Over the a long time, a Fargo-Moorhead bridge has been tied to crime and unsolved instances

FARGO — Alderman John A. Johnson couldn’t have imagined that killers would at some point stalk the Northern Pacific Avenue bridge when he proposed the straightforward railroad crossing spanning the Red River be studied for a bigger one in 1889.

Together, with different aldermen, now referred to as metropolis commissioners, they put aside $3,000, the equal of about $98,000 at this time, to start the method, in keeping with the Fargo Daily Argus. Over time, the bridge reworked, turning into stronger, taller and wider.

Since the Nineteen Thirties, when wooden and iron was changed with metal and cement, quite a few crimes and murders have occurred beneath NP Avenue bridge. Some of the victims escaped with out their wallets, some dragged themselves onto the muddy banks, nonetheless clinging to life, whereas others have been discovered useless, their our bodies snagged on tree trunks or floating within the Red River.

Among these most heinous crimes there are various instances which have by no means been solved.

Robbery was believed to be the motive when Roy Larsen, a homeless man, was crushed practically to loss of life on the Moorhead financial institution of the Red River, a couple of block northeast of the Fourth Avenue foot bridge, close to NP Avenue bridge, on Aug. 24, 1935.

He managed to crawl to the financial institution and was half submerged in water when he was discovered, nonetheless respiration. Authorities hurried him to a hospital, the place he later died.

Investigators found that one other transient, Robert A. Birk, was with Larsen earlier than the homicide, and a nationwide hunt started.

“G-men entered the case and the manhunt has not stopped,” the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported in 1939,

which was the last newspaper report

Forum News Service discovered concerning the homicide.

The space below NP Avenue bridge has regularly been a house for the destitute over the a long time.

In February 1968, David Urbach, a 71-year-old,

was found by an employee of Fargo Foundry Steel & Manufacturing underneath the bridge

and was affected by extreme frostbite.

A 12 months later, 4 youths robbed 64-year-old Robert Levi at knifepoint whereas below the NP Avenue bridge.

“Give me your wallet or I’ll cut your throat,” Levi stated one of many youths threatened. Levi complied, giving them his pockets that had three $20 payments inside.

Another man was additionally attacked by youths across the similar time interval, however he refused to offer in to their calls for. They beat him, kicked him, then threw him into the river. Unable to swim, he feared he would drown, however one of many youths really rescued him.

Another man stated that after receiving a authorities test throughout the identical summer season he was sitting on a loading dock alongside the river when three boys got here up and demanded cash.

“Since he was no match for them, he gave them the money,” the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported.

Newspaper reviews provided no indication that the youths have been ever apprehended.

On August 3, 1972, a reporter from the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead was strolling throughout the NP Avenue bridge when he noticed a physique caught on a tree trunk within the Red River.

Firefighters pulled the physique out, and located his pockets: Walter Dawson, 65, 309 NP Ave., Fargo. He was often known as a transient, or an individual and not using a actual residence, and picked up his mail on the nearest publish workplace.

An post-mortem revealed Dawson didn’t drown. He had been strangled,

a coroner’s report indicated,

and

his body had been put into the water only a few hours

earlier than he was discovered.

Quickly, police recognized a suspect, who was interrogated a number of instances and failed a polygraph examination, however was by no means arrested, in keeping with the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.

He wasn’t robbed, his pockets was nonetheless with him, however the river left little bodily proof for investigators to construct a case and it stays unsolved to current day, in keeping with the Fargo Police Department.

In 1974, a

16-year-old girl walking across NP Avenue bridge late at night was abducted

by two males. They approached her and requested for the time.

She answered, after which they grabbed her, pressured her right into a automotive, the woman advised police. They drove her to a distant location close to the American Crystal Sugar refinery in Moorhead, and there they raped her at knifepoint, in keeping with the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.

When they completed, one of many males stated they need to kill her, the second man disagreed, and so they started to struggle. They later drove her again to Moorhead and let her out close to a restaurant.

On September 24, 1988, a person walked as much as

James Parizek who was living under the NP Avenue bridge,

and shot him within the head.

“A jogger in the area heard gunshots and saw a man carrying a handgun,” in keeping with the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.

Investigators identified a suspect

shortly after the homicide however couldn’t construct a robust sufficient case to file prices. In 1999, police additionally despatched a few of Parizek’s belongings to be examined for DNA proof, hoping the outcomes would hyperlink the suspect to the crime.

Two males have been arrested in the course of the preliminary investigation, in keeping with the newspaper.

The case was reviewed by the Cass County State’s Attorney’s workplace, and whereas they agreed possible trigger was established for a felony cost, they didn’t really feel there was proof past an affordable doubt.

Parizek, 61, was born in 1927 and was from Center Point, Iowa,

according to the Dickinson Press.

He was a farm laborer who moved to Fargo a couple of years earlier than his homicide,

according to his obituary.

Fargo Police Sgt. Marvin Huckle stated that Parizek had misplaced contact together with his family members and was dwelling below the downtown railroad bridge the place his physique was discovered, The Forum newspaper reported.

The unsolved instances of Parizek and Dawson are nonetheless actively being investigated, in keeping with Jean Syverson, information workplace supervisor for the Fargo Police Department.

“Although the investigations are longstanding, they remain open, and release of the requested materials could compromise the integrity of the investigations and the ability to pursue future leads or prosecution,” Syverson advised Forum News Service.

Luis Rivera, a 34-year-old drifter, pleaded responsible to stabbing and raping a Moorhead girl in June 1989 and was sentenced to 30 years in jail after abducting her as she was strolling by the NP Avenue bridge.

He forced her to the Fargo side

the place he stabbed her quite a few instances and raped her.

Rivera was “one of the most dangerous people that has come through this area,” stated Keith Reisenauer, a prosecuting lawyer on the time, including that the plea settlement saved the sufferer from having to testify at court docket.

During his arraignment, he arrived barefoot together with his socks sure round his head as a blindfold. “Rivera apparently put the blindfold on himself and did not remove it throughout the hearing,” the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported.

“Anytime you’re dealing with Mr. Rivera, and the way he behaved, there’s a chance the jury may find him not guilty by reason of insanity,” Reisenauer stated. “From day one he admitted responsibility. His comments are (that) he didn’t know why he did it.”

Two weeks earlier than the incident,

Rivera walked away from the state hospital

in Wilmar, Minn., the place he was present process drug and alcohol remedy. At the time, he stayed on the New Life Center in Fargo.

A number of months after he was stabbed on NP Avenue bridge in July 1997, Ambrose Joel Whiteman, was arrested for housebreaking, and later charged with homicide after

police surrounded and later broke

down a homeless camp alongside the Red River between NP Avenue bridge and Island Park, the place the place Donald F. Strassberg, a 53-year-old man, was killed.

They arrested Whiteman, 34 on the time, who was hostile, had blood on his coat and clothes, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported.

He pleaded harmless, however a jury discovered him responsible at trial in 1997.

Earlier that very same 12 months, Whiteman was stabbed thrice on the NP Avenue bridge between Fargo and Moorhead.

An unidentified homeless girl was sexually assaulted in 2024 after Kedrick Romane Baker adopted her from the NP Avenue bridge to her camp alongside the Red River. Police officers discovered Baker on high of the lady, who was mendacity face down on the bottom.

Baker didn’t go down simply. He obtained up and walked aggressively on the officers, who holstered their handguns and swapped to stun weapons.

Baker was stunned at least three times

earlier than officers have been capable of subdue him.

Baker was later discovered responsible

of gross sexual imposition, tried gross sexual imposition, felonious restraint and stopping arrest at trial.