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Who Was Laura Simonson & What Happened to Her? 2026 Update & Profile

by · October 14, 2026

Laura Simonson was a 37-year-old mother of seven from Farmington, Minnesota, whose disappearance in November 2013 became part of one of Wisconsin’s most disturbing murder investigations. After arranging to meet former police officer Steven Zelich at a hotel in Rochester, Minnesota, Simonson vanished. Her family reported her missing, but the truth about her death would not emerge until seven months later.

In June 2014, authorities discovered Simonson’s remains inside a suitcase abandoned beside a rural Wisconsin road. Another suitcase contained the body of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez, an Oregon woman who had died during a separate encounter with Zelich in 2012.

Zelich admitted causing both women’s deaths through strangulation but maintained that they had occurred accidentally during consensual sexual encounters. Prosecutors pursued homicide charges, and he eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for Simonson’s death, receiving a 25-year prison sentence in Minnesota.

Simonson’s story is examined in ABC’s 20/20 episode “The Suitcase Murders,” airing Friday, October 16, 2026, at 9/8c. The investigation explores her final days, the evidence connecting her disappearance to Zelich, the discovery of her remains and the criminal proceedings that followed.

Who Was Laura Simonson?

Laura Simonson was 37 years old when she died in November 2013. She lived in Farmington, Minnesota, a community south of Minneapolis, and was the mother of seven children. Her family relationships became a central part of the public account of her disappearance and the subsequent murder investigation.

Simonson had experienced personal difficulties before her death, including mental health challenges described by relatives in reporting on the case. Those circumstances formed part of her background, but they did not explain the actions of the man who caused her death.

By late 2013, Simonson had established an online connection with Steven Michael Zelich, a former police officer living in West Allis, Wisconsin. Zelich was in his early 50s and had worked in private security after leaving law enforcement more than a decade earlier.

The two arranged to meet in Rochester, Minnesota. What happened during that encounter became the subject of a missing-person investigation, a homicide prosecution and years of criminal proceedings.

Laura Simonson’s Life in Minnesota and Her Seven Children

Simonson’s identity as a mother was an important part of the impact her death had on her family. She had seven children, whose lives were affected by her disappearance and the eventual confirmation that she had been killed.

Public reporting described Simonson as someone who had experienced difficulties in her personal life. Relatives discussed her struggles while attempting to explain the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the uncertainty they faced when contact with her stopped.

The available accounts provide fewer details about Simonson’s childhood, education and employment than about the criminal investigation. Her life became the subject of national attention primarily after the discovery of her remains in June 2014.

For her family, however, Simonson was more than the victim identified in the suitcase. She was a mother and relative whose absence raised concerns long before investigators established what had happened at the Rochester hotel.

How Did Laura Simonson Meet Steven Zelich?

Simonson and Zelich established contact through the internet. Investigators later discovered that Zelich participated in online communities associated with bondage, domination and submission, where he communicated with women interested in meeting partners.

Zelich had previously served with the West Allis Police Department in Wisconsin from 1989 until 2001. He resigned following an internal investigation involving allegations about his interactions with women and subsequently worked in private security.

By November 2013, Simonson and Zelich had arranged to meet at a hotel in Rochester, approximately 80 miles southeast of Minneapolis. Their online communications became important to investigators attempting to reconstruct Simonson’s disappearance.

The meeting was not the first time Zelich had arranged an encounter with a woman he met online. In August 2012, he had met Jenny Gamez at a hotel in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. Gamez died during that encounter, and Zelich concealed her body rather than reporting the death.

Simonson had no known connection to Gamez. Investigators established the relationship between the two cases only after discovering their bodies and examining Zelich’s involvement with both women.

What Happened to Laura Simonson at the Rochester Hotel?

On November 2, 2013, Simonson checked into the Microtel Inn & Suites in Rochester, Minnesota, using her own name. She had arranged to meet Zelich, who travelled from Wisconsin.

Hotel employees later remembered Simonson because someone had smoked in her room in violation of hotel rules. This detail became significant when investigators circulated information about her disappearance and employees recognized her.

Security footage showed a man later identified as Zelich leaving the hotel alone the following morning. Investigators found no corresponding footage showing Simonson leaving the property. This discrepancy became one of the most important clues in the missing-person investigation.

According to Zelich’s subsequent statements, the pair engaged in sexual activity involving restraints and a rope around Simonson’s neck. Zelich admitted that he strangled her but claimed that her death had been accidental.

The precise sequence of events inside the room could not be independently reconstructed in full. Zelich’s account became central to the criminal proceedings because the decomposition of Simonson’s remains limited what forensic examinations could establish.

Rather than contacting emergency services, Zelich placed Simonson’s body inside a suitcase and removed it from the hotel. He transported her remains across state lines to Wisconsin, where he concealed them.

Why Did Steven Zelich Conceal Laura Simonson’s Body?

After Simonson died, Zelich made no attempt to report the incident to hotel employees or law enforcement. Instead, he transported her body from Rochester to his home in West Allis, Wisconsin.

Zelich already had the remains of Jenny Gamez concealed at his residence. Gamez had died more than a year earlier, and her death had remained undiscovered.

Investigators established that Zelich retained possession of the women’s remains, keeping them at his residence and later in his vehicle. He eventually abandoned both suitcases beside a rural Wisconsin road.

Zelich’s decision to conceal Simonson’s body became significant evidence in the criminal proceedings. His defense maintained that the deaths had been accidental, but prosecutors argued that his actions afterward demonstrated an effort to prevent authorities from discovering what had happened.

During an early court hearing, a Wisconsin judge questioned why Zelich had not contacted emergency services if the deaths had been accidents. The judge considered the concealment relevant to whether Zelich knew that a crime had occurred.

The concealment also prolonged the uncertainty faced by Simonson’s family, who had no confirmation of her death for approximately seven months.

When Was Laura Simonson Reported Missing?

Simonson’s family reported her missing on November 22, 2013, approximately three weeks after her encounter with Zelich.

Detective Sergeant Lee Hollatz of the Farmington Police Department began investigating her disappearance. He examined her recent movements and eventually traced her to the Microtel Inn & Suites in Rochester.

Hotel employees recognized Simonson from information circulated by investigators. Records confirmed that she had checked in on November 2, while security footage showed Zelich leaving alone the next morning.

In January 2014, investigators received information connecting Simonson to a man named Steven Zelich from West Allis. Wisconsin police subsequently visited Zelich’s apartment at the request of Minnesota authorities but did not find Simonson.

After Zelich failed to respond to a letter from Hollatz, FBI agents and Wisconsin investigators interviewed him. Despite the interview, detectives did not yet have the evidence necessary to establish that Simonson had been killed.

Hollatz continued to regard Zelich as the principal person of interest in the disappearance. The investigation remained unresolved until the discovery of the suitcases in June 2014.

How Was Laura Simonson’s Body Discovered?

On June 5, 2014, highway workers cutting grass beside a rural road in the Town of Geneva, Walworth County, Wisconsin, discovered two large suitcases concealed in roadside vegetation.

Authorities examined the luggage and found the decomposing remains of two women. The condition of the bodies indicated that they had died some time before the discovery.

Dental records allowed investigators to identify one of the victims as Laura Simonson. Her identification connected the discovery to the missing-person investigation that had begun in Minnesota the previous November.

The second victim was initially unidentified. Investigators later established that she was Jenny Gamez, a 19-year-old woman from Cottage Grove, Oregon, who had died in 2012.

The discovery revealed that Zelich had retained possession of two bodies from separate deaths and had eventually abandoned them at the same location.

For Simonson’s family, the identification confirmed that she had died months earlier. The case changed from a missing-person investigation into a homicide inquiry involving multiple jurisdictions.

How Did Investigators Connect Steven Zelich to Laura Simonson’s Death?

Investigators already knew that Simonson had spent time with Zelich at the Rochester hotel before she disappeared. Hotel records, surveillance footage and witness information established their association.

The discovery of Simonson’s remains gave detectives evidence that she had died and that her body had been transported from Minnesota to Wisconsin.

Authorities questioned Zelich about both women. He admitted that he had met Simonson and Gamez through online connections and caused their deaths during sexual encounters involving strangulation.

Zelich also described how he placed their bodies in suitcases, concealed them and eventually abandoned the remains in Walworth County.

His admissions provided investigators with a connection between the two deaths and explained how the bodies came to be discovered together.

Zelich was taken into custody in June 2014. Prosecutors initially pursued charges concerning the concealment of the remains, while authorities in Wisconsin and Minnesota investigated the separate deaths.

Steven Zelich’s Murder Charge in Laura Simonson’s Death

The homicide prosecution concerning Simonson was brought in Minnesota because she had died at a hotel in Rochester, within Olmsted County.

Zelich maintained that he had not intended to kill her. His account was that he had accidentally strangled Simonson with a rope during sexual activity.

Prosecutors pursued murder charges based on his responsibility for the fatal strangulation and the circumstances surrounding her death.

The case proceeded separately from the Wisconsin prosecution concerning Jenny Gamez. In January 2016, Zelich pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide for Gamez’s death and subsequently received a 35-year prison sentence.

The Minnesota prosecution continued after the Wisconsin case was resolved. Zelich ultimately entered a guilty plea rather than proceed through a contested jury trial.

Steven Zelich Pleads Guilty to Murdering Laura Simonson

On February 3, 2017, Zelich appeared in Olmsted County District Court in Rochester and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for Simonson’s death.

Judge Pamela King sentenced him to 25 years in prison. The Minnesota sentence was ordered to run consecutively to his 35-year Wisconsin prison term, bringing his combined homicide sentences to 60 years.

Zelich’s guilty plea established his criminal responsibility for Simonson’s death. Although he had previously claimed that the strangulation was accidental, the proceedings concluded with a murder conviction.

The sentencing hearing was emotional for Simonson’s relatives. Judge King also appeared affected by the case as she addressed Zelich and the consequences of his actions.

For Simonson’s family, the conviction provided a legal outcome more than three years after she disappeared. However, the sentence did not end their involvement in the criminal proceedings, because Zelich still faced charges concerning the concealment of the bodies.

What Did Laura Simonson’s Family Say About Her Murder?

Simonson’s family members spoke publicly about the suffering caused by her death and the circumstances in which her remains were discovered.

Her sister, Niki Carlson, delivered a victim impact statement during the October 2017 sentencing proceedings concerning the concealment of the bodies. Carlson described the devastation experienced by the family and the continuing grief felt by their mother.

Carlson also spoke about the questions that remained after Simonson’s death, including whether anything could have prevented her encounter with Zelich.

Other family members expressed anger at the way Zelich had treated the victims’ bodies. They described the decision to conceal the remains in suitcases and abandon them beside a road as an additional violation of the women and their families.

At the hearing, Zelich displayed little visible emotion as relatives delivered their statements, according to contemporary courtroom reporting.

The family members wanted the court to impose a sentence that would prevent Zelich from harming another woman.

Laura Simonson’s Children and the Impact of Her Death

Simonson left behind seven children. Her death meant that they lost their mother under circumstances that attracted national attention and became the subject of years of criminal proceedings.

At the February 2017 sentencing hearing, Simonson’s daughter Kaylee Wierson spoke about the difficulty of explaining her mother’s death to younger siblings. Her remarks reflected the lasting consequences of the crime for children who had to confront both the loss of their mother and the circumstances surrounding her death.

Simonson’s former husband, Troy Simonson, also addressed the proceedings. He criticized Zelich’s apparent lack of remorse and his unwillingness to make eye contact with the family.

The family expressed frustration over the sentence imposed through the plea agreement. Prosecutors explained that the negotiated outcome reflected the legal considerations involved in resolving the case.

The children and other relatives were left to rebuild their lives after a disappearance that had ended with the discovery of Simonson’s remains hundreds of miles from home.

Steven Zelich Receives an Additional Sentence for Concealing Laura Simonson’s Body

On October 13, 2017, Zelich returned to court in Walworth County, Wisconsin, to be sentenced for two counts of hiding a corpse.

The charges concerned his conduct after the deaths of Simonson and Gamez. Prosecutors emphasized that he had concealed the remains for extended periods and abandoned them beside a rural road.

The judge imposed an additional 10 years in prison, bringing Zelich’s aggregate sentences to 70 years.

The court acknowledged that Zelich had cooperated with investigators after his arrest but concluded that the maximum sentence was appropriate for the concealment offenses.

Family members attended the hearing and described the damage caused by the deaths and the delay in recovering the victims’ remains.

Why Laura Simonson’s Case Remains Significant

Simonson’s disappearance demonstrated how a missing-person investigation could continue for months without confirmation of a death, even when detectives had identified a person of interest.

Investigators knew that Simonson had checked into a hotel with Zelich and that he had left without her. However, those circumstances alone did not establish that a homicide had occurred or provide the physical evidence needed to prosecute him.

The discovery of the suitcases transformed the investigation. Forensic identification connected one of the bodies to Simonson, while the identification of Jenny Gamez revealed another death involving the same man.

The case also required cooperation between authorities in different states. Simonson disappeared in Minnesota, Gamez died in Wisconsin, and the bodies were recovered in a separate Wisconsin county.

The investigation ultimately resulted in convictions for both deaths and the concealment of the remains.

Laura Simonson’s Story Featured on ABC’s 20/20: The Suitcase Murders

ABC’s 20/20 examines Simonson’s disappearance and death in “The Suitcase Murders,” airing Friday, October 16, 2026, at 9/8c.

The episode revisits the investigation that began when Simonson failed to return from her meeting with Steven Zelich in November 2013. It also explores the discovery of the two suitcases, the identification of the victims and the evidence that connected Zelich to both deaths.

Simonson’s case became part of a national true-crime investigation because of the circumstances of her disappearance, Zelich’s former police career and the revelation that another woman had died during a similar encounter more than a year earlier.

The criminal proceedings established Zelich’s responsibility for both deaths and resulted in prison sentences totalling 70 years.

For Simonson’s family, the outcome provided a measure of legal accountability but could not reverse the loss of a mother, daughter and sister. Her seven children were left without their mother, while her relatives continued to confront the circumstances of a death that had remained concealed for months.

The case remains a reminder that Laura Simonson and Jenny Gamez were two women with separate lives and families whose deaths became connected through the actions of the same convicted murderer.

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Ryan Gill

Ryan is a passionate follower of true crime television programs, reporting on and providing in-depth investigations on mysteries in the criminal world.

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