WI WI - Betty Rolf, 60, Appleton, 6 November 1988

On November 6 1988, Betty Rolf left around 6 a.m. to go to work at the Country Aire restaurant. She never made it there and a missing persons report was filed by her family the next day. Her body was later found wedged behind a concrete abutment, under the overpass. The official cause of death was listed as asphyxiation; she had been beaten and sexually assaulted. A DNA profile of the perpetrator was created and entered into the national database but investigators say that they have never gotten a hit. The DNA sample has eliminated just about everybody connected to Betty. This includes her husband, whom was a person of interest during the initial stages of the investigation.

The restaurant was ten blocks from her home. She normally didn't walk to work but decided to do so that morning because of a snowstorm. The nature of the homicide was very personal and violent. Investigators believed that the person responsible would have attacked again. There's still a chance that a connection might be made but after 27 years, her family doesn't have high hopes that her murder will be solved.

Family of woman slain in 1988 remains bitter

Charlie Rolf has all but given up hope that his mother’s killer will be brought to justice.

“I don’t think it will ever be solved,” the 59-year-old Appleton man said of Betty Rolf, 60, whose body was found on Nov. 7, 1988, behind a concrete abutment in Grand Chute. She had been beaten and sexually assaulted, and she died of asphyxiation.

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Betty Rolf’s daughter, Sheila Wurm, 55, of Appleton, agrees that an arrest in the brutal slaying is a long shot. “It’s gone (unsolved) for too long,” she said.

Charlie Rolf and Wurm told Post-Crescent Media in an interview this week that they have come to accept the likelihood that the killer will go unpunished. But they remain angry and bitter toward the person who killed their mother — a gentle woman known for her kindness and devotion to family.

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Daughter still hopes killer is found in 18-year-old murder December 4, 2006

Unsolved Wisconsin

Finally! An arrest made on a cold case (Betty Rolf) from Appleton, WI

Pennysmom1 said:

Finally! An arrest made on a cold case (Betty Rolf) from Appleton, WI

Suspect arrested in 34-year-old cold case murder of Appleton woman

Gene C. Meyer, a 66-year-old resident of Eatonville, Wash., has been charged with Betty Rolf's 1988 sexual assault and murder.

www.postcrescent.com

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His last address in Wisconsin was in Sheboygan, where he was arrested for felony burglary and sent to prison for two years in 1977 for several 1974 and 1975 burglary charges.

Nothing in the Wisconsin newspapers about him from 1977 thru 1988. Either he stayed clean or he was never caught for any crimes.

The year after the murder he was arrested in Washington State for DUI and driving without a license, so he must have moved to Washington right after the Wisconsin murder in 1988.

He had his own construction company, Meyer Construction, up in Washington State. Most times, burglars turn out to be rapists. US Search shows a former address at 262 Roosevelt Street, Valders, Wisconsin, which is between Appleton and Sheboygan.

Interview with Betty's daughter:

APPLETON, Wis–A man charged in a cold case murder in Grand Chute wants DNA evidence that led to his arrest thrown out at trial. The defense for Gene Meyer files a motion claiming that investigators did not have a warrant for the collection of a sample from his vehicle in Washington state last year...

Judge allows DNA evidence in 1988 Fox Valley murder case

The judge ruled to allow DNA evidence and the trial is scheduled to start April 1, 2024.