Woman vanished with no trace in 1989, Iowa cops say. Boyfriend now charged with murder

More than three decades after a 31-year-old woman vanished without a trace, her boyfriend with a violent past has been arrested, authorities said.

Robert Davis, now 61, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Barbara Lenz, whose body has not been found, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced March 11.

Attorney information for Davis was not immediately available.

Davis has not admitted to any role in Lenz’s disappearance, but authorities say his actions before she vanished indicated “a specific intent to harm her and a motive to kill her.”

“This arrest is a milestone in securing justice for Barbara Lenz,” Bird said in a statement. “We are hoping to soon bring peace and answers to Barbara’s loved ones, who have waited 35 long years in the dark.”

The attorney general said Lenz was last seen alive on May 6, 1989. At the time, Davis told authorities he dropped off Lenz at her Woodbine apartment that day, and she was supposed to travel to Omaha, Nebraska, to see her ex-boyfriend, the father of her child.

Lenz’s family members contacted police on May 17, telling officers they had not spoken to her in two weeks. When officers and family went to Lenz’s home that day, they discovered many of her belongings, as well as pets that had not been cared for, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Investigators learned Lenz had told multiple people “she was in fear” of Davis and was “trying to get away from him,” authorities said. According to witness testimony, Davis made threats he would kill Lenz if she tried to break off their relationship.

Davis was also known to have assaulted his girlfriend multiple times during their two-year relationship, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities said he admitted “to having a violent temper when things went wrong with Lenz.”

These violent outbursts included Davis “choking her down” until she was unconscious in 1988, and doing this again on another occasion after they got into a fight at a bar, court records show.

Leading up to Lenz’s disappearance, witnesses saw her and Davis arguing at his home on May 6, investigators said. The “heated” argument involved Lenz going to visit her daughter, which Davis did not like because of the involvement with her ex-boyfriend.

That same day, a witness visited Davis and Lenz at Davis’ apartment, court records said.

“During this visit, the witness observed Davis injure Barbara Lenz by slashing her with a sharp instrument across the face, causing a considerable amount of bleeding, soaking Lenz’s shirt,” according to the complaint.

That was the last time Lenz was seen alive.

A witness would later tell investigators that Davis and his brother had buried something “wrapped in plastic” near Davis’ home, authorities said. Multiple attempts have been made to recover remains, but nothing has turned up.

Davis eventually stopped cooperating in the police investigation, authorities said. One month after Lenz went missing, he stopped asking officers about the case.

He was further tied to Lenz’s disappearance in comments he made to two people he was in arguments with, telling them “they will end up like Barbara,” investigators said.

“For these reasons and more, investigators have probable cause to believe Robert Allen Davis did, with malice aforethought, willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation, kill Barbara Lealyn Lenz in an unknown manner on or about May 16, 1989, in or near Woodbine in Harrison County, Iowa,” according to the complaint. “He then disposed of her body in an unknown location and manner and for this reason, Lenz has not been seen or heard from since that time.”

Davis was arrested March 10, according to the attorney general.

Lenz’s daughter, Lindsy Baumgart, who was 3 when her mom vanished, told KCCI she had waited her whole life for the arrest.

“It’s very surreal,” she told KCCI. “I am grateful for the DCI and the Cold Case Investigation unit. I never thought this day would come.”

Woodbine is in western Iowa and is about a 40-mile drive northeast from Omaha.

This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Woman vanished with no trace in 1989, Iowa cops say. Boyfriend now charged with murder."