The Faceless Frozen Body in the Ditch: The Ilene Gowan Story

An adult female body is found outside of Council Bluffs city limits. The body was found with bruises all over her body, a large laceration on her head, her body was  found frozen to the ground. Also, her face is missing. The body is of a woman who has been missing for 11 days, 60-year-old Ilene Gowan. Investigators will use everything at their disposal to determine how the grandmother ended up dead in a ditch without her face, and who is responsible for her death.

Join Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack as they breakdown a case that includes forensics of a frozen body as well as the latest video surveillance tools that creates a timeline that builds a map leading right to the killer.

Transcript Highlights 

00:00:06 Joseph Scott Morgan talks about scene of crime 

00:02:42 Victim 60-year-old woman, without a face 

00:04:00 Talk about victim and suspect relationship 

00:06:22 Brammer does not report girlfriend missing 

00:07:44 Talk about remains being discarded like trash 

00:09:48 Discussion about alcohol and relationships  

00:11:21 Victim is missing for 11 days  

00:12:49 Talk about remains still frozen at autopsy 

00:16:46 Discussion of weather on decomposition  

00:18:32 Talk about arriving to scene of crime 

00:22:54 Discussion about Pathologist in the field  

00:24:01 Victim face is missing 

00:27:19 Timeline: victim last seen on 13, reported missing on 15th 

00:30:37 Discussion of Post-Mortem and Anti-Mortem 

00:31:36 Video evidence of Brammer in truck with victim 

00:33:34 Discussion of victim cause of death 

00:34:39 Talk about wounds 

00:37:10 Discussion about Dr. Michael Baden brought in for second opinion 

00:38:50 Brammer deposits $1,500 in his bank account day Ilene is reported missing 

00:39:46 Discussion about face missing due to animal life 

00:41:46 Brammer has truck crushed and shredded 

00:42:08 Brammer was found guilty of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and second-degree theft. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.