Posted Thursday, November 5, 2009 -- 10:00 p.m.
By NBC15's Dana Brueck

Six years ago, when many were celebrating Christmas with their families, a Green County family was burying one of their own.

Now, the search for the man's killer deepens as police make a new plea for information in this cold case.

"This is as cold as they get," Beloit Police Capt. Bill Tyler says.

"We figured someone nearby had to have seen something or heard something," he says, "But ... we didn't have any bonafide witnesses at the time."

"It was December 19th, 2003," Tyler says, "It was a cold day, I remember."

"There was a call that morning, in regards to him not showing up for work."

"It was unusual for him not to be at work."

"The initial call was they had a person who was supposed to be checked out by 11 o'clock, and they hadn't checked out. They were very concerned."

Beloit Police Capt. Bill Tyler was across the street having lunch, when he realized this Friday would be no ordinary day at work.

"It was clear that a very serious beating had occurred here," he says, "Then we started a death investigation."

The investigation began with trying to identify the man found naked, savagely beaten inside of Room 9 at Ike's Motel.

"From our investigation, something happened probably in those first few hours before daylight."

Police quickly discovered the reliable employee missing from his job at Hormel was their victim -- a 56-year-old man named Anthony Kundert, a widower with a steady job and a home of his own in Beloit.

"To check in at a hotel at 2:30 a.m. on a work day when you're supposed to be at work was a question that we had."

"Growing up on the farm like we did, I mean we felt like a family," Tony's sister Mary Rufer says.

Anthony, or Tony, grew up in the small, rural community of Brodhead...

"I was probably more the little devil than he was, but one of us would get in trouble," Tony's brother Joe Kundert says.

...a big brother in a big family...

"He was just a nice brother, a nice brother to have..."

"This was the last picture we had together, before he was murdered."

A party less than a week before Tony's death would be the last time everyone would be together.

"I'll see you on Christmas... you know, was the last thing I think I said to him."

Tony's funeral would be held Christmas Eve day.

"From all of the evidence we found, there was some type of consensual encounter at that hotel, and clearly, what happened afterward is the question," Tyler says, "As far as suspects, there's never been somebody identified as a suspect."

Police say it's obvious whoever beat Anthony Kundert to death inside of this hotel room tried to clean up the scene but still left behind a critical piece of evidence.

"We have unknown DNA found in immediate proximity to the victim and in the room."

But Tyler says where Tony was found -- at the motel, well known to transients, near the Illinois border and near the Interstate -- could make finding his killer more difficult.

"We know he had been in the downtown area, at the time, prior to checking in."

"We need somebody who might know, who had known the victim, in a different way than maybe his normal workplace and normal family setting."

A setting far removed from the violence of his final hours...

"Sometimes I'm doing the laundry and all of a sudden, I catch myself... once in a while. Oh yeah, we gotta remember to tell Tony. Oh, that's right he's gone," Rufer says.

"It's just hard to accept it... why I keep busy," Tony's brother Harold Kundert says.

"We gave him a hug and told him we'd see him at Christmas... didn't get the chance.. We didn't get to say goodbye," Tony's sister Audrey Weber says.

Again, police need your help to match the DNA found at the scene to help solve this case.
If you have any information, contact Beloit Police or Crime Stoppers.

Beloit Police Dept.
Det. John Fahrney
(608) 364-6840

Crime Stoppers
608-362-7463