Blue Earth County authorities are investigating the death of a 57-year-old woman found in her rural Lake Crystal home Thursday night.

The victim, Kristi Joy Gardner, was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds and law enforcement quickly identified her former partner, 64-year-old Gary Mark Rodewald, of New Ulm, as a person of interest in the case.

Deputies with the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office responded to Gardner’s residence on 515th Avenue, just north of Highway 60, at 7:18 p.m. on Jan. 9 after a friend called 911, reporting her unresponsive inside the home. First responders determined Gardner had already died by the time they arrived.

By Friday morning, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office released a provisional report identifying her cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death as homicide. Early in the investigation, law enforcement learned Gardner and Rodewald had been in a relationship and began efforts to locate him.

Authorities tracked Rodewald to his home in New Ulm and called in the Emergency Response Unit for assistance due to the involvement of a firearm. At around 6 a.m., officers located Rodewald inside a vehicle in the garage at his residence. Rodewald was unresponsive from what authorities believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Rodewald was transported by ambulance to a Minneapolis hospital, where he remains in critical condition in an intensive care unit.

The Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation with assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Officials have stated there is no ongoing threat to the public, but they have not yet released additional details about the case.

UPDATE | Wednesday, Jan. 15

Rodewald died Sunday morning at a Minneapolis hospital, Blue Earth County authorities confirmed, saying the incident is being investigated as a murder-suicide.

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