67-year-old man charged with Betty Rolf's 1988 murder held on $2 million bail

APPLETON – More than 34 years since Betty Rolf's murder, a suspect made his first appearance in the case Monday at the Outagamie County Courthouse over video.

Gene C. Meyer, 67, is held on $2 million bail for the 1988 homicide and sexual assault of Rolf, a 60-year-old Appleton woman. Meyer was arrested in Washington on Dec. 7. He was extradited to Wisconsin and booked into the Outagamie County Jail on Friday.

Meyer's preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 28.

"I don't think he should ever see the light of day again, put it that way," Rolf's daughter, Sheila Wurm, said. "He got 34 and a half years to run, well my mom didn't get any of that."

Rolf was reported missing after she had failed to show up for work the morning of Nov. 6, 1988. The following day, police found her body near a railroad underpass on West Spencer Street in Grand Chute. She had been beaten and sexually assaulted.

Investigators determined Rolf left her home before 6 a.m. and walked through a snowstorm to the former Country Aire banquet hall, where she worked in the laundry department, about 10 blocks from her house.

An autopsy found Rolf had been strangled and had blunt force trauma to her head.

In 1988, the Wisconsin Crime Lab did not have the ability to test DNA from evidence, according to the criminal complaint. But in 2001, the crime lab ran tests and identified a male source, according to the complaint. The investigation at that time ruled out anyone connected to Rolf.

In 2019, investigators began conducting a familial DNA search, which detected and statistically ranked people in the DNA database who may potentially be the source of the DNA, or a close biological relative, the complaint said. The search identified two candidates: Meyer and his brother.

Meyer's brother told investigators he believed Meyer was dead. After providing a DNA sample, investigators ruled out Meyer's brother as a suspect.

Investigators found Meyer had at one time lived a mile from where Rolf's body was found in 1988. In 2022, they traced Meyer's home to about an hour south of Tacoma, Washington, and with the help of local authorities, obtained a sample of his DNA from his truck. It was a match for the male DNA found at the crime scene, according to the complaint.

If convicted, Meyer may face life in prison.

Wurm said she wants people to know positive things about her mother.

"She was a beautiful person. She loved life," Wurm said. "Springtime was her favorite time of the year. We're coming up on that."

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

RELATED:Betty Rolf's family wants justice after a suspect's arrest in her 34-year-old murder

Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Man charged with Betty Rolf's 1988 murder in Appleton held on bail