Arrest turns cold case hot in grisly 1985 slaying

VIROQUA, Wis.  – For 40 years the murder of a LaCrosse woman has mystified people in LaCrosse and adjoining Vernon County. Now it’s been solved, said Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson. The sheriff announced the arrest of Michael Raymond Popp, age 60, of Tomah. Popp was a friend of the victim, Terry Dolowy, whose body was found in a culvert in February 1985 on Mohawk Valley Road 10 miles south of LaCrosse in northern Vernon County. She had been burned and decapitated. The break in the case, Torgerson said, was a DNA sample from the autopsy that recently was matched a sample from Popp. He was arrested while being held jail in Sparta on unrelated charges of stalking and threatening to communicate derogatory information. He was being held in Sparta in lieu of $10,000 bail. He was expected to be transferred soon to Vernon County’s jurisdiction for first-degree murder.

Dolowy profile

Dolowy, a senior at UW-La Crosse, lived out of town in the Barre Mill area with her fiance. She was a native of River Forest, Illinois. She and her fiance and Popp and his girlfriend partnered occasionally in pool tournaments. Popp and Dolowy lived near each other.He was among prime suspects off and on but denied anything to do with the death. He said there was nothing intimate about his relationship with Dolowy.  When confronted a new DNA match in recent months, invesgators said, Popp admitted to “maybe a little affair” for six to eight months. He was 21 at the time, she 24.