Lucy Studey began making calls to her local Sheriff’s office in Thurman, Iowa in 2007 to claim that her father, Donald Studey, had killed and buried bodies on his land. It wasn’t until August of 2021 that Fremont County Sheriff, Kevin Aistrope, decided to look into Studey’s repeated allegations.

Since opening an inquiry on Studey’s claims, the case has gained national attention as it unfolds before the nation to see if this man really was the killer his daughter claims him to have been. 

Donald Studey passed away in March of 2013 at the age of 75, and many people in the community, including previous neighbors, have said that it would not surprise them if Donald had indeed murdered people and buried their bodies on his land. Donald was reportedly quick to anger and drank heavily. It was even rumored that he would shoot or stab people when he became furious with them. Nevertheless, there are some questions that are making people skeptical of Lucy’s story.

Beginning when she was a little girl, Lucy Studey – who currently resides in Florida – has claimed that her father was killing women, and later a few men, and forced his children to help him bury the bodies on their property. As she grew older, she began telling teachers, priests, and law enforcement in both Iowa and Nebraska, in hopes that someone would believe her and come to excavate the site. Unfortunately for Lucy, everyone told her that they couldn’t trust a young child’s memory; that she probably misunderstood a situation or made up the entire story for attention.

Lucy claims that the women victimized by her father were sex workers in Omaha. She stated that the women were usually in their 20s or 30s, were Caucasian, and had dark hair. One victim, Lucy recalled, was only about 15 years old. Since sex workers are more likely to go unreported when missing, it is difficult to find solid connections between missing women in Omaha and this case. However, the Omaha Police Department has offered to help in the on-going inquiry in relation to any Omaha victims.

In 2021, the sheriff’s office and the FBI took Lucy to her father’s old land where she pointed out a well on the property that she claims her father used to dump victims’ bodies. Lucy claims this is where her father made her, and her siblings, dump bodies and then would instruct the children to fill the well with dirt and lye. Lye is a metal hydroxide commonly found in soaps and other cleaning supplies and can help preserve remains and cover up smells. This method of hiding the bodies could explain why nothing has been found still to this day.

After this meeting, the Omaha FBI office dug up a part of the well for testing, but there have not been any further reports on their findings. Two cadaver dogs were later taken to the site to see if they could find anything and while they did pick up some scents, the accuracy is questionable since the land naturally produces similar scents to that of a decaying body.

While Lucy has finally gotten the attention of law enforcement – including the Omaha Police Department, who is concerned there were victims from Omaha – everyone is still hesitant to do a full excavation. Not only does the excavation come with a hefty price tag (an estimated $300,000 and an additional $25,000 to bore the well on the property), but there has been conflicting information in Lucy’s story. One red flag was noted after an interview Lucy did with Newsweek where Lucy stated that she believed her father killed and buried around 50-70 people. If this is true, Donald Dean Studey would be listed as one of the most prolific serial killers in American history, putting him next in line to the “Green River Killer,” Gary Ridgeway, who confessed to 60 murders, but is suspected of at least 70. In contrast, Lucy’s police report stated that she had heard of up to 15 victims, but she personally knew of at least five.

Newsweek later reached out to Lucy’s siblings and spoke to sister, Susan Studey, who denied all of the allegations. Susan stated that her father was a strict man who loved his children but was certainly not a killer. She then went on to tell Newsweek, “I am two years older [than Lucy], I think I would have known if my dad was a serial killer.”

With such a large allegation being made with several discrepancies, it is understandable that law enforcement wants to cover their tracks before making the decision to do a full excavation. After many interviews with Lucy and the people of Thurman, Iowa the FBI has decided to do a polygraph test on Lucy before proceeding. While polygraph tests have come under scrutiny in the past, The American Polygraph Association says they have an 87% accuracy. It is reported that this test was scheduled on December 2nd, 2022. Then a decision will be made to leave this story with Lucy to keep telling or continue the investigation into what is supposedly one of the most prolific serial killers of our time.

As of Tuesday December 6, 2022, authorities with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the FBI have begun collecting samples of dirt to test for human remains on the Studey’s old property in Fremont County, Iowa. According to Newsweek, a source familiar to the investigation said that law enforcement’s plan is to bore the well, as well as excavate a possible shallow grave along the trails.