DES MOINES – A convicted Iowa sex offender imprisoned for life for kidnapping and murdering a young girl is back in the spotlight after authorities laid out another horrific crime that went cold, in which the suspect brazenly snatched an unsupervised child from her back yard and undertook the unthinkable.
Henry Earl Dinkins (pictured at top, and bottom), who is currently incarcerated at the Iowa State Penitentiary, was indicted following a re-examination of an incident involving the kidnapping of a 5-year-old girl in Clinton, Iowa.
The 2003 abduction
On the evening of September 9, 2003, a 5-year-old child, referred to as A.T., was playing in her family’s backyard in the 500 block of 8th Avenue South when she was approached by an unknown man in an SUV-style vehicle. According to court documents (see below), the children were not under direct supervision, and the man said his name was “Mike” and offered the child loose change to go with him. Tragically, the child was duped into accepting the offer, and he took her hand and placed her in his vehicle, leaving behind her two male family playmates. A.T. was later found walking along a rural ditch near Grand Mound, Iowa, approximately 25 miles from where she had gone missing.
At the time of her recovery, investigators discovered the child was missing her underwear. In interviews following the incident, the child described being taken to a cornfield where she was sexually abused and abandoned by the suspect. Despite an extensive investigation conducted by the Clinton Police Department, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) in 2003, no charges were filed at that time.
Cold case re-examined
The investigation into the incident was reopened and re-examined in 2023, leading to new allegations involving forcible sodomy. Court records state that A.T. recognized Dinkins’ image in electronic media publications in 2023, noting that his facial features and heavy build matched the man who kidnapped her as a child. During 2023 interviews with DCI agents, A.T. provided details of the assault and alleged that Dinkins had threatened to kill her entire family if she told anyone what had happened.
A second review of surveillance footage from a local convenience store in Clinton also supported the investigation. Footage from the night of the abduction showed an unidentified male matching Dinkins’ physical characteristics entering the store at approximately 6:49 p.m., shortly after the kidnapping was reported.
Current status of the suspect
Dinkins is currently serving two life sentences for the 2021 kidnapping and murder of Breasia Terrell. He now faces one count of second-degree sexual abuse, a Class B felony, in connection with the 2003 case[cite: 1, 2]. While investigators had identified Dinkins as a person of interest in 2003, and the victim had reportedly identified him in a photo line-up at that time, charges were not pursued until the case was reviewed decades later.
A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. State authorities have indicated that no further details are being released at this time[cite: 2].
DEATH PENALTY!! Anything less is not justice.