Man Charged in 1985 Decapitation Murder of College Student

A man from western Wisconsin has been charged with the 1985 murder of a college student, whose dismembered body was discovered shortly after she went missing, according to officials on Tuesday.

Michael Raymond Popp, age 60, was taken into custody on Monday, facing one count of first-degree murder related to the death of 24-year-old Terry Dolowy. He is currently being held at the Vernon County Jail with a cash bail set at $1 million.

As of Wednesday morning, Popp had not yet secured legal representation, said the Vernon County Clerk’s Office.

Prosecutors allege that Popp was familiar with Dolowy, a native of River Forest, Illinois, who was a senior at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at the time. Notably, Popp lived nearby, just a short distance from where Dolowy resided with her fiancé, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.

Vernon and La Crosse County officials initially indicated that Dolowy had left her purse at home, did not take her car, and that her dog had gone missing at the time she disappeared. At that time, she was working full-time as a bar manager in La Crosse.

Dolowy was reported missing on February 14, 1985, from her home in Barre Mills. Just days later, her decapitated and charred body was discovered in a roadside culvert in Vernon County. Tragically, her head has never been found.

Following the original investigation, authorities unearthed a paint chip that was wrapped with the victim’s body, which they believed might have come from the trunk of the vehicle used to transport her remains.

The criminal complaint reveals that in March 1985, Popp had told police that he and his girlfriend frequently participated in pool tournaments with Dolowy and her fiancé, and they were often partners during these events, as reported by the La Crosse Tribune.

New DNA analysis conducted in January 2023 showed matches between samples taken from Popp and those collected during Dolowy’s autopsy, as detailed in the complaint.

Initially, Popp characterized Dolowy as just a casual acquaintance; however, when confronted by authorities in March 2023 with the DNA evidence linking him to her, he adjusted his story and admitted to having a “little affair” with Dolowy that lasted six to eight months. The complaint indicates that he had lied because he felt it was “a pretty serious case” and did not wish to be implicated.

Popp firmly denied killing Dolowy and claimed he is not a violent person, as stated in the complaint.