A suspect has long been linked to the cold-case murder of a TV reporter. Police say he might be a serial killer
A man once named a person of interest in the disappearance of Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit has now been found responsible for the 2006 killing of a Wisconsin woman — and investigators believe there could be more victims.
Investigators in Wisconsin say Christopher Revak, a former emergency medical technician who died by suicide in a Missouri jail cell in 2009, would have faced charges in the death of 21-year-old Deidre Harm if he were still alive.
Wood County District Attorney Jonathan Barnett wrote in a letter shared by the sheriff’s office on October 20 that he believes there was sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial.
“I consider this case closed,” Barnett wrote. “I believe I had enough to charge and, if Mr. Revak were still alive, win at trial.”
Harm, a single mother from Wisconsin Rapids, disappeared on June 10, 2006, after a night out with friends at a downtown bar. Her remains were discovered five months later in a wooded area about five miles away.
The Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin Rapids Police Department said in a joint statement: “This may provide some closure for many but won’t bring Deidre back. Our thoughts and prayers will always be with Deidre’s family.”
Deidre’s family also released a statement, which reads in part, “First and foremost, words will never heal our hearts that have been forever broken, nor will they lessen the grief or the emptiness we feel every single day without her.”
“To the person or people responsible for the death of our beloved Deidre Christine Harm, I want these words to be heard and felt. You did not just take a life; you shattered countless others. Deidre was a daughter, a friend, and a light in this world whose absence is felt by everyone who knew and loved her,” the added.
Revak, a Wisconsin native, was visiting family in the area at the time of Harm’s disappearance.
Authorities now say he was “responsible for her death,” formally closing a case that had remained unsolved for nearly two decades.
But Revak’s violent history stretches across several states. He had been charged in 2009 with the murder of Rene Williams, a 36-year-old mother of three from Mansfield, Missouri, who vanished in March 2007 after her bartending shift. Revak was also at the bar the night she disappeared, according to FOX 9. He died by suicide in jail one day later.
Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase, who investigated Williams’ case, said the link between Revak and Harm deepened his fears about what investigators may be uncovering.
“We’re dealing with what’s possibly a serial killer,” Degase told KY3. “During his day, he’s doing his deed to society and helping people and saving people, but there was a dark side to Chris Revak.”
Degase said forensic evidence tied Revak to Williams’ disappearance – her DNA was found inside his truck, and his DNA was recovered at the scene.
