New London man charged in overdose deaths
By Robert Cloud
Investigators have linked two drug-related deaths to a New London man.
One victim was a New London woman whose body police found in April.
The other was a Waupaca man who was declared brain dead on June 1 and removed from life support on June 5.
Aaron B. Van Dyke, 31, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree reckless homicide as party to a crime.
At 6 p.m. Thursday, April 22, New London police responded to a call for a welfare check on 24-year-old Kendra Rateau.
She had missed work for two days and nobody had seen her recently.
When officers entered Rateau’s apartment, they found her body, gem bags of heroin and methamphetamine.
According to the criminal complaint, an autopsy found that Rateau died of an overdose of heroin and fentanyl.
New London police had received multiple tips that Van Dyke and April Hardegen were trafficking heroin into Waupaca County.
When investigators reviewed Rateau’s phone, they reported finding text messages indicating that Hardegen sold heroin to Rateau on April 20.
Detectives with the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office had also linked Hardegen to Jordan May’s death due to a May 30 overdose in the town of Lind.
Patrick M. Rhoden, 36, Appleton, and Jessica A. Bell, 39, Wisconsin Rapids, were also charged following May’s death.
Hardegen reportedly told investigators that she and Van Dyke purchased heroin and fentanyl in Milwaukee and sold it in Waupaca County.
She said Van Dyke would front the money and she would help sell it in exchange for getting high, the complaint says.
Currently in custody on a $100,000 cash bond, Van Dyke faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.