Kristi Joy Gardner Obituary, Death; – A 57-year-old woman, identified as Kristi Joy Gardner, was fatally shot multiple times at her home just outside Lake Crystal on Thursday night. Law enforcement officials quickly established that Gardner had been in a relationship with 64-year-old Gary Mark Rodewald from New Ulm and initiated efforts to locate him overnight.
Rodewald was found by the Brown, Lyon, Redwood, and Renville County Emergency Response Unit at 6 a.m. Friday, inside a vehicle parked in a garage at his residence in New Ulm. He was discovered unresponsive, suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Subsequently, he was transported to a hospital in Minneapolis, where he remained unresponsive in the intensive care unit as of Friday night.
At 7:18 p.m. on Thursday, deputies from the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department and personnel from Lake Crystal Ambulance were dispatched to a residence on 515th Avenue, located just north of Highway 60 in rural Lake Crystal. The 911 caller reported finding a friend unresponsive within the home. Upon arrival, first responders confirmed that the female resident was deceased.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, with the Sheriff’s Office receiving assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
