Man tied to Iowa anchor case behind Wisconsin mother’s 2006 murder

A man who once named a person of interest in the disappearance of Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit is responsible for the 2006 murder of a Wisconsin woman and may be responsible for other killings, authorities said this week.

The Wood County Sheriff’s Office announced that Christopher Revak was behind the death of Deidre Harm, officially closing a case that remained unsolved for nearly two decades.

On October 20, the Wood County Sheriff’s Office shared a letter on Facebook from District Attorney Jonathan Barnett stating that he would have filed criminal charges against Revak if he were alive.

“I consider this case closed,” Barnett wrote. “I think I had enough power to indict, and if Mr. Revak was still alive, I would have won the trial.”

FBI SEARCH AROUND THE CAMPING SITE WHERE TRAVIS DECKER’S 3 DAUGHTERS WERE FOUND DEAD

Harm, a 21-year-old single mother, disappeared on June 10, 2006, after a night out at a bar in downtown Wisconsin Rapids. Her remains were discovered five months later by hunters in a wooded area near Seneca, about five miles from the city center. According to WSAW.

“This may provide some closure for many people, but it will not bring Deidre back,” the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin Rapids Police said in a joint statement. he said. “Our thoughts and prayers will always be with Deidre’s family.”

Revak, a Wisconsin native and former EMT, died by suicide in a Missouri jail cell in July 2009, just one day after being charged with second-degree murder in the death of Rene Williams, 36, a mother of three from Mansfield, Missouri.

Williams was last seen on March 13, 2007, at the Eagle Lodge bar in Ava, Missouri, where he worked. Revak was also at the bar that night. According to FOX 9.

in 2024 KCCI Des Moines Investigators in Iowa and Wisconsin are reportedly taking another look at Revak, who was long suspected of multiple violent crimes before his death.

Notorious ‘Scorecard Killer’ LINKED TO 10-YEAR-OLD MURDER NEARLY 45 YEARS LATER

Investigators never found Jodi Huisentruit, who was declared legally dead in 2001, the Associated Press reported. (ABC News Studios)

According to a recently released documentary, police investigated whether Revak was linked to five different murders over a 14-year period, including Huisentruit’s disappearance.

Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase, who is investigating Williams’ case, previously told Fox News Digital that Revak’s confirmed connection to Harm’s killing deepened his concerns about the former EMT’s violent past.

“When I started working on the Christopher Revak case, he was my suspect in the murder of Rene Williams,” Degase said. “I didn’t think this was his first attempt.”

degassing I told KY3 This forensic evidence linked Revak to Williams’ disappearance.

“We found his DNA at the scene. We found his DNA inside his truck,” he said. “I think the biggest problem was they couldn’t find a body. They had no witnesses to say he was dead.”

Although there was no body, investigators charged Revak with killing Williams based on DNA results. Degase said his curiosity about similar crimes led him to uncover the chilling parallels.

“This wasn’t the first time Revak tried to kidnap a woman in Ava,” he said. “In fact, shortly after her arrest, I Googled ‘women kidnapped from bars’ in all the towns she lived in. When I Googled Wisconsin Rapids, Deidre Harm came up.”

New crime scene details emerged in the manhunt for the fugitive father ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS 3 DAUGHTERS

This discovery enabled Degase to reach out to Wisconsin investigators, share his findings and help connect the dots between the cases.

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” he said. “I called the authorities and gave them the information I had.”

Degase, who appeared in the documentary about the case, said that both Williams and Huisentruit were still missing, a detail that still haunts him. He did not rule out the possibility that Revak may have traveled to Iowa.

“Clearly, [Jodi] He wasn’t kidnapped from a bar, but I thought it was weird,” Degase said.

He added that the portico “has a dark side.”

“We’re probably dealing with a serial killer,” Degase told KY3. “On his day he helped society, helped people and saved people, but Chris Revak also had a dark side.”

Revak was also a person of interest in the 1995 disappearance of Huisentruit, the 27-year-old morning anchor for KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa.

Huisentruit disappeared around 4 a.m. on June 27, 1995, after calling a colleague to tell him he was on his way to work but never arrived. Police found signs of a struggle, including a pair of high heels outside her apartment and a car key bent next to her car.

He was declared legally dead in 2001, although his body was never found.

ALLEGED DEVIL’S KILLER INVESTIGATED MANY UNSOLVED MURDERS ACROSS THE USA THAT HAD ONE THING IN COMMON

Jodi Huisentruit was a TV presenter before she disappeared in 1995. (Findjodi.com)

At the time, Mason City Police said there was no evidence linking Revak to the case. But in 2024, researchers from Wisconsin and Iowa contacted again to compare notes on him. According to FindJodi.com.

Authorities also investigated whether Revak’s ex-wife once lived in the same house as one of the last people to see Huisentruit alive, but found that she had moved out six months before the news anchor disappeared.

Despite three decades of deadlock, then-Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley said in June that the department continued to receive and follow up on leads throughout the year.

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME SQUAD ON X

Advertisements announcing Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance appeared in front of her workplace, KIMT-TV, on July 3, 1995. (Steve Kagan/Getty Images)

“We didn’t stop doing this, we didn’t stop working, we didn’t stop following leads and information,” Brinkley told FOX 9 at the time.

In 2024, officers searched a property in Winsted, Minnesota, following a tip, but no new evidence was found. Earlier this year, a portion of the 2017 search warrant was also unsealed.

“We remain hopeful that no matter how long it takes, the case will be solved and justice will be served,” Brinkley said.

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE THE TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER

Huisentruit’s family continues to hold out hope for closure.

“The pain and suffering felt by us and everyone who loved Jodi is immeasurable,” her family wrote in a statement on the Jodi’s Hope Facebook page. “True peace will only come when Jodi is found and justice is served. We still choose to hope that it will happen soon.”

CLICK TO REACH THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION

A $50,000 reward remains available for information leading to answers about Huisentruit’s disappearance. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Mason City Police Department or the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Fox News Digital’s Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.

Stepheny Price covers crimes including missing persons, murders and immigration crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.