MOORESVILLE, NC — Investigators used cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar Monday to search several sites that may offer new information in the 2003 disappearance of Bernadette Rodko.
Mooresville Police, along with the State Bureau of Investigation and with assistance from a forensic unit at Western Carolina University searched several areas of interest on Ketchie Drive and East Wilson Avenue. Officials say investigators recently developed new leads in the search for Rodko, who went missing in the early morning hours of October 17, 2003.
According to reports, several individuals have been recently identified who may have seen or spoken with Rodko before she disappeared. Officials say they’re in the process of contacting those people, which could lead to additional searches.
Mooresville Police and the SBI have been investigating the case as a homicide for some time, and hope these new leads will help find Bernadette’s remains and lead to the identification and arrest of her killer(s). Captain David Call, Mooresville Police Department, says, “Law enforcement agencies across the United States are dedicated to returning Bernadette to her family and are confident the killer(s) will be brought to justice.”
The results of today’s search are still pending.
Police say Rodko was last seen around 3am on October 17, 2003 on I-77 near Mile Marker 43. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, she was traveling to Mooresville to meet with her foster brother, Chris Kamionka, in hopes of settling a financial matter. Officials say Rodko got a flat tire and was helped by a lieutenant with Mooresville PD until Kamionka arrived and changed the tire.
Rodko has not been seen or heard from since. She would have been 58 on August 6, 2017.
Anyone with information on the disappearance of Bernadette Rodko is asked to call the Mooresville Police Department at 704-664-3311.
