A woman has been charged with the murder of Ashley Okland in a case spanning 15 years
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Authorities in Iowa have announced an arrest in the slaying of grocer Ashley Okland nearly 15 years after her death.
On Wednesday, officials revealed that 53-year-old Kristin Elizabeth Ramsey, of Woodward, is charged with first degree murder stemming from Oakland’s death.
“Ashley’s story has kept many of us up at night, replaying the details over and over in our minds,” West Des Moines Assistant Police Chief Jody Hayes said at a press conference. “The search for that missing piece will bring everything together and lead us to the right path to identify the person who committed this act.”
On April 8, 2011, the body of Ashley Okland, 27, was found on a model property where authorities say she had an open house. He had been shot twice.
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Ashley Okland was found inside a model city where authorities say she was having an event in West Des Moines, Iowa on April 8, 2011. (Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa)
An employee working in this complex heard a commotion in a town house and went to investigate the cause of the noise, in accordance with Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa. Upon entering the building, an employee found Okland on the ground and called 911.
At the time of Okland’s death, Ramsey worked as an administrative assistant and sales manager for Rottlund Homes, which was the developer of the city where Okland was killed. in accordance with The Des Moines Register.
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Kristin Elizabeth Ramsey, 53, was arrested and charged with murder in West Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Dallas County Jail)
The case went unsolved for almost 15 years.
The case has outraged the Iowa public, authorities revealed on the four-year anniversary of Oakland’s death that they have investigated nearly 900 leads and interviewed about 500 people, the newspaper reported.
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Ashley Okland’s grave site at Fjeldberg Cemetery near Huxley, Iowa on Thursday, April 8, 2021. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
Officials did not provide details on what information led to Ramsey’s arrest.
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At a press conference on Thursday, Oakland’s brother, Josh, thanked investigators for their tireless efforts in this case.
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“Today is a day my family has thought about many times over the past 14 years,” Josh Okland said.
Ashley Okland’s siblings Josh Okland and Brittany Bruce speak after the arrest of Kristin Ramsey in the 2011 shooting death of her sister at the West Des Moines Police Department on March 18, 2026. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Ramsey’s arrest follows an indictment by a Dallas County grand jury. He is currently being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $2 million cash bond.
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“That Friday afternoon when Ashley was taken from us seems so long ago,” Oakland’s sister, Brittany Bruce, told reporters Thursday. “We had lost all hope of getting answers and justice for Ashley. It was really hard to accept that the case had gone cold.”
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He went on to say that he is grateful to the investigators and prosecutors who handled his sister’s case.
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“We have full confidence in their ability to see all this,” he added.
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The West Des Moines Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
