Major breakthrough in unsolved murder of Wisconsin student found decapitated on side of the road

Authorities in Wisconsin have made a major breakthrough in the unsolved murder of a college student whose body was found decapitated and burned on the side of the road in 1985.

On Tuesday, officials announced they have arrested Michael Popp, 60, and charged him with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Terry Dolowy, 24, nearly 40 years after the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior was mysteriously killed.

Dolowy and her white poodle had disappeared on Valentine’s Day 1985, and the door to their house was left ajar, WXOW reports. Just four days later, Dolowy’s body was found decapitated and burned in a roadside culvert. The poodle was never found.

Police now say Popp, who was 21 at the time, knew Dolowy and lived near the Barre Mills home where she lived with her fiancé, Russell Lee.

In March 1985, he had even told police that he, his girlfriend, Dolowy and Lee went to pool tournaments together and were often partners, according to the La Crosse Tribune.

Agents in Vernon County continued to work the Dolowy murder case on and off for years.

In September 2022, a breakthrough finally came, when genealogists identified Popp as a suspect and authorities were able to obtain a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample from him.

They were then able to determine that Popp’s DNA sample matched the genetic material found during Dolowy’s autopsy.

When confronted with the evidence in March 2023, Popp reportedly admitted that he and Dolowy had had “maybe a little affair” for six to eight months.

He said he lied and that they were only casual acquaintances because “it’s a pretty serious matter” and he “doesn’t want to be associated with it,” according to a complaint obtained by the La Crosse Tribune.

Popp denied killing the student and said he is not a violent person.

Dolowy and her poodle mysteriously disappeared on Valentine’s Day 1985, with the door to their home left ajar. Just four days later, Dolowy’s body was found decapitated and burned in a roadside culvert. The poodle was never found

But when police previously interviewed Popp’s ex-girlfriend, who had broken up with him in 1986 and had filed a warrant against him for physical abuse, she was asked whether Popp could have committed Dolowy’s murder.

She reportedly replied, “Mike is capable of something like that because he has so many different personalities.”

Still, the ex-girlfriend said she did not believe he was involved in Dolowy’s death.

However, the complaint also states that a witness told police in 2004 that he remembered seeing a vehicle driving toward her house around 4:30 a.m. on the day of Dolowy’s disappearance.

The witness stated he saw two men “force” Dolowy into a Chevy Impala or Caprice.

According to the indictment, Popp’s girlfriend at the time owned a car matching that description and often let him drive it.

Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson denied it was ever a cold case when he announced Popp’s arrest and charges against him on Tuesday

“Some will call this a cold case,” Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson said at a news conference Tuesday. “I disagree with that completely.

‘Terry’s case has never been cold, but it has been actively shut down in recent years.’

“We did it,” he added as he announced Popp’s arrest and the charges against him.

“I am so grateful to the men and women of law enforcement who have carried the torch.”

A judge set Popp’s bail at $1 million after Monroe County District Attorney Kevin Croninger, acting as special prosecutor, filed a motion to set bail at $2 million

Popp was originally arrested in Monroe County for a separate incident but was transferred to the Vernon County Jail on Monday to face charges of first-degree murder, Torgerson and other authorities said.

He also faces charges of stalking, domestic violence and drug possession in Monroe County.

At a hearing later Tuesday, Monroe County District Attorney Kevin Croninger, acting as special prosecutor, asked a judge to set Popp’s bail at $2 million. He described the charges against him as “particularly horrific” and noted that he worked as a truck driver and therefore had the means to flee.

Popp, who did not have an attorney at the hearing, objected to the high bail, saying at one point, “I didn’t do it.”

He later claimed that the criminal complaint stated “she was murdered at 4:30 in the morning, but I’m still milking cows at 5 o’clock,” the La Crosse Tribune reported.

Ultimately, a judge set his bail at $1 million. He remains in the Vernon County Jail.