A Keokuk man who died Wednesday in a head-on crash with a semi was one of several people touched by tragedy 13 years ago in Keokuk.

Terry Bell, 48, died while driving his car in the oncoming lane below the crest of a hill on the U.S. Highway 61 Bypass in Keokuk. A Freightliner tractor-trailer that topped the crest in the opposite direction struck the 1992 Chevy Camaro despite the truck driver's attempts to miss the car.

Bell died at the scene.

Thirteen years ago, Bell lost his fiancee, Theresa Lund of Keokuk, to murder, and for a time, his young child was in the possession of the murderer.

Kimmi Lynn Hardy, 36, of Keokuk was charged Sept. 27, 1996, with luring the 34-year-old Lund to her home, shooting her in the head, then stealing her six-week-old baby boy and passing him off as her own.

Hardy had pretended to be pregnant in the months leading to the murder and abduction, according to Keokuk police. She wore maternity clothes for five months before the killing.

Hardy's husband, Robert, told prosecutors that his wife killed Lund and hid her body in a crawl space in their home.

Lund's body was found later in a remote field in Alexandria, Mo., near a railroad crossing. She had been shot twice in the head.

Lund's mother had reported that her daughter and grandson were missing on Aug. 28, 1996, the same day that Hardy told friends and family she had given birth to a son.

Lund's car was found in the County Market parking lot in Keokuk that same day. Her wallet was in the car and police said there was no sign of struggle or any kind of violence, according to a story in the Daily Gate City.

The matter was handled by authorities as a missing person case.

“After the first week's investigation, we felt we were looking for more than missing persons,” said George Morgan, then Keokuk chief of police, the Daily Gate City reported. “Lund had other minor children, so it was a mystery why she would abandon them.”

The case broke with an anonymous tip.

The child was found Sept. 18, 1996, with Hardy in a mobile home at Skyview Trailer Court on Airport Road.

Since then, the child has been raised by his mother's relatives.

Hardy was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child stealing and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at the women's prison in Mitchellville.

She appealed her conviction in 1998 and again in 2001. Both appeals were denied.

Assistant Lee County Bruce McDonald prosecuted the case for the state.

A full obituary for Mr. Bell appears on Page 2.