$100,000 reward: Fatal explosion at Kimball, Minn. post office in 1976

Federal authorities are offering a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of a suspect in a 1976 fatal explosion at a post office in Kimball, Minn.

On May 13, 1976 a bomb exploded inside the post office, killing 60-year-old father of ten Ivend Holen. Even now, 40 years later, the small town remains shaken.

“Every year it's kind of a somber anniversary,” Tri County News owner Jean Matua said.

Matua is reminded of the tragedy every day -- her office sits only two doors from the post office. “There've been as many theories as probably people that were here at the time,” she said.

The mysterious explosive was inside a package. Matua, like FOX 9, has reached out to post office staff and investigators who remain tight-lipped about the open case.

“It was intended to go off when [the tackle box] was opened ...but it must’ve been jostled in the mail,” informed Matua of details she was able to gather.

Holen, then assistant post master, was the only man in the office that morning. He was sorting mail delivered from a bulk mail station in Minneapolis when the blast forced him through the mail vestibule.

“In an ironic way he may have saved numerous other people because it went off two hours before the post office would've been full," Matua said.

The FBI later discovered the bomb was intended to reach a home on Route 1, just north of the small town.

“That may have been a whole family for all we know,” noted Matua.

Holen died en route to St. Cloud Hospital. The person responsible has yet to be caught. Neither police nor the FBI have uncovered new leads, despite a hefty $100,000 collecting dust on the table.

“The person who did this, if they have a soul, would want to have that resolved before they die,” Matua said.

If you have a tip about the 1976 explosion here that can lead to an arrest you can contact the National Law Enforcement Communication Center at (877) 876-2455 or the Twin Cities Postal Inspector at (612) 884-7880.