The Wisconsin State Journal reported then that she may have committed suicide by jumping from a moving car along North Reedsburg Road. That was the story her frightened friends told police, but it turned out to be a lie. Gloria Pyke and her husband, Bill, never believed that Iris jumped out of a moving car while driving. And neither, it turns out, did a team of Sauk County sheriff's deputies and detectives. Finally, in December, the teens admitted what really happened.
Juvenile records on file in Adams County, where the driver lives, tell the chilling story.
First, Iris drove the car while her girlfriend surfed on top. Then, they traded places. By the time Gloria and Bill Pyke got to Reedsburg Hospital, Iris had died of head injuries. The last week in April, the driver was sentenced to a year's probation after being judged delinquent on charges of obstructing police and homicide by negligent use of a motor vehicle. Circuit Judge Duane Polivka sentenced the girl to a long list of requirements.