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Hell and Gone Murder Line: Christopher Revak · Hell and Gone: Murder Line

• 0:46
  Speaker 1: School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: case murders in an effort to raise public awareness. Invite
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: from family and community members, their statements should not be
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: On June tenth, two thousand and six, twenty one year
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: old Deirdre Harm was headed to a night out with friends.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: She had a four month old daughter.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Named Vegas and had hired a babysitter to watch her.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: She and her friends went out downtown in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: They stopped at a couple of bars, including The Finish
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Line and the Body Shop. What happened toward the end
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: of the night is unclear. Witnesses said Deirdre was talking
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: with a man whom none of her friends knew. It's
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: also not clear which bar Deirdra was at last, but
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: the bartender at the finish line said she saw Dedra leave.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: The bartender also said she saw a man leave shortly
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: after Deirdre did, and then Deirdre never came home. She
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: never called her babysitter. She simply disappeared. The bartender helped
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: the Wood County Sheriff's department make a composite sketch of
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: the stranger. He was described as having shaggy, dark hair,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: being clean shaven, and having a large tribal tattoo.
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  Speaker 3: On his left forearm.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: For months, Deirdra's friends and family looked for her. They
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: shared her missing poster all around town, but they found
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: no trace of Dedra. Five months later, hunters were walking
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: through the town of Seneca, a wooded area around five
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: miles away from downtown Wisconsin Rapids. They found part of
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: a human skeleton, including a skull, and on November twenty second,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: two thousand and six, dental records confirmed these remains were Dedra.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Harm There had been a lot of deterioration, too much
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: for the medical examiners to determine a cause of death.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Dedra's skeleton had injuries and trauma, but they couldn't tell
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: if the damage to her remains happened as a result
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: of her murder or if it happened afterward. Since this
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: was in a wooded area with animal activity and the
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: animals could have been responsible for the bone scattering.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: Police seemed to hit a dead end very quickly.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: They had no suspects, and they didn't even know whether
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Deirdra had been attacked and killed near the bar where
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: she was last seen, or if the killer kidnapped her
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: and killed her at another location and then dumped the
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: body where it was eventually found. The trail went cold
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: and Deirdre's murder was unsolved. And then in two thousand
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: and seven, another woman was leaving a bar late at night,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: thousands of miles away from where Deirdre vanished, and she
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: also disappeared. Police eventually began to believe that they were
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: on the trail of a serial killer. This investigation spanned
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: nineteen years and several states and focused on a man
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: living a double life, a man who police believe is
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: responsible for at least three murders and there could be other.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: Victims out there. I'm Catherine Townsend.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Over the past seven years of making my true crime podcast,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Telling Gone, I've learned that there's no such thing as
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: a small town where murder never happens.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: I have received hundreds of messages from.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: People all around the country asking for help with an
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, and their communities.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: If you have a case you'd like me and my
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: team to look into, you can reach out to us
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six seven eight
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: seven four four six one four five. That's six seven
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: eight seven four four six one four five, or you
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: can send us a message on Instagram at Helen Gonepod.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Less than a year
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: after Deirdre Harm went missing, another woman also vanished. This
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: time the woman vanished about seven hundred miles away in Missouri.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: Thirty six year old Renee Williams was a server at
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  Speaker 2: the Eagles Lodge bar in Ava, Missouri, and on March thirteenth,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: two thousand and seven, she was closing up for the night.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: According to the Douglas County Sheriff's Department, Renee was last
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: seen at around one thirty am. The night had started
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: out as completely ordinary. Renee lived with her boyfriend Tim
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: in Mansfield. They had been together for twelve years and
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: had three children together, and Tim told police that before
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: leaving the lodge that night, Renee had called him to
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: say she was on her way home. He said she
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: sounded calm, there was no sign of distress. Everything seemed
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: completely normal, But then Renee never came home. Tim knew
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: immediately something was wrong, especially after he drove by the
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  Speaker 2: lodge and saw Renee's red Chevy Lumina still parked outside.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: But again there was no sign of Renee, so Tim
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: reported her missing to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Police
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: released information stating that they were treating Renee's disappearance as
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: a stranger abduction. Renee was white, with blonde hair and
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  Speaker 2: blue eyes, five feet two inches tall, weighing around one
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: hundred and thirty pounds. She also had some distinctive tattoos,
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  Speaker 2: two feathers on her right arm, a unicorn head on
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: her right ankle, and the letters KSA on her left fingers.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: Police quickly came to the conclusion that the evidence did
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: not support Renee leaving the bar on her own. First
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: of all, she had called her boyfriend and specifically said
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: she was headed home. It seemed as though she had
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: closed up normally.
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  Speaker 3: The doors to the bar were closed.
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  Speaker 2: And locked, and the receipts from the night sales had
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: been locked in the safe. Also, nothing seemed to have
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: been taken from inside the bar, and her car was
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: left there in the parking lot.
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  Speaker 3: The only thing.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Missing was Renee's purse, and Renee was just gone. According
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: to an incident report from the Douglas County Sheriff's office,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: there was some blood found on the sidewalk near Rene's car.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: They sent the evidence in for DNA testing. A volunteer
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: search party showed up with trained dogs who alerted on
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  Speaker 2: a dirt road behind the bar. The canines followed the trail,
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  Speaker 2: which ended about a mile away from the Eagle's Lodge
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  Speaker 2: on some private property, but there was no trace of Renee,
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  Speaker 2: any of her belongings, or any other DNA. Rene's family
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: and friends made public pleas for information, but they got
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: no credible leads. They described her as a devoted mother
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: who would never have left her children, and as the
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: weeks and months dragged on, they lost even more hope.
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  Speaker 2: Because Renee never appeared again. No one heard from her,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: records showed. Her phone was never used again, and her
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: bank accounts and credit cards were never touched. There was
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: no sign anywhere that she was alive after she closed
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: up the bar that night, So what happened to Renee Williams.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: One name that came up early in the investigation into
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Renee's disappearance was Christopher Revak. His name apparently got mentioned
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: when police were investigating the regulars at the Eagle's Lodge.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Christopher was someone who occasionally stopped by.
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  Speaker 3: The bar at the time.
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  Speaker 2: Christopher Reevak was a thirty five year old EMT who
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: lived in Ava, Missouri. He worked in Forsyth, which was
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: about a sixty minute commute down a two lane country highway.
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  Speaker 2: This area is rural. Ava had a population of around
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  Speaker 2: twenty nine hundred people in two thousand and seven, and
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  Speaker 2: it's the only incorporated town in that county. Along that highway,
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: there are several even less populated communities. But there was
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: no evidence, at least from what police could figure out
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: early on, that Christopher knew Renee or had ever even
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: talked to her. Police had nothing concrete to Lincoln, so
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: it seems.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: That they dropped that lead.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Police scoured a huge area looking for Rene's body eighty
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: acres in total, but this was an area with a
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: lot of rough terrain, so it was very hard to search.
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  Speaker 2: Police suspected that her body could have been dumped in
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: a wooded area nearby. There are a lot of places
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  Speaker 2: where a person could hide a body and it would
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: be difficult to search the whole thing.
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  Speaker 3: Several other bodies have been.
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  Speaker 2: Found in or near the Mark Twain National Forest. They
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: have included some cases that made national news, including the
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: two thousand and three murder of nineteen year old Becky Sutton.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Her remains were found in that forest. Eventually, her killer,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Philip Dodd, was caught and claimed that he strangled Becky
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: after she refused his sexual advances. In twenty sixteen, the
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: area made news again. John McLachlan murdered and dismembered his
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: wife Linda McLaughlin and dumped her body in the forest.
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  Speaker 2: Police have found other bodies there that did not make
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  Speaker 2: national news, and many others have gone missing in that
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: neck of the woods. As police investigated Renee's murder and
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: focused more on Christopher Reeback, a lot more came out
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  Speaker 2: about his history, though there's not a ton of information about.
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  Speaker 3: His early life out there. We do know he's from Wisconsin.
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  Speaker 2: In high school, he met his future wife, Jennifer, and
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: around the year two thousand, they moved together to Missouri.
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  Speaker 2: Was a volunteer firefighter in Strafford from two thousand and
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  Speaker 2: one to two thousand and three, and then he became
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: a paramedic. He worked as an EMT for the Teiney
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  Speaker 2: County Ambulance District for six years. Eventually, Jennifer and Christopher
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: divorced and he met another woman named Joanna, who was
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: also from Wisconsin Rapids. Joanna and Christopher got married in
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  Speaker 2: December of two thousand and six. According to media reports,
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  Speaker 2: She also worked as an EMT. The ambulance director, Jeff Hawkins,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: who worked with Christopher, told reporters he was shocked by
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: the investigation into Christopher. He said Christopher was a good
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  Speaker 2: worker and that he had no idea that his employee
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  Speaker 2: could be hiding any kind of dark secrets. Jeff said, quote,
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  Speaker 2: he never gave us any indication there were any problems.
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  Speaker 2: He was reliable and we didn't have any problems with him.
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  Speaker 2: This was a big surprise end quote. And Christopher Reevak
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  Speaker 2: wasn't just from Wisconsin. He was from one Washington Rapids,
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  Speaker 2: the same area where Deirdre harm was murdered, and when
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: police got the DNA test back from the blood found
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  Speaker 2: at Renee Williams crime scene, they found that it was
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  Speaker 2: a match to Christopher Reevack, So they started reinterviewing some
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: people they had talked to in the initial stages of
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: the investigation into.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: Renee Williams murder.
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  Speaker 2: They had already searched Christopher Reevack's house in two thousand
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: and seven and reportedly found blood that was a match
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  Speaker 2: to Renee Williams on Christopher's vehicle, as well as on
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: a pair of pants taken from Christopher's home. At the time,
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Douglas County deputies felt like they needed more evidence, so
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: they talked to Christopher's wife, Joanna, and she had some
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  Speaker 2: shocking information to give them. When they confronted her with
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: the DNA evidence, Joanna told them quote, I did not
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  Speaker 2: kill or help kill Renee Williams end quote. But she
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  Speaker 2: did submit a twenty six page handwritten letter to the police.
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  Speaker 2: In that letter, she admitted she had seen Renee's body
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  Speaker 2: and that she had helped get rid of crucial evidence.
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  Speaker 2: She said in the letter that Christopher got home at
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: around three forty five am on Tuesday, March thirteenth, two
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: thousand and seven, and that when he came home that
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: night he had an injury.
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  Speaker 3: His finger was bleeding.
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  Speaker 2: She wrote that Christopher told her that he'd slammed his
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: finger in the door of his truck, so she helped
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: put a bandage on it. Joanna told police that Christopher
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: admitted to hurting Renee A few days later. She said
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Christopher told her that after the bar closed, he met
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: up with Renee outside. He claimed they were talking about
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: having sex. Christopher said he suggested taking Renee home to
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: meet Joanna, possibly to have a threesome. Now, at that point,
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  Speaker 2: he said, Renee got very angry at him and started
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: hitting him and screaming and threatening to get him fired.
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  Speaker 2: Christopher claimed at this point he was just trying to
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  Speaker 2: calm her down and restrain her, so he said he
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: put Renee in a choke hold until she passed out.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: Christopher claimed this was all an accident. He said he
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: checked Renee's pulse and tried to give her CPR, but
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: that it.
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: Was too late she was already dead.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: He claimed he then panicked and instead of calling the police.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: He decided to get rid of the body, so Christopher
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: put Renee's body into the bed of his truck and
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: started driving home along that route. He said he threw
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: her things out of the truck's window. When Christopher got
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: home and told Joanna what he claimed happened, she said
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Christopher asked her for help. Christopher told her to drive
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: their other car, a Jeep two, in nearby area and
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: turn the headlights off, so Joanna said she did that.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: She said she waited for Christopher there and that when
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: he arrived, he forced her to help him get rid
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: of Renee's body. Joanna wrote in the letter quote, I
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: knew that if I said no, he was going to
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: hurt me or possibly do to me what he did
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: to that girl. I was terrified. I agreed to do
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: as he said.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: End quote.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: Joanna also described what Renee was wearing. She said that
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: the body was face down with only light colored underwear
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: or tights on. This is purely my opinion, but this
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: detail jumps out to me a little bit because it
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: seems to defy logic. If this whole thing had been
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: some kind of an accident, as Christopher claimed, when and
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: how exactly did Renee become undressed. However, it's important to
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: note here Joanna has never been arrested or charged in
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: connection with Renee William's death or in connection with any
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: of Christopher Reevac's crimes. Joanna said when she saw the body,
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: she was horrified, but she said she did help Christopher
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: put Renee's body into the back of their jeep. After that,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Christopher covered Renee with a tarp and Joanna went home.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: She wrote in her letter that she wanted to tell
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: police what she knew, but she felt that she couldn't
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: because she was in fear of her life. Joanna wrote
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: in the letter quote, I held Sergeant Wieman's card in
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: my hand and told myself I have to call, but
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: I couldn't. My whole world was crashing in on me.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: I was terrified that Sergeant Widman wouldn't believe me that
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: I had absolutely nothing to do with her death, especially
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: after helping him get her in the car. I couldn't
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: bring myself to call him. I was terrified. End quote.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Joanna also confessed to having helped Christopher after the fact.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: She said she drove towards Springfield and dumped some evidence
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: tarps and a piece of carpeting from the jeep in
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: two two separate dumpsters. According to media reports, authorities did
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: act on this information that Joanna gave them and searched
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: in the area.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: She described.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: They even rented a back hod to dig up the ground,
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: but they never found any evidence of Rene's remains.
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: Would the County Sheriff's.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: Department Detective Lieutenant Scott Goldberg told Channel seven News that
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: police are open to the possibility there may be more
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: victims out there. He said he believes it's possible that
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Christopher killed other women, but also he believes there could
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: be other victims out there who Christopher attacked who may
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: still be alive. If there are, he said he hopes
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: to be able to find them. Lieutenant Goldberg also told
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: the news channel the information obtained from Joanna made the
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: authorities believe there was a quote sexual element to Christopher's
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: crimes end quote. On July twenty fifth, two thousand and nine,
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: Christopher Reevac was arrested at his home and charged with
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Renee Williams's murder. Police tried to question him, but he
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: reportedly stayed very calm and quiet and asked for his lawyer.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: But then there was another shocking development in the case
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: when the very next day, July twenty six, two thousand
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: and nine, Christopher for Revac hanged himself from his prison
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: uniform in his cell. Christopher Revac was dead on July
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: twenty sixth, two thousand and nine, a few days after
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: he'd been charged with Renee Williams murder. Christopher Revac died
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: by suicide after hanging himself in his cell. Police believed
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: they had enough evidence to convict him, but now he
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: never had to face justice, and Renee's family didn't get
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: any of their questions answered. But in two thousand and nine,
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: a new sheriff took over in Douglas County.
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: His name was CHRISTA. Gase.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Even though the Renee Williams case was closed, he began
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: looking into similar cases that he believed Christopher Revac may
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: have been involved with.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: Christa.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: Gase told a local news station that he took what
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: he did described as an unconventional approach by doing a
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: ton of research on his own. Chris To Gase discovered
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: three unsolved killings in two different states, killings that he
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: believed were strikingly similar to the one in Ava.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: So CHRISTA.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: Gase got in touch with law enforcement in both states.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: An found connections between Christopher Reevak's known movements and the
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: dates when the victims disappeared. One of the cases that
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Christa Gase looked at was Dedre harm. That case, as
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: we said, seemed to have hit a complete dead end
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: in Wisconsin. Wood County Sheriff Shaan Becker told New Channel
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: seven in November of twenty twenty four that back in
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: the day, police considered several suspects, including someone who Didre
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: had bought drugs from, but he admitted the leeds had
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: basically dried up when they got that call from Chris
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: to Gase, and Christa Gase was able to establish that
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: not only was Christopher Reevac from that area in Wisconsin,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: but Christopher Revac had been in the same bar as
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: Deirdre on the night she disappeared. Christa Gase wrote on
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: Facebook quote, as I was working on the Renee Williams homicide,
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: I did not believe this was the first time Christopher
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: Revac had committed a murder. After obtaining Revac's history and
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: places he had lived, I began Google searching women abducted
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: from bars. That Google search for women abducted from bars
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: in Wisconsin Rapids resulted in an article about Dedra Harm's
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: abduction with a composite drawing of the last person she
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: was seen with. There was no doubt in my mind
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: that it was Christopher Revac. I contacted the Wood County
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: Sheriff's office and was Conson Rapids PD and provided.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: Them with the suspects.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: I was able to obtain records from Revac's work that
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: placed him in was conson Rapids at the time of
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Deedra's abduction. Now nineteen years after her murder, Revac has
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: been identified as her killer. Quote. In addition to these
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: circumstances surrounding the disappearances, we should also note that the
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Renee Williams composite sketch looked almost identical to Christopher Reevack.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: Christopher's wife, Joanna, was also able to fill in some
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: of the gaps around the Dedra Harm investigation. Joanna had
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: told police she and Christopher had traveled back to Wisconsin,
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: where they were both from several times, and she was
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: also able to confirm some dates and confirmed a police
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: that they were on a trip back to Washington Rapids
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: with their daughter during the dates.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: When Deirdre Harm disappeared from the bar.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Joanna told investigators her husband had gone out by himself
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: one night during that trip. She said he left around
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: sunset and didn't come home until around five am, and
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: when he did finally come home, Joanna said, Christopher was
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: covered in mud. He told her his truck got stuck
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: in the mud and he had to dig it out.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Joanna said that his truck and his clothing were both
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: so filthy that he washed them twice, and there was
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: something else she said that was weirdly memorable. Joanna said
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: there was a family party during that visit and that
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: after the party, Christopher insisted Joanna cut his hair short
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: so he had a totally different look, and then he
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: dressed up in the same clothes they'd been out at
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: the party and made all of their relatives retake all
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: of the photos with his new haircut, and she said he.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Made them delete the originals.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Joanna said Christopher had anger issues and that when he drank,
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: he got aggressive. Police also talked to one of Christopher's
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: friends from high school, who said that Chris was triggered
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: when women rejected him and that he could become very angry.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: Could that have happened in the case of Dedra harm
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: The area where Deirdre's body was found may also provide
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: some clues. News Channel seven did an interview with Sheriff Beck,
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: who told them that the remote area where Dedra's body
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: was found was a party spot for teens and a
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: place for hanging out, but also for dumping trash.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: He said that it was also.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: An area where people regularly ride ATVs. Apparently Christopher had
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: partied there in the past and also had an ATV
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: that he liked to borrow from his brother. News Channel
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: seven reported that the ATV had, according to the sheriff,
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: been seen around town on the night Deedre disappeared. Chris
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: de Gay says he believes there is a very high
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: probability that Christopher Reeback was involved in even more murders
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: than the ones he's already found.
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: He can't say exactly how many.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: Or give details because a lot of them are still
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: ongoing investigations, but we do have some details for at
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: least one, a nineteen ninety five murder in Mason City, Iowa.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: The disappearance of twenty seven year old Jodi Housenttrute had
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: been a mystery for decades. Jody was a local news anchor.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: She anchored the six am news, so her day started early.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: On June twenty seventh, nineteen ninety five, she didn't show
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: up at her usual start time three am, so Jody's producer,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: Amy called her to wake her up.
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: This was at around four am.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: Apparently Jody did sometimes oversleep, so this part wasn't totally
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: out of the ordinary. But what was out of the
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: ordinary was when Jody didn't answer her phone at all,
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: when Amy made a second phone call, and when she
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: didn't arrive for work. Jody's apartment was only five minutes away,
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: so Amy knew something was very wrong.
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: Sometimes Jody would be a little.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Bit late, but she was always there with her act
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: together by the time she was on the air at
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: six am. At first, police didn't immediately suspect foul play.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: They reportedly believed that maybe she had.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: Gone somewhere on her own, but when police arrived on
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: the scene at Jody's apartment complex, they found on signs
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: of a potential struggle.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: Next to her red Miata. They found Jody's.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: Shoes, a blow dryer, and her car key, which was bent.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: They treated Jody's case as a kidnapping, and they searched
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: for her everywhere. Jody was beautiful and friendly and had
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: a public facing job, so a lot of people knew
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: who she was. That meant police were dealing with a
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: large pool of potential suspects. Police were trying to figure
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: out if Jody's abductor had been someone she knew or
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: a stranger, But despite a lot of tips and police
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: investigating several leads, including a friend of hers who was
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: hanging out with her the night before she disappeared, nothing
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: ever panned out. No sign of Jody was ever found.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: For three decades, the case was still unsolved, but then
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: Chris Degas in his investigation, showed that Christopher Reevak had
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: ties to Mason City. Chris de Gaze told KYFE three
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: news that Christopher had previously been a person of interest
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: in Jody's disappearance. He said at that time Christopher had
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: a girlfriend, someone who lived very close to Jody, and
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: that after his investigation, he believed it's highly likely, based
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: on just Christopher's proximity to her.
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: That he killed Jody.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: In December of last year, Sergeant Terrence Perchaska, the lead
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: investigator on the Jody Housen truth case, traveled to Wisconsin
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: to meet with investigators overseeing the dedre harm case and
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: to compare notes on Christopher Revack. The most compelling thread
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: that tied Christopher Reevac to Jody Housen truth is the
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: fact that Christopher's first wife, then his girlfriend, Jennifer, was
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: living in Mason City in nineteen ninety five when Jody disappeared.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: Jennifer and Chris, as we said before, got married and
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: eventually moved down to Missouri, but Jennifer didn't stay there
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: the whole time. At one point, according to what Christopher's
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: his brother said, Jennifer lived in Mason City, the same
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: town as Jody, and Jennifer apparently lived in the same
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: duplex as Jody's close friend John, the last known person
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: to see Jody alive. According to Sergeant Prechaska, Jennifer moved
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: out of John's building three months before Jody disappeared, and
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: Jennifer also told police Christopher never visited her during that time.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: So there's no definitive proof that Christopher Reevac was in
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: Mason City, but investigators have said they believe Christopher may
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: have traveled there to look for Jennifer.
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: At that time.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Apparently they had split up, and they believe he may
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: have been looking for her at that address, maybe because
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: he didn't know she had already moved out. Investigators believe
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: if Christopher was hanging around that apartment complex, there's a
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: possibility that he could have run into Jody at some
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: point and started stalking her. It would not have been
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: hard to figure out Jody's work schedule, she was on
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: a very regular routine. Christa Gase, the investigator, said that
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: he didn't believe in coincidence.
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: Christopher was a suspected serial.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: Killer and he had a connection to the address next door,
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: So just based on that, Christa Gase thought there was
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: a high probability that Jody.
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: Was another one of Christopher Revac's victims.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: The only thing that's an outlier in Jody's case was
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: the time of day. She wasn't abducted late at night
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: after closing time in a bar. She was abducted at
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: the crack of dawn. But presumably her killer knew that
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: the parking lot would be fairly deserted in the early
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: morning hours of June twenty seventh, nineteen ninety five. So
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: what's next with these investigations?
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: What's next with.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: These Investigations instigator CHRISTA Gase said that he is following
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: police protocol to move toward the Renee Williams case being
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: officially closed. I think that this investigation is a great
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: example of how a police officer, CHRISTA Gase went.
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: Above and beyond.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: His case was already officially closed, but he went that
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: extra step to try to bring justice and closure to
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: family members desperately in need of answers, which I'm sure
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: they will never forget. Deirdre Harm's case is also on
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: its way to being officially closed. On Monday, October twentieth,
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty five, the Wood County Sheriff's office posted a
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: letter on Facebook from the local district attorney, Jonathan Barnett.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: He wrote, quote, I consider this case closed. I believe
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: I had enough to charge and if mister Reevak was
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: still alive to win at trial.
• 30:35
  Speaker 3: End quote. CHRISTA.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: Gase also talked to reporters about his insights into Christopher Reeback.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: He said he was interested in the way that Christopher
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: had covered things up and the extent he went to
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: hide things. He said quote, it was obvious he was
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: leading a double second life end quote. Christa Gase told
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: the news channel KY three. Quote, We're dealing with what's
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: possibly a serial killer. During his day, he's doing his
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: deed to society and helping people and saving people. But
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: there was a dark side to Christopher Revac end quote.
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: Douglas County Sheriff CHRISTA.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: Gaze has said he is happy that they have been
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: able to identify some of Christopher Reevack's victims so far
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: and hopefully to bring closure to their families. He wrote
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: on social media, quote, this is why I do this job.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: I am happy that I could be a small part
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: of this investigation to bring justice and hopefully some closure.
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: End quote.
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: But the investigation into Christopher Reevac is still continuing. Investigators
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: still don't have concrete proof about when or if he
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: was in Mason City around the time when Jody disappeared
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: on June twenty seventh, nineteen ninety five. It has been
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: reported that they do have evidence indicating he was in
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: Wisconsin on June seventeenth and on July ninth, nineteen ninety five,
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: but there are a lot of dates missing in between
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: that police just aren't sure about. So Jody's investigation is
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: still open. Finally, could there be more victims? Out there.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: Police and social media sleuths have been going through past
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: cases looking for similarities. Two of Chris's victims were last
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: seen either in or outside bars at closing time. Renee
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: was an employee of the bar, Deirdre was a customer.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: As we said before, Jody was the only outlier. She
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: was leaving for work, but it was once again in
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: a deserted parking lot. Some online commenters have pointed to
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: another case, a twenty year old woman named Crystal Ehrensdorff,
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: who went missing after a night out with friends at
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: a bar in downtown Dubuque, Iowa. They were watching fireworks
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: because it was July fourth, two thousand and one, and
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: then she never came home. Police questioned Cristel's boyfriend and
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: some of her friends, and apparently they were all cleared.
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: Christopher Reevac would have been twenty eight years old at
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: the time. The news channel KCRG reported on the similarities
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: between Crystal's disappearance and Christopher's other victims and stated in
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: an article that they had contacted the Dubukee Police Department
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: with the information they compiled. There's a lot we still
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: don't know about Christopher Reevac's life and a lot of
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: missing years. The Wood County Sheriff's Department has publicly stated
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: that they would like any victims of Christopher's or anyone
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: who encountered him to come forward, and Sheriff CHRISTA. Gase
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: told The Columbia, Missouri that Christopher Revac could be tied
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: to as many as four other cases in several different states.
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: There could be more dead bodies still out there. I'm
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: Katherine Townsend. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Helen Gone
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: Murder Line is a production of School of Humans and
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: iHeart Podcasts. It's written and narrated by me Catherine Townsend
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: and produced by Etaly's Perez Special thanks to Amy Tubbs
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: for her research assistance and James Wheaton.
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: For legal review.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: Noah Camera mixed and scored this episode. Our theme song
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: is by Ben Sale. Executive producers are Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr,
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: and ELC.
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: Crowley.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: Listen to Helen Gone ad free by subscribing to the
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: iHeart True Crime Plus channel on Apple Podcasts. If you
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: are interested in seeing documents and materials from the case,
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: you can follow the show on Instagram at Helen Gonepod.
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: If you have a case you'd like me and my
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: team to look into. You can reach out to us
• 34:33
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• 34:35
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