Dead body found hidden in vehicle after arrest in Cambridge

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - A dead body was found hidden inside the vehicle of a woman who was arrested Monday after a confrontation with Dane Co. Sheriff’s Office deputies in Cambridge.

The Sheriff’s Office did not release the name of the individual whose body was discovered. Investigators did determine the death happened elsewhere from where the body was discovered and that the death investigation is being led by the Milwaukee Police Dept. and any related charges are expected to come from there.

The Milwaukee Police Dept. told NBC15 News the victim was a 34-year-old Kaukauna man who died in a shooting around 2:20 a.m., more than 17 hours before his body was discovered, in the 200 block of W. Fairmont Ave., in Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Police Department stated in a report that the circumstances leading up to the shooting are still under investigation.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies found the body after they responded around 7:41 p.m. to the BP location, at 281 W. Main St., on complaints of a woman who was asking for money and a ride.

The Sheriff’s Office identified her as 28-year-old Angelina Ruesch.

Dominick Erickson said he met Ruesch outside his home, next door to the gas station. “It seemed like she was just desperate,” he said. “She was trying to force herself into my friend’s car a little bit.”

His mother Sarah Westlund said Ruesch asked to use the phone. “She called somebody and was trying to get a ride,” she said. “She just kept saying she parked the car at the Piggly Wiggly and the car is sitting there, ‘Please come and get me.’”

Westlund said officers found Ruesch inside her garage. Ruesch allegedly had a handgun and was refusing authorities’ instructions. The Sheriff’s Office reports deputies deployed a Taser, however it proved unsuccessful. They were then able to arrest the Hartland woman safely.

After taking Ruesch into custody, detectives located the vehicle she was traveling in at a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, on Jefferson St., where they found the body, the Sheriff’s Office’s statement continued.

Westlund said, “She made it very clear that she had just been fighting with her boyfriend. She said it plenty of times. I asked her, ‘Where’s your boyfriend?’ She kept saying, ‘It doesn’t matter. He’s gone.’”

Law enforcement from Dane Co. and Milwaukee have not confirmed the relationship between Ruesch and the man found dead in her car.

Currently, she is being held at the Dane Co. jail on a probation hold, according to the Sheriff’s Office, which added that counts of Recklessly Endangering Safety, Resisting While Armed, Disorderly Conduct While Armed and Carrying a Concealed Weapon are expected to be added.

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