After nearly 31 years of investigation, an arrest has been made by the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office in connection to the 1995 disappearance of James “Jim” Ruland. Ruland was last seen on October 24, 1995 when a witness reported that it may have been him seen hitchhiking in North Fond du Lac. He was 40 years old and living in the Town of Ripon when he vanished. His vehicle was found later at the Stretch Truck Stop in North Fond du Lac.
Over the following years Ruland’s information was entered into the National Crime Information Center, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, and the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program databases. Evidence uncovered during the investigation shifted the case from a missing person inquiry to a homicide investigation, employing searches that included human remains detection K9s, ground-penetrating radar, aerial searches, large-scale excavations of potential burial sites, public safety divers searching waterways, and detectives searching a pig farm manure pit.
It was in 2021 that advances in forensic testing technology led to a break when additional testing of evidence previously submitted to the Wisconsin Sate Crime Lab was given a second look with “new eyes”. Results helped corroborate information gathered through interviews and other evidence analysis. And although further interviews have failed to locate Ruland’s remains, authorities believe that they have located the person responsible for his disappearance.
Working with the Fond du Lac County District Attorney’s Office, detectives obtained a search warrant for a residence in the Marathon County area of Spencer, Wisconsin, belonging to one Jerome Baier. A warrant for his arrest was served early this Friday morning and Baier was taken into custody, charged with the first-degree intentional homicide of James Ruland. Baier was Ruland’s roommate at the time of his disappearance. Baier is now in the Fond du Lac County Jail where he remains in custody awaiting an initial court appearance.
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