09/07/1976
Marie “Lisa” Peak was born December 10, 1956, to Dr. Frank and Mary Virginia (Scrivner) Peak.
She was named after her Aunt Ann Marie Scrivner.
Peak, the daughter of Knoxville veterinarian and former city councilman Dr. Frank Peak and Mary Peak, was majoring in journalism at Wartburg College in Waverly, where summer vacation had just ended. Peak returned to the campus on Sunday, September 5.
Friends last saw Peak the next afternoon when Peak said she was going shopping at the Willow Lawn Shopping Center in Waverly. When she didn’t return to her dorm to go on a scheduled date, her friends reported her missing.
She was found murdered a day or two later in Bremer County, Iowa.
Her father enjoyed calling her “Maria” because he had lived in Mexico for some time and, according to Lisa’s sister Meredith, enjoyed using Hispanic derivatives of his children’s names. This term of endearment is reflected in Lisa’s headstone.
In addition to her parents, Lisa was survived by four siblings: Peter (14), Carmen (12), Martin (10), and Meredith (7).
She was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Knoxville, Iowa.
Just two months after Lisa’s death, Carmen, a seventh-grade student, died of head injuries after one of her riding horses fell on her.
In the years that followed, both of Lisa’s parents died without ever knowing who killed their daughter or seeing justice served in her death.
Dr. Frank “Doc” Peak passed away Friday, Nov. 8, 2013, at the West Ridge Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Knoxville.
Lisa’s mother, Mary Peak, died Dec. 8, 2014, in Knoxville at age 85