Posted on 08/08/2026 2:08:16 AM PDT by Morgana
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - An arrest in a nearly 40-year-old cold case brings an Ozark family one step closer to justice. 22-year-old Ronna Bremer disappeared in 1988 from her home in Christian County.
Ronna’s ex-husband is now behind bars as he is accused of killing her and their unborn child.
After years of opening and closing the case, gathering evidence, going back over interviews, and even conducting new ones, Sheriff Brad Cole of the Christian County Sheriff’s Office says Joel’s arrest is a win for the family and everyone involved in the investigation.
“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,” said Sheriff Cole.
In December 1988, Ronna Bremer was seven months pregnant. Her husband Joel reported her missing, and two years after she vanished, Joel was granted a divorce from Ronna
In 1991, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office started investigating a skull that was anonymously sent to them, and in 1997 Ronna was officially declared dead.
It wouldn’t be for another 10 years, in 2001, that the skull was identified as Ronna’s. After that case was reopened and closed several times, including in 2016, when more interviews were conducted, but the case went cold again.
Sheriff Cole said the biggest hurdle was that there was a lack of information available about what happened to Ronna in 1988.
“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. It was, I mean, for lack of a better term, it was just a missing person case that nobody had any information about,“ Sheriff Cole said.
(Excerpt) Read more at ky3.com ...
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How horrible.
Poor woman and baby.
😢
Silver tongue devil.
I’m all for nailing someone for a murder comtted 38 years ago,but if you’re accused but innocent, how do you defend yourself?
Law enforcement worked the case for 38 years. What were you doing? Were you building a defense against a charge you’re not guilty of and didn’t expect to be charged with? Do you now remember where you were at the time of the crime? Do you remember the names of people who could an alibi? Do you know where they are now and if they are still alive? Is the business you were at at the time still active or did it close”
I’m wondering about that too. They said it was solved by DNA but that was his wife of course his DNA would be all over her. I mean they lived together, did the nasty because she was pregnant. I need better evidence this time.
The spouse should always be on the list of people to investigate.
Yes pay attention to cold cases where the perp is more likely to be white to even out those crime stats and ignore the crime around us.
“”A break in the case came in November of 2024, when evidence from 1989 was sent to a lab for DNA testing, along with several months of interviews; they discovered Joel had been arrested for domestic assault while he and Ronna lived in Iowa.””
?? They didn’t know that years ago? Why wasn’t he a suspect earlier? How old was he when he was found/arrested? How did they run him down? Bad reporting - full of holes.
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