Ten years. It took a decade for the public to get a truly deep look into the nightmare that unfolded in Evansdale, Iowa. When people search for taken together who killed lyric and elizabeth, they aren't just looking for a name. They’re looking for peace of mind that hasn't come yet. On July 13, 2012, 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins went for a bike ride. They never came home. Their bikes were found near Meyers Lake, but the girls were gone.
The Max documentary Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth? finally cracked open the case files in a way we hadn't seen before. It laid out the investigative missteps, the haunting "what ifs," and the prime suspects that keep investigators up at night. Honestly, it’s a heavy watch. You’ve got a small town paralyzed by fear, a family under the microscope, and a trail that went cold in the deep woods of the Seven Bridges Wildlife Area where their bodies were eventually discovered months later.
The Suspects That Still Haunt the Case
So, who did it? If you're looking for a simple answer, you won't find one. That’s the tragedy. But the investigation, especially as highlighted in recent years, has narrowed its focus on a few key figures.
Michael Klunder is the name that comes up most often. He’s the guy everyone wants to pin it on because, frankly, he fits the profile of a monster. Klunder was a convicted kidnapper who took his own life in 2014 after kidnapping two other girls in Dayton, Iowa. One of those girls escaped; the other did not. Investigators looked hard at Klunder. He had a history of snatching girls in broad daylight. However, the physical evidence connecting him specifically to Evansdale remains frustratingly thin. There’s no DNA link. There’s no "smoking gun" confession.
Then there’s the family. For a long time, the public and even some investigators looked sideways at Lyric’s parents, Dan and Misty Morrissey. They had a history with the law, mostly involving drugs. The documentary doesn't shy away from this. It shows the brutal interrogation Dan underwent. But after years of digging, authorities have essentially moved past them. They were easy targets for a frustrated public, but being a "bad" person doesn't make you a child murderer.
The Seven Bridges Connection
The location where the girls were found is significant. Seven Bridges is remote. It's the kind of place you don't just stumble upon unless you know the area. This suggests a local or someone very familiar with the Iowa backcountry.
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Why does this matter for the question of taken together who killed lyric and elizabeth? Because it points away from a random passing drifter and toward someone with roots in the community. Police have interviewed hundreds of people. They’ve followed thousands of leads. Yet, the person who knew exactly where to hide those bodies has managed to stay in the shadows or took their secrets to the grave.
Why This Case Is Different From Delphi
People often compare Evansdale to the Delphi murders of Abby Williams and Libby German. There are parallels: two young girls, a rural setting, a long-unsolved mystery. But Delphi had the "Bridge Guy" video. Evansdale had almost nothing.
The lack of digital evidence in 2012 made this an old-school boots-on-the-ground investigation. In the documentary, filmmaker Dylan Sires explores the "what could have been" scenarios. He looks at the "invisible" suspects—men who were in the area, men with records, men who seemed just a bit too interested in the case.
There's a specific tension in the footage. You see the pain on Drew Collins' face (Elizabeth’s father). He’s been a rock for the community, pushing for the Amber Alert laws to change. He knows that the person who killed his daughter might still be walking the streets of Iowa. Or, perhaps, they are already behind bars for something else.
The Lingering Questions and Potential DNA
Is DNA the answer? It usually is these days. Genetic genealogy has solved cases forty years old. But the elements are cruel. The girls were left in the woods for five months. Rain, snow, and the natural decomposition process destroy biological evidence.
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Investigators haven't given up, though. They are using newer, more sensitive extraction techniques. They are looking for "touch DNA"—skin cells left on clothing or the bikes. But they are tight-lipped. They have to be. If they ever get a match, they need to ensure the prosecution is airtight.
Basically, the "who" in taken together who killed lyric and elizabeth remains a legal void, but a circumstantial "maybe." Klunder remains the top "dead" suspect, while a handful of unnamed individuals remain on the "living" list.
What the Public Gets Wrong
A lot of people think the case is cold. It’s not. It’s "unresolved." There is a difference. A cold case sits in a file cabinet. An unresolved case has a dedicated team still checking tips.
One big misconception is that the girls were taken by someone they knew. While possible, the sheer brazenness of the abduction at the lake suggests a predator who was hunting. Meyers Lake was a public spot. Taking two children in the middle of the day requires a specific kind of nerve—or a specific kind of luck.
We also have to talk about the "Dayton Kidnapping." When Michael Klunder took those girls in 2014, the MO was terrifyingly similar. He used a ruse. He was fast. If he hadn't killed himself, would he have eventually confessed to Evansdale? Some investigators think so. Others think he was just a convenient scapegoat for a case that felt unsolvable.
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Moving Toward Justice: What You Can Do
The search for the person who killed Lyric and Elizabeth isn't just a true-crime story. It's a real-time effort to find justice for two families that were shattered on a Friday afternoon in July.
If you have information, the Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers is still active. Even a decade later, a small detail—a car seen at the lake, a weird comment made by a coworker, a sudden move out of town—could be the missing piece.
- Watch the Evidence: Re-watch the documentary Taken Together with a critical eye on the timeline.
- Support the Families: Organizations like the Elizabeth Collins Foundation work to keep children safe and provide resources for missing persons.
- Stay Informed: Follow the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) updates. They are the lead agency on this and the most reliable source for factual breaks in the case.
- Report Tips: Use the Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers website or call 1-855-300-TIPS. You can remain anonymous.
The resolution of the question taken together who killed lyric and elizabeth likely lies in the hands of someone who has been holding onto a secret for over ten years. Whether through a DNA breakthrough or a final pang of conscience, the truth is out there, buried somewhere in the Iowa soil or locked in a file the police aren't ready to share yet.
Keep the names of Lyric and Elizabeth alive. In cases like this, silence is the only thing that lets a killer win.