After nearly 30 years, there is a new push to find answers in a missing person’s cold case in Mendota.
The case revolves around Veronica Blumhorst, who was last seen on Sept. 20, 1990. The then-21-year-old vanished without a trace, and although there have been no fresh leads in years, Mendota Police Chief Greg Kellen is hoping that one new tip can breathe new life into the case.
“It’s tough because it is something you don’t want hanging over your community or agency,” he said.
Blumhorst’s disappearance still haunts Kellen, who was a rookie on the force when she disappeared.
“There was a massive search of the neighborhood, and we canvassed every backyard and vehicle in an attempt to locate some sign of her,” he said.
Blumhorst was last seen leaving her job at a local grocery store around 1 a.m. On the day she went missing, her car was found in the garage, but there was no sign of the missing woman.
“We treat this case as both a missing person’s case and a homicide investigation,” Kellen said.
Local
Steve Lauer, who now lives in the home where Blumhorst and her parents lived, said they came to visit a few years ago, just to walk through the home and see if anything could serve as a clue to her whereabouts.
“It was nice to see them walk through,” he said.
Kellen said that not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about Veronica and her parents, and he still dreams of solving this long-standing case.
“We want to find the answer for the family and the city of Mendota,” he said. “We are not going to give up. We will not stop looking for Veronica or her killer.”
