CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Court TV) — The mother of a woman killed in an alleged machete plot testified that an alert from the Life360 tracking app led her to her daughter’s shattered phone on a highway ramp, hours after the 20-year-old was allegedly lured to her death.
Megan Hoffman took the stand in the trial of Dakota Van Patten, who is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of her daughter, Melody Hoffman. Melody’s body was discovered on Feb. 18, 2024, at Lily Lake in Amana, Iowa. Prosecutors allege Van Patten and Melody’s ex-boyfriend, McKinley “Ken” Louisma, conspired to kidnap and kill her.
Melody Hoffman’s broken phone found on the entrance ramp of a Highway. (Court TV)
Through emotional testimony, Hoffman described the desperate hours she spent tracking her daughter’s phone, sending unanswered messages, and ultimately finding the device shattered on the side of a highway entrance ramp…