Rhonda Anette Knutson, 22, was bludgeoned to death in the early morning hours of Labor Day, September 7, 1992, while working the overnight shift at the Phillips 66 convenience store and truck stop in Williamstown, Iowa. The store owner arrived just before 5 a.m. to relieve her and found her in a back room; an autopsy confirmed death from severe head injuries caused by a blunt object. There were no signs of sexual assault and no money missing, so robbery was ruled out.

Investigators established Rhonda was alive until at least 3 a.m. and completed 63 sales; they identified 32 customers but 31 transactions remain unidentified. Witnesses described two heavy-set white men, aged about 35 to 45, in the store that morning. One man, thought to be a trucker, had dark hair, a beard, and was seen with a semi-truck with a white or silver trailer. No murder weapon was recovered and there were no surveillance cameras; hundreds of interviews and more than 300 leads were pursued but the trail went cold.

The case has been revisited over the years. Clark Perry Baldwin, a long-haul trucker from Nashua, Iowa, was questioned after his 2020 arrest in connection with other 1990s murders, but no definitive link to Rhonda’s case was established before his 2022 death. No arrests or convictions have been announced; the case remains an active cold case. Does anyone remember those morning customers or have information about the unidentified 31 transactions?