When an elderly Iowa man is found deceased in the ashes of a suspicious house fire,

investigators determine not only that he was murdered, but that his wife is nowhere to be found.

Investigators attempt to piece together who may have been responsible for the murder of one unlikely victim and the disappearance of another in this episode of Last Seen Alive.

Music of another in this episode of Last Seen Alive. Thanks for listening to Last Seen Alive.

I'm your host, Leah, crime analyst by day and true crime storyteller by night.

And as always, I'm your co-host, Scott.

James Wood and Kay Dina Wood, who went by Bill and Kay, respectively, were last seen alive on July 30th, 2011. They were 79 and 72 years old

at the time and lived in northern Warren County, Iowa. Warren County is a mostly rural place located just a

short distance south of Des Moines. Kay and Bill lived there together in an area of the county known as Norwalk and

were a married couple. The marriage was a new chance at love for both of them, as they'd both lost

their previous spouses. Bill's first wife, Marilyn, had died of cancer, and Kay had also been widowed.

By summer of 2011, Kay, a retired retail worker, and Bill, a retired iron

worker who had gone on to continue working for a wholesale florist, despite being on the cusp of

turning 80, had been married for three years. However, they'd known each other for much longer.

Kay's longtime best friend was Bill's sister.

So when they married each other,

it was a blending of two families

who'd already long been entwined by friendship.

The fact that they've been close to each other

and in each other's orbit for so long,

that's kind of sweet.

Yeah, it is.

...