It has now been almost 22 years since Anne Dunlap was murdered in Minneapolis, just days after Christmas. The video (purple hyperlink below) contains a clip of Anne’s husband, Brad Dunlap on January 1, 1996. The same day Anne’s 1987 Toyota Celica was found in the Kmart parking lot by friends of the couple. (There were conflicting reports on whether Brad instructed the friends to check there, or they found it on their own). At the time of Brad’s clip, Anne’s car was located, but her body had not yet been discovered in the trunk. Brad was recorded as stating that he and Anne planned to meet at around 4:30 on December 30, 1995 to run an errand and go out to dinner. This video also includes an interview with Anne’s parents (in 2016), still grieving after 20 years and still waiting for answers.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Twenty years have passed since a Minneapolis woman went missing and was later found dead on New Years’ day. And still, the murder of Anne Dunlap remains unsolved.
The 31-year-old Pillsbury executive was found in the trunk of her car at a south Minneapolis Kmart parking lot. Two decades later, Anne’s parents still wait for answers.
“It gets a lot better but you never really get over it,” Donn Barber said.
Anne Dunlap was a vibrant young woman, an avid runner who had just earned a promotion at Pillsbury. She went shopping on December 30th, and never returned home. WCCO spoke with her husband Brad Dunlap at the time.
“We were supposed to meet around 4:30 p.m. to run an errand and go out to dinner that night. She never showed up,” Brad Dunlap said on Jan. 1, 1996.
Police found Anne’s car in a Kmart parking lot 2 days later, her keys still in the ignition. Her body was in the trunk. The 31-year-old had been stabbed multiple times around the head and neck.
“I still wake up in the night dreaming, not dreaming, thinking of what happened and how she felt at that horrible time,” Louise Barber said.
Almost immediately Brad became a suspect. The Barbers have stood behind their son-in-law since day one, and they’d like to see him exonerated. The couple was living with them while building their dream home and trying for a family.
“He was more broken up than we were even,” Donn Barber said.
“And I consider it a double whammy. We lost Anne and we ended up losing Brad, in a sense that he had to leave,” Louise Barber said.
The Barbers will never give up hope that advances in DNA will provide answers or that somebody with information will come forward.
“If they know anything to say something. There must be somebody out there that knows what happened,” Louise Barber said.
Each year, the Barber’s award two female students at the U of M’s Carlson School of Management with a scholarship in Anne’s name.
No arrest has ever been made in her case. Anyone with information should contact police. You can also call crime stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
By Jennifer Mayerle
2 Comments
Tellussomething · 11.17.17 at 10:03 am
December 30 will be a Saturday this year too.
triciafiske · 11.17.17 at 12:02 pm
Yes, it will! In fact this year’s whole calendar is identical to 1995!