WRIGHT COUNTY, Minn. 鈥� A discovery by a dog in rural Wright County, Minnesota, on an October day in 1993 launched a homicide investigation into the death of 31-year-old Martha Bacon.
Bacon was last seen in the early morning hours of Sept. 27 or Sept. 28, 1993, in North Minneapolis. Three weeks later, her dismembered remains were discovered in rural Wright County, roughly 40 miles from her last known location.
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On Oct. 14, 1993, a man living in Silver Creek Township saw his dog with what appeared to be a human hand and forearm. In the wake of the discovery, the remains were sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Through fingerprint analysis, the BCA identified the victim as Bacon.
The Wright County Sheriff鈥檚 Office launched a search of the area where the remains were discovered, spanning two square miles and several days. The search proved fruitless.
Ten months later, roughly one-and-a-half miles from the initial discovery, another dog retrieved Bacon鈥檚 right foot and lower leg, according to a 1994 article in the Star Tribune. The body parts had remained intact as they were discovered underwater, which slows the decomposition process.
Investigators promptly launched a search near the area where her foot and leg had been discovered.
The searches yielded the discovery of a human head. The remains were identified as Bacon鈥檚 after the Hennepin County Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office obtained dental records and confirmed a positive match.
No arrests or charges related to Bacon鈥檚 case have been filed.
Wright County Sheriff鈥檚 Office investigative files for the June 1974 missing persons case of Belinda Van Lith , obtained by Forum News Service last year, reveal at least one suspect in the Bacon case as of 2009: Timothy Crosby.
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The files also indicate Crosby is the sole suspect in the Van Lith case, as well as a suspect in the murder of Victoria Marie Morris, whose remains were discovered in Wright County in October 1994.
In a January 2024 interview with Forum News Service, Crosby denied he had anything to do with Van Lith鈥檚 disappearance and said he wasn鈥檛 a violent person in the 1980s or 1990s.
However, Crosby has a , including of at least three women who escaped from him throughout the 1970s and 1980s, as detailed in a recent investigation series by Forum News Service that focused on his potential role in the Van Lith disappearance. His family owned a cabin near where Van Lith was last seen and the location where Bacon鈥檚 remains were discovered.
The state successfully argued to a judge in 2013 that Crosby was a sexually dangerous person 鈥� he was involuntarily civilly committed to the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Treatment Program in Minnesota, where he remains.
Crosby hasn't been charged or convicted in the Van Lith, Bacon or Morris cases, and remains innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
A problem on their hands
After Bacon鈥檚 body parts were discovered in Silver Creek Township, roughly 100 residents gathered on Aug. 31, 1994 with Sheriff Don Hozempa. Among other concerns, they were there to hear more about Bacon鈥檚 case 鈥� and quell fear that had emerged from the incident.
During that gathering, a few key details of the case were revealed to residents.
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Bacon was a sex worker in the Minneapolis area, according to the Wright County Sheriff鈥檚 Office. Investigators believe a customer likely traveled to Wright County to dispose of her dismembered remains.
Hozempa theorized that the person responsible could be familiar with the area as it appeared her remains were scattered throughout swampy areas alongside a rural Wright County route.
In a 1994 Star Tribune article, Hozempa indicated the person responsible was 鈥減robably鈥� a former resident, hunter or traveler familiar with the area west of Monticello.
Hozempa assured the crowd the truth behind the deadly assault would come to light 鈥� at some point.
鈥淚 think someday we鈥檙e going to find out who did this,鈥� Hozempa said at the gathering, according to Star Tribune coverage.
Honing in on Crosby
During a cold case review of the Van Lith missing persons case, potential evidence related to Bacon鈥檚 case came to light.
On June 15, 2009, investigators with the Wright County Sheriff鈥檚 Office and the FBI searched the former Crosby cabin and nearby shed, according to the investigative file related to the Van Lith missing persons case.
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During the search, investigators obtained a sickle, a green metal angle iron and a piece of wood with screws. All three items had been left behind by the Crosby鈥檚 at was was then their cabin on Eagle Lake in Wright County.
The could-be weapons were sent to the BCA for analysis, where the presence of blood was detected.
The discovery prompted the Wright County Sheriff鈥檚 Office to obtain saliva samples from Bacon鈥檚 parents, in the hopes of creating a DNA profile for Bacon that could be cross-referenced with any possible DNA obtained from the items discovered in the shed.
After a month of waiting, BCA forensic scientist Joe Cooksley determined no DNA could be obtained from the blood samples.
In a recent interview with Forum News Service, Cooksley said the samples were simply too small 鈥� and any DNA technology advancements the BCA has made since then would not specifically help in this case.
In 2013, investigators with the Wright County Sheriff鈥檚 Office and the FBI returned to the former Crosby cabin with cadaver dogs trained to detect evidence of human remains.
They were there to search for any possible clues that could relate to Bacon鈥檚 case, in addition to the missing persons case of Van Lith and the murder and dismemberment of Victoria Marie Morris, whose remains were discovered in Wright County in October 1994.
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Investigators seemed to get close to answers. One cadaver dog alerted the team to an area on the southwest corner of the cabin 鈥� both on the inside and outside of the building.
A dirt sample from the outside corner was dug up by the FBI. That sample was placed in a location in the yard, away from the home.
The dog that initially alerted the team was taken away 鈥� and a new dog was brought in. The new dog quickly honed in on the dirt sample, placed away from the home.
Yet a thorough dig at the southwest corner of the former Crosby cabin months later did not reveal any evidence related to three cases of missing and murdered women in Wright County.
Investigators didn鈥檛 stop there, though.
In 2009, investigators executed a search warrant at Crosby鈥檚 St. Paul home related to the missing persons case of Van Lith and the deaths of Morris and Bacon.
During that search, investigators discovered a hacksaw blade locked in the back of Crosby's vehicle.
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鈥淭his made officers suspicious as to what this hacksaw blade was used for, as it was with pornography and other odd objects, and locked in the trunk so nobody could easily access it,鈥� Wright County Sheriff鈥檚 Department investigator Mike Lindquist wrote in the report, part of the Van Lith investigative file.
Investigators believe a saw was used in Bacon鈥檚 dismemberment, according to the report filed by Lindquist.
The saw was collected as evidence in Bacon鈥檚 case.
Bacon鈥檚 case remains an ongoing investigation. Information related to the investigation is not public and the contents of the investigative file remain sealed by a judge.
If you have any information related to this case, contact Lt. Mike Lindquist at the Wright County Sheriff鈥檚 Office at 763-682-3900 or 800-362-3667.
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