Nearly sixty years after the disappearance of Ronald J. Cole, authorities in Henry County have finally named a suspect in his murder. The remains of Cole, who vanished in 1965 at age nineteen, were discovered in rural Henry County the following year but went unidentified until recent advances in DNA technology linked them to Cole in January 2026. Investigators have now identified David Arthur LaFever, of Alaska—Cole’s half-brother and deceased since 2007—as the sole suspect in the case, citing a pattern of behavior and reported family admissions. Cole was last seen with his half-brother, David LaFever, in Fillmore, California. LaFever has been connected to other killings nationwide in the 1960s and 1970s, including his brother-in-law, John Skaggs, whose remains were discovered buried in the backyard of LaFever’s former residence in Galt, California, also with a bullet wound. LaFever reportedly confessed to killing Cole to family members following Cole’s disappearance, but the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office lacked evidence to press charges.
“The Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Henry County State’s Attorney’s Office continue to seek justice for victims and their families, no matter how much time has passed. While LaFever can no longer face prosecution due to his death, this announcement helps to provide some light on this dark story.”
Authorities urge anyone with information to contact the Henry County Sheriff’s Office at 309-937-3911.
All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty.
On October 27, 1966, a local Geneseo mail carrier and trapper was walking along a ditch on the Robert Stahl farm when he found a human skull, which started a decades-long search to find the man’s identity. In 1966, Interstate 80 was not completed between Bureau County and the Quad Cities area. The main thoroughfare was Highway 6 at the time, and the remains were found about a mile off Highway 6. Initially, a human skull was found near Cat Creek, southeast of Geneseo. The skull was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Quantico. A further search of the area recovered additional skeletal remains. The FBI determined the cause of death was a bullet to the back of the head. A search in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) produced no persons reported missing in our area during the estimated time of death. The man is estimated to have died one to five years earlier, or approximately 1961 to 1965. They did not recover all the remains of Geneso John Doe 1966, so they estimate his height to be 5’5″ to 5’10” and his age to be between 16 and 30 years old. Based on the color of the bones, some of the bones were submerged in water at one time. This cold case recently gained new momentum in 2024 when the Henry County Sheriff’s Office enlisted the nonprofit DNA Doe Project. Their team crafted a detailed DNA profile and uploaded it to GEDmatch, yielding several promising familial matches.