Joel Bremer has been charged with second-degree murder of his pregnant wife, Ronna Bremer, who died in 1988
Credit: Christian County Jail
NEED TO KNOW
- Joel Lake Bremer has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the 1988 death of his pregnant wife, Ronna Bremer
- Investigators used modern DNA technology to link Joel to the crime nearly four decades later
- The cold case was reopened in 2024 with help from a documentary team and led to Joel’s indictment and arrest
A man has been arrested and charged in connection with the cold case murder of his pregnant wife in 1988.
Joel Lake Bremer was booked at Christian County Jail in Christian County, Mo., on Sunday, Aug. 2, according to inmate records reviewed by PEOPLE. Joel has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the disappearance and murder of his late pregnant wife, Ronna Bremer, who was just 22 years old when she died.
“What’s been going on for the last 30-some years, it’s so close to the point of being adjudicated and somebody being brought to justice that I think it brings satisfaction for everybody,” Sheriff Cole with the Christian County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) told local outlet KY3.
Joel reported Ronna missing when she disappeared in 1988, and was granted a divorce from her in 1990, according to the outlet. A year later in 1991, the Green County Sheriff’s Office received a skull from an anonymous sender, which was handed to the University of Colorado for testing.
It would be another six years before investigators declared Ronna dead in 1997, and another several years until further testing determined the skull to be Ronna’s in 2001.
In the decades since, the cold case has been reopened numerous times, KY3 and News Nation reported.
“There just wasn’t a whole lot of information at the time or any tangible evidence to put their hands on to move forward with the investigation,” Cole told KY3. “It was, I mean, for lack of a better term, it was just a missing person case that nobody had any information about.”
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In November 2024, detectives with the CCSO once again reopened the case, collaborating with a documentary team. The investigation led them to Iowa and Nebraska, ultimately circling back to a DNA sample collected in 1989 that now generated a DNA profile with the help of modern technology, tying Joel to the crime.
Joel was indicted on July 24 and was arrested in Kansas City by the U.S. Marshals Service on July 31, per News Nation. He was then extradited to Christian County. His first court appearance was on Monday, Aug. 3, and he is being held on a $200,000 bond.
PEOPLE has reached out to the CCSO and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
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