A Douglas county man who arrested in 2007 for the murder of Rene Williams, who was a bartender at the Eagles Lodge in Ava, and who took his own life while in jail has now been linked to a murder in the state of Wisconsin.
Reports surfaced that Christopher Ravek has now been tied to the 2006 murder of Deidra Harm. Closing a lengthy cold case.
Sheriff Chris Degase of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department posted this statement on the department’s social media outlet:
Finally, some closure for the Deidra Harm Family after 19 long years.
As I was working on the Renee Williams homicide, I did not believe that this was the first time Chris Revak had committed a murder.
After obtaining Revak’s history and places he had lived, I began Google searching women abducted from bars. That Google search for women abducted from bars in Wisconsin Rapids resulted in an article about Deidra Harms’ abduction, with a composite drawing of the last person she was seen with. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Chris Revak.
I contacted the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin Rapids PD and provided them with the suspects. I was able to obtain records from Revak’s work that placed him in Wisconsin Rapids and the time of Deidra’s abduction. Now, 19 years after her murder, Revak has been identified as her killer.
There is something to be said for persistence in this line of work. Thank you to the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin Rapids PD for having the tenacity to solve this case.
“This is why I do this job. I am happy that I could be a small part of this investigation to bring justice and hopefully some closure to Deidra Harm and her family.”
