left hand in his pocket, leading investigators to believe he had spoken with someone he knew.
Sergeant Rasmussen, who works with the department’s investigation division, told Dateline that while it is possible that Jimmy knew his killer because he was so well known in town, he couldn’t confirm that Jimmy’s hand was in his pocket or that it had something to do with whether or not he knew his killer.
For years, the Waterloo Police followed leads and advice, but none led to Jimmy’s murderer.
In an article published in the Waterloo Courier in 1960, Chief Harry Krieg told reporters that dozens of people had been interviewed but never found any evidence to move forward.
Jimmy’s first fiancée gave birth to their son, Michael, on February 19, 1959. Later that year, the woman Jimmy was to marry in January gave birth to the couple’s twin daughters.
Michael Rogers, who was abandoned for adoption as a baby and raised in Oklahoma, was 36 when he was reunited with and reunited with his birth mother. It was also when he found out that his biological father, Jimmy, had been murdered.
“When I called her on the phone, I asked her, ‘Does the date February 19, 1959 mean anything to you?” He told Dateline, referring to her date of birth. . “She dropped the phone. She knew who I was.
Michael explained that his biological mother had moved on with her life and was married with four children. Her husband told Michael over the phone, “We were wondering if you were ever going to find us.”
Michael told Dateline he always knew he would try to find his birth parents at some point.
“I grew up in a loving home with wonderful parents,” Michael said. “But knowing that I had another family there, I wanted to get to know them.”
So in 1995 Michael traveled to Iowa to meet his family.
“At 36, I finally met my mom for the first time,” Michael said. “It was very weird, but I was delighted.
Michael said that was when he heard about his father’s murder.
“She told me my father was murdered in January and that’s why she gave me up for adoption when I was born a month later,” Michael explained. “She went to live with a friend in Tulsa and that’s how I grew up in Oklahoma.”
After Michael reunited with his birth mother in Iowa, he met other family members he didn’t know he had, including one of his half-sisters, twins born to the his father’s fiancée, just months after Jimmy’s murder.
Michael, who now lives in Texas, told Dateline that years after finding out about his father’s murder, he became more obsessed with what had happened. He asked questions. Carried out his own research. And he remained in contact with investigators.
“I continued to hit dead ends,” Michael said. “It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. And I didn’t know where to turn next. I had to move away a bit.
Michael said he hoped that with advances in DNA technology there might be a way to exhume his father’s body and find out what happened.
Sergeant Rasmussen told Dateline that “it is possible that new technology could help solve this murder. However, in 1959, crime scene investigators were not focusing on preserving potential evidence involving DNA, as this technology had not been developed.
He added that there had been no current updates or people of interest for years, but stresses that they are always ready to seek new information or advice that arrives.
Michael told Dateline that he hopes more exposure of his father’s story will bring new information that could resolve the case and bring their family to closure.
“The last day I was in Waterloo, I remember going to my father’s grave and telling him that as long as I lived, I would never give up on the search for his killer,” said Michael.
Michael told Dateline he was fully aware of the number of lives affected by Jimmy’s murder, including his own.
“Who knows what my life would have been like – good or bad – but it changed my life forever,” Michael said. “And of course I want to know what happened, but I want to know more for Joann.
Michael met his father’s sister, Joann, shortly after meeting his birth mother.
“I don’t look like her much, but she always tells me how much I look like her Jimmy,” Michael said. “It just broke her. So more than anything, I just want her to find peace.
Joann told Dateline that she had prayed for years to meet Jimmy’s son, Michael. And when she finally did, she was shocked but thrilled.
“I almost fell off my chair,” Joann told Dateline with a chuckle. “It was a little miracle after I lost my brother. And Michael, he’s got Jimmy’s personality, he’s just like him.
Joann, who turned 83 on December 31, 2020, said this time of year was tough for her. While she should be celebrating the holidays, her birthday, and the New Year, she mostly remembers the tragedy that unfolded just days into the New Year in 1959.
“He bought my last birthday cake before he was killed,” Joann said tearfully. “My birthdays have never been the same since.”
Joann told Dateline she last saw her brother earlier in the evening on January 2, just hours before his death. She was eating a burger and fries while visiting with Jimmy at the station.
“He looked at my fries and said, ‘Boy, that looks good’ and ate my fries – like a brother does,” Joann laughs. “But I let him do it. He was my best friend. “
Joann said she wasn’t sure if she would ever find out what happened to her brother, but told Dateline that she believed Jimmy knew her killer.
“I think the person who did that, who killed himself, was jealous of him,” she said. “And that person is free while we are all in pain. And Jimmy never had the chance to get married, have kids, or live his life.
Six decades have passed since Jimmy’s death, but Joann still has tears talking about his brother.
“What happened to my brother is with me every day,” Joann said. “I would like to know what happened to him, before I die. But I’m 83… so I don’t think that’s going to happen. So I just think about the good times – and that’s what keeps me going. I know I will see him one day in Heaven.
In 2014, Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers announced a $ 1,000 award for information leading to an arrest in Jimmy’s case.
Anyone with information on the Melvin James Gallagher case is asked to call the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4340 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers, 855-300-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be sent with TipSoft or by sending the word CEDAR along with the information to CRIMES (274637).
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