William “Ike” Eickholt was reported missing early Saturday after firefighters responded to a report of a vehicle fire at his property on St. Croix Trail in Denmark Township, the southern tip of Washington County.
The next morning, shortly before 10 a.m., a man was found dead in the ditch in the 1300 block of Ravenna Trail (10th Street) in Hastings, about 150 feet east of the bridge that crosses the Vermillion River.
William “Ike” Eickholt, 74, of Denmark Township, left, with his friend Mitch Carmody, of Hastings, in July 2023. Eickholt was reported missing early Saturday morning and the body of a man, believed to be Eickholt, was found in a ditch in Hastings on Sunday. (Courtesy of Mitch Carmody)
While the dead man’s identity and cause of death were not released by authorities on Monday, Police Chief Dave Wilske said the death is considered suspicious.
Friends say the man found dead was Eickholt, 74, who had been living in his truck since his one-story house at 13536 St. Croix Trail S. was left uninhabitable after a fire on July 30.
One friend said he’s concerned Eickholt might have been a victim of violence because of the way he lived.
Eickholt, who liked to wear women’s clothing, was a recognizable figure in southern Washington County, Hastings and Prescott, Wis. He regularly walked on St. Croix Trail and often hung his wardrobe on the trees at the end of his driveway.
“I am so saddened, but not shocked,” said Mitch Carmody, of Hastings, who has been a friend of Eickholt’s since July 2023. “He was so vulnerable.”
Refused help
After Eickholt’s house burned down and he moved into his truck, Carmody contacted officials in Washington County and asked that they check on him, he said.
“He refused their help,” he said. “He told me had lots of options when I asked about the coming winter. He did not seem worried.”
Eickholt had owned the St. Croix Trail property, worth an estimated $445,600, since December 1986, according to county property-tax records. Property taxes were due from 2021 and 2024.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office had 11 calls to Eickholt’s property dating back to February 2019, said Cmdr. Kyle Schenck. He said he could not comment on the types of calls, citing their investigation.
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Eickholt was a regular at many Prescott businesses, including the BP gas station, Dairy Queen Grill & Chill and Ptacek’s IGA grocery store, friends and acquaintances said.
In the summertime, he would sometimes show up at Ptacek’s wearing a shiny red Speedo swimsuit and flipflops, said Katie Ptacek, whose family owns and operates the grocery store.
“He would come in two, three, four times a day,” she said. “I likened him to Klinger in ‘MASH.’ He was just an eclectic person – a big storyteller.”
Concerned about him
Ptacek said she and other employees went to Eickholt’s property after he was reported missing to see if they could find him.
“We were worried he might have been injured,” she said. “We just kind of walked in a little ways, and were hollering, ‘Ike, it’s your friends from the deli at Ptacek’s. If you need anything, let us know. If you’re hurt, let us know. We can help you.’ Obviously, there was no reaction at all, but we felt bad not doing anything.”
Because he did not have electricity at the house, Eickholt would come to the store multiple times a day to buy food for meals, she said. He often spoke about his love of baseball, she said.
“He was a really big fan of watching baseball,” she said. “Baseball was his favorite sport. He said when he was younger, he played a lot of baseball, and he continued watching it. He said he played all through college, but a few of the other things he told us don’t really add up, so maybe he didn’t, or maybe he did. I’m not sure.”
Eickholt struggled after the fire, but declined help, Ptacek said. “You look back, and you’re like, ‘God, should we have, like, pushed him to do this or that?’
“I think like a person like that personality, if you just push them, it just pushes them further away. It makes them worse. I don’t think there’s anything anybody could have done to have helped him. If somebody doesn’t want help, you can’t force it on them.”
Eickholt’s father, Robert, died in 2014; his mother, Mary Jane, died in 2015, according to their obituaries.
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Carmody, an author and grief facilitator who lives in Hastings, said Eickholt told him he served in the Army during Vietnam. He never mentioned what he did for a living, he said.
“He was an unusual sight – wearing a dress, walking on the side of the road, smiling and waving at people,” Carmody said. “He was proud of his unique ensembles and combo designs of foo-foo clothing.”
He said he is worried that some “gender bullies” may have hurt and killed his friend.
“I believe we have an obligation to protect those among us who are more fragile,” he said. “After his house burned down, he was in a perplexing spiral downward, not knowing what to do. It was so sad. He was such a nice man and such a bright light.”
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