(WOWT) – Stabbed at least a dozen times, the body of 17-year-old Mary Kay Heese was discovered along a country road in 1969.
In an update to an exclusive First Alert 6 investigation, the detective who helped solve the decades-long cold case is speaking out.
“It’s been a dark cloud over Wahoo for a long time. There’s a lot of people who remember that,” Saunders County Attorney Investigator Ted Green said.
For nine years, Detective Green has learned much about the victim’s life and how it came to an end.
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“She fought some, there was a struggle,” Green said.
The suspect, Joseph Ambroz, was 22 years old in 1969 and paroled from prison for about six months when he came to live with his mom in Wahoo.
Joseph Ambroz(Kay County Sheriff’s Office)
“I still don’t understand how she got in the car because that wasn’t Mary Kay’s personality,” Kathy Tull, the victim’s cousin, said in an interview.
Detective Green believes a party grove was the destination.
“And she’s just thinking its ok a couple of guys I know from the restaurant and we’re going out for a ride,” Green said.
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Green reveals that Mary Kay likely got in the car with the suspect and another young man who was with them.
“He committed suicide in 77 so if he wasn’t an active participant or just didn’t realize what was going to happened all of a sudden it just happened,” Green said.
A tip line set up by the victim’s cousin led to a lake west of Wahoo where the suspect’s car may have been dumped in 1969 where dive teams found a large metal object.
“It’s everybody’s hope the golden nugget you hope had been there. But there’s evidence I can’t discuss that there’s something there,” Green said.
Evidence that remains in the lake because Green got estimates of up to $400 to pull it from the muddy, murky water.
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But Green said he has plenty more evidence, including an autopsy after exhuming the body of the victim with a forensic pathologist from the Offutt Military Identification Lab adding expertise.
“There’s DNA available, its just I’ve got to go off of we have available to us,” Green said.
Though forensics will play a part in this case, it appears solved the old-fashioned way.
“This is a case that didn’t have anything glaring but had small pieces along the way. This is all gum shoe, all gum shoe work,” Green said.
Green would not respond when asked if he has found a murder weapon.
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The 1969 murder of a small town high school Junior led to hundreds of interviews and tips over 55 years, and the investigation narrowed from ten suspects to one.
“Well been able to exclude everybody mentioned as a suspect way back when except for this guy,” Green said.
Even though the suspect is in custody, the case is not closed.
If you have information on the murder of Mary Kay Hesse, call the Saunders County Attorney’s Office at 402-443-5613.
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Severe thunderstorms in southeast Nebraska Saturday evening
Showers and storms this evening
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TOMORROW. LUKE IS BACK WITH US NOW. LUKE. IT’S WARM OUT, BUT IT’S NOT WARM. REALLY ENJOY WITH HOW HUMID IT IS. I KNOW WE HAVEN’T REALLY HAD A TASTE OF THAT HUMIDITY YET THIS YEAR. IT KIND OF REMINDS YOU OF WHAT YOU DIDN’T LIKE LAST SUMMER. YOU KNOW WHEN IT GETS SUPER HUMID OUTSIDE, IT’S NOT SUPER HUMID TODAY, BUT YOU CAN FEEL IT MORE THAN YOU DO THESE PAST FEW DAYS. THE PAST FEW WEEKS, THAT’S FOR SURE. AND OF COURSE, WITH THE HUMIDITY COMES THE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. AND WE HAVE A SLIGHT RISK THAT WOULD BE A TWO OUT OF FIVE FROM THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER, MOSTLY FOR FAR SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA. IT GOES ALL THE WAY UP TO THE I-80 CORRIDOR. IT DOES NOT REALLY INCLUDE WESTERN IOWA OR MUCH OF ANY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI. THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK THAT EXPANDS OVER THAT SLIGHT RISK FOR PRETTY MUCH ALL OF OUR AREA. THERE IS A TORNADO WATCH AS WELL UNTIL 11 P.M. THIS INCLUDES YORK COUNTY, SALINE COUNTY, JEFFERSON COUNTY, AND GAGE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA. AND THAT’S WHERE WE SEE ONGOING THUNDERSTORMS RIGHT NOW. OVER THE PAST FEW HOURS, WE’VE SEEN STORMS FORM IN KANSAS, AND THERE’S BEEN A LITTLE MORE UPSCALE GROWTH AS THEY’VE TRIED TO MAKE THEIR WAY INTO NEBRASKA. BUT BECAUSE OF OUR CLOUD COVER, I THINK IT’S LIMITED. SOME OF THE INSTABILITY THAT WE HAVE, AND THEREFORE THE STORMS REALLY HAVEN’T GOTTEN SUPER STRONG. SO HERE’S THE STORM THAT’S MOVING INTO JEFFERSON COUNTY RIGHT NOW NEAR FAIRBURY JUST HAD A NEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED ON IT THAT I BELIEVE GOES TILL 7 P.M., I BELIEVE. AND IT DID HAVE SOME OF THOSE DARKER SHADES IN THERE. THE BLACK THAT WAS INDICATING SOME HAIL CORE, WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN UP TO HALF DOLLAR SIZED HAIL. IT DOESN’T SEEM AS ORGANIZED RIGHT NOW. WE’VE ALSO BEEN WATCHING FOR SPIN INSIDE THE STORM. SO ROTATION AND THAT’S ALSO BEEN VERY, VERY BROAD. SO WE HAVEN’T SEEN DEFINED ROTATION THAT WOULD INSIST TO US THAT THERE COULD BE A TORNADO INSIDE THAT THUNDERSTORM. SO THAT’S SOME GOOD NEWS THERE. AND THERE IS SOME LIGHT SHOWERS THAT ARE EXTENDING UP INTO GAGE COUNTY NOW, AND THAT WILL EVENTUALLY GET INTO LANCASTER COUNTY AND AREAS LIKE CASS AND OTOE COUNTY AS WELL. SO THAT WOULD JUST BE LIGHTER RAIN. AND I THINK THE SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL WILL BE LIMITED THE FURTHER IT EXTENDS NORTH UP TOWARDS OMAHA. SO WE’LL WATCH FOR THIS BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS JUST RIGHT BY THE BORDER. ALSO IN WESTERN KANSAS. BUT THOSE LOOK LIKE THEY’RE FIZZLING OUT A LITTLE MORE. THIS COMPUTER MODEL ACTUALLY DOESN’T PICK UP ON THE STORMS THAT ARE CURRENTLY ENTERING INTO SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA, BUT THOSE STORMS IN WESTERN KANSAS COULD BE HERE DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS, AND THEY WOULDN’T BE A SEVERE THREAT LIKE BY THAT POINT. AND THEY WOULD SKIRT OFF VERY QUICKLY. SO THAT’S OUR OVERNIGHT CHANCE. NOW WE ZIP THROUGH SUNDAY. IT LOOKS MORE LIKE MISSOURI THAN IT DOES US. AND WE COULD ACTUALLY HAVE CLEARING IN THE SKIES LATER ON SUNDAY. AND THAT MAY LEAD TO A STORM NORTH OF US. THAT’S ALL COMPUTER MODELS ARE REALLY SHOWING FOR US INTO MONDAY. WE’LL ACTUALLY HAVE TO WATCH LATE IN THE EVENING FOR STORMS THAT WILL LIKELY FIRE TO OUR NORTH, BUT THAT LOOKS LIKE MORE OF A MESS FOR MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES UP INTO GREEN BAY THAN US. SO FOR TOMORROW IT’S A MARGINAL RISK. ANOTHER ONE OUT OF FIVE FOR A STRONG TO SEVERE STORM. AND THEN MONDAY NIGHT WE’RE UNDER ANOTHER RISK WITH THE FAVORABLE INGREDIENTS ARE SHIFTING EAST AND NORTH OF US. SO WE REALLY MIGHT NOT GET MUCH THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS. TONIGHT MIGHT BE OUR BEST CHANCE. THERE’S A LIVE LOOK OUTSIDE. WE GOT SOME CLOUDS OUT THERE, 67 DEGREES, A SOUTH WIND AT 14MPH, AND YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE WARMTH IS TO OUR WEST AND TO OUR SOUTH. OMAHA STILL AT 67, LINCOLN AT 73. SO THERE IS STILL SOME INSTABILITY OVER THERE. I’M GOING TO GO IMPACTS 9 P.M. AND ONWARD FOR THOSE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NEAR GAGE COUNTY AND NEAR JEFFERSON COUNTY RIGHT NOW. IF THEY CAN MAKE IT UP HERE BY NINE, TEN, 11:00, MAYBE WE’LL HAVE SOME SHOWERS OR RUMBLES OF THUNDER BY THAT TIME. SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WE ARE GOING IMPACT WEATHER BECAUSE THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK FOR STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. BUT COMPUTER MODELS JUST AREN’T SHOWING MUCH. SO IF A STORM FORMS, IT MIGHT BE STRONG, BUT IT’S JUST UNLIKELY THAT ONE WILL FORM. SO I WOULD MAYBE HAVE THE UMBRELLA WITH YOU SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY. HAVE A WAY TO RECEIVE ALERTS, BUT IT’S UNLIKELY YOU’LL NEED TO SEE THOSE ALERTS OR NEED THAT UMBRELLA, BUT IT WILL BE WARMER AND WILL BE MORE HUMID, THAT’S FOR SURE. IMPORTANT REMINDER THAT NO SEVERE WEATHER IS ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY DURING THIS TIME OF YEAR. SO GOOD TIME TO REMAIN
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Severe thunderstorms in southeast Nebraska Saturday evening
Showers and storms this evening
Updated: 7:42 PM CDT Apr 11, 2026
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Omaha’s Weather Leader is tracking showers and thunderstorms this evening. Meteorologist Luke Vickery has the latest in the forecast you trust.With a combined 50 years covering weather in Nebraska and Iowa, KETV NewsWatch 7 is Omaha’s Weather Leader. Led by Omaha’s Chief Meteorologist Bill Randby, the award-winning team of Sean Everson, Caitlin Harvey and Luke Vickery are focused on alerting you to upcoming severe weather and KETV’s exclusive live radar gives you a 3-minute advantage when storms strike.
Omaha’s Weather Leader is tracking showers and thunderstorms this evening. Meteorologist Luke Vickery has the latest in the forecast you trust.
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With a combined 50 years covering weather in Nebraska and Iowa, KETV NewsWatch 7 is Omaha’s Weather Leader. Led by Omaha’s Chief Meteorologist Bill Randby, the award-winning team of Sean Everson, Caitlin Harvey and Luke Vickery are focused on alerting you to upcoming severe weather and KETV’s exclusive live radar gives you a 3-minute advantage when storms strike.
Nebraska volleyball will be playing a spring game at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Sanford Pentagon in what will be a homecoming for the Cornhuskers’ All-American setter.
Bergen Reilly, a three-time South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year while at O’Gorman, is a senior on Nebraska’s team. She has become a three-time All-American, three-time Big Ten Setter of the Year, a two-time First Team Academic All-American and the 2025 Big Ten Player of the Year.
Saturday’s spring game will represent her first game in South Dakota donning the red and white, and she isn’t quite sure how she’s going to feel stepping on the Pentagon court again for the first time in years.
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“It kind of feels just like a full-circle moment getting to start off my senior year here,” Reilly said. “It’s the first spring game of my senior year, so it’ll be really cool to get to go home and have so many friends and family at the game and get to play at an arena I’ve played at a lot.”
Tickets for the event were sold out within minutes, meaning some of Reilly’s friends were unable to get them initially. The Sioux Falls native said she took all the extra tickets on the pass list, her parents have a 50-person suite and over 100 people have contacted her saying they’re going.
Nebraska volleyball is one of the biggest brands in the sport, and big crowds tend to follow. Bringing that fanfare to South Dakota is a point of pride for the former O’Gorman star.
“Everywhere we go, it’s always such a great atmosphere and most of the time the crowd’s cheering for us regardless of how far we are from Nebraska,” Reilly said. “It feels like Nebraska fans just spawn out of nowhere, but it’s been really cool to just see. Whether it’s Washington and Oregon or Rutgers, there’s people waiting outside of our bus after the game and getting to see that environment in South Dakota is going to be really special.”
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That pomp and circumstance comes as volleyball has boomed as a spectator sport. The 2025 Nebraska-Texas A&M regional final averaged 1.2 million viewers on TV and peaked at 1.6 million, according to ESPN. Both are NCAA regional records.
That rise has been evident in South Dakota, with Harrisburg’s program rising to a nationally-relevant level after finishing the 2025 season at No. 8 in the AVCA/USA TODAY Super 15 poll.
“I could never imagine that volleyball would be where it is when I started volleyball and even just in middle school, like no one would have ever imagined that we sold out a football stadium and are traveling coast to coast and selling out, so it’s really cool that I could be a little part of that and I’m really happy that it’s it’s definitely getting there in South Dakota too,” Reilly said.
Reilly has become a star both in Sioux Falls and Lincoln due to her success on the court. Lots of young players look up to her, and that has led to some major buzz for her return to the Sioux Empire.
“I don’t even know if I necessarily have to handle it because for me it still feels not real that people are excited to see me or want to take a picture or want my autograph,” Reilly said. “It just feels like I’m still a high school girl that’s playing volleyball just because she loves it, so it’s really awesome that volleyball has given me these opportunities because it really is just me playing the sport that I love with some of my best friends.”
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Adding to the nostalgia of the homecoming is the location. Reilly has won many tournaments, in both volleyball and basketball, on the courts at the Sanford Pentagon. She hasn’t really considered what the emotions will be like on the court early on in the game, even though it doesn’t officially count.
“I don’t know what’s going to be going through my head,” Reilly said. “I don’t know if it really feels real that I’m playing in Sioux Falls so I think that’ll take a second to sink in and I’m sure some memories will come flooding back from playing on the Pentagon floor for club tournaments and for high school volleyball and high school basketball, so I’m sure there’ll be a lot going on in my head.”
Reilly and the Cornhuskers will venture back to South Dakota for a regular-season game at South Dakota State on Wednesday, Sept. 2, in Brookings.
GRAND ISLAND, KEARNEY, Neb. (KSNB) – Signs and pinwheels appeared around parts of Grand Island as part of Wear Blue Day, an effort to bring attention to child abuse prevention.
The Association for Child Abuse Prevention, along with Bikers Against Child Abuse and other volunteers, painted the town blue on Thursday.
In a Facebook post, the group said each pinwheel represents something bigger than all of them — a reminder of the children in the community who deserve safety, support and a voice.
The group said awareness matters, conversations matter and together they will continue to stand up for children and families impacted by abuse and neglect.
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In Kearney, Mayor Jonathan Nikkila read a proclamation honoring the Family Advocacy Network (FAN) for Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Nikkila said FAN is the type of organization that is on the front lines in Kearney that most of us don’t see as much or don’t like to think can happen here.
He said FAN serves adults and children who suffer all kinds of abuse, advocating for and supporting abuse victims as they go through the law enforcement process.
Nikkila said they have an amazing heart for the people who need it the most.
Click HERE for information on child abuse and how to spot abuse or neglect by Nebraska DHHS.
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