Wisconsin man charged in 1985 killing of college student whose body was decapitated

VIROQUA, Wis. — A western Wisconsin man has been charged in the 1985 killing of a college student whose decapitated body was found days after she vanished, authorities said.

Michael Raymond Popp of Tomah was arrested Monday on one count of first-degree murder in the slaying of 24-year-old Terry Dolowy. He was being held at the Vernon County Jail on $1 million cash bail.

Popp, 60, had not retained an attorney as of Wednesday morning, the Vernon County Clerk's Office said.

Prosecutors said Popp knew Dolowy, a River Forest, Illinois, native who was a senior at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. At the time of her killing, he lived a short distance from where Dolowy lived in La Crosse County with her fiancé, according to a criminal complaint.

Dolowy went missing on Feb. 14, 1985, from her Barre Mills home. Days later, her decapitated and burning body was found in a roadside culvert in Vernon County.

The complaint states that Popp told police in March 1985 that he and his girlfriend went to pool tournaments with Dolowy and her fiancé and they were often pool partners, the La Crosse Tribune reported.

DNA samples taken from Popp in January 2023 matched material found in Dolowy's autopsy, according to the complaint.

While Popp originally said Dolowy was only a causal acquaintance, when authorities presented him in March 2023 with the DNA evidence linking him to Dolowy, he changed his story and said he and Dolowy “maybe had a little affair” for six to eight months, the complaint states.

Popp said he had lied because “it’s a pretty serious case" and he did not "want to be associated with it,” according to the complaint. Popp denied killing Dolowy and told police he is not a violent person, the complaint states.