The Disappearance of Krista Marie Sypher: A Mother Vanishes Without a Trace
In the quiet community of Plover, Wisconsin, a town of barely 13,000 residents nestled in the heart of Portage County, March 13, 2017, marked the last time anyone would see Krista Marie Sypher alive. The 44-year-old mother of three, known for her vibrant personality and constant communication with friends, simply vanished. Her case would evolve from a puzzling missing person investigation into one of Wisconsin's most compelling bodyless homicide prosecutions, ultimately exposing a darker reality hidden beneath the surface of what appeared to be an ordinary suburban life.
The Woman Who Never Stopped Talking
Those who knew Krista described her as anything but quiet. She was energetic, social, and maintained an almost compulsive need to stay connected with her circle of friends. Angie Zoromski, who had maintained an 18-year friendship with Krista, knew her friend's communication habits intimately. The two had been gym partners, confidantes through life's various chapters, and maintained the kind of friendship that weathers time and change. According to Zoromski, Krista's persistence in reaching out was legendary among her friends. If you didn't answer her call, she would text you. If you didn't answer her text, she would call you again. This pattern of constant contact made her sudden silence all the more alarming.
Krista worked as an educational assistant at McDill Elementary School in the Stevens Point School District, a position that placed her in daily contact with children and families. Her coworkers and the parents she interacted with knew her as caring and dedicated. Beyond her professional life, she was a mother to three children, including one from a previous relationship. By all accounts, she was deeply invested in her children's lives and wellbeing, making her later disappearance even more perplexing to those who knew her maternal devotion.
A Marriage Fracturing at the Seams
The Sypher household, however, was far from the picture of domestic tranquility. Krista had been married to Jason P. Sypher for over a decade, but their relationship had deteriorated significantly by early 2017. Friends and family members were aware of ongoing tensions, and there were documented allegations of domestic abuse within the marriage. The couple lived in a small duplex on Hoffman Drive in Plover, a residence so compact that it would later become a crucial detail in understanding what happened to Krista.
Both Krista and Jason were aware of each other's extramarital relationships. Krista had been seeing another man, Corey Kitowski, though their romantic involvement had ended before her disappearance. Kitowski would later tell investigators that he had broken things off when he realized Krista was not actually going to divorce Jason, despite her claims to the contrary. The two remained on friendly terms, occasionally talking in the weeks leading up to her vanishing. Jason himself had been involved with another woman during his marriage, a former girlfriend who would later provide disturbing testimony about his capacity for violence.
Adding another layer of complexity to the Sypher marriage was the couple's financial situation. Jason would later claim that Krista had stolen $30,000 in cash that he had been saving to purchase a new truck. However, investigators discovered something quite different. Bank records revealed that it was actually Jason who had withdrawn nearly $40,000 from the couple's accounts in multiple transactions throughout early 2017, right up until Krista's disappearance. Law enforcement never determined what happened to that money, but the discrepancy between Jason's claims and the documentary evidence would become a pattern.
The Night Before
On March 12, 2017, Krista spent the evening with her friend Amber Maslowski Haferman. The two went out to dinner, enjoying what appeared to be a normal evening together. This was also significant for another reason: it was the day Krista finally had her orthopedic boot removed. She had broken her ankle in December 2016, and for months had been hobbling around in the medical device. Even with the boot removed, she was still limping noticeably from her injury, a detail that would later factor into questions about how she could have left her home.
Later that night, another friend received text messages from Krista expressing anger toward Jason. The messages indicated she was considering moving out of the duplex they shared. These texts represented some of the last communications anyone would receive from Krista's phone. The next day, everything changed.
March 13: The Day Everything Went Wrong
According to Jason's account, March 13 began normally enough. He claimed that he and Krista dropped their two daughters off at school together that morning. They went to a tanning salon together and returned home in the same vehicle. Jason told investigators that he last saw his wife napping in their home around the time he left to run some errands. When he returned, she was gone. He would maintain that Krista had taken off with her boyfriend and had left voluntarily, despite not actually witnessing her departure from their small duplex, a physical space so limited that she would have had to walk past him to exit.
But the evidence painted a very different picture of what transpired that day. Surveillance footage would later reveal that Jason made a trip to Menards, a regional home improvement store, where he purchased 39-gallon plastic trash bags. This seemingly innocuous purchase would become a critical piece of the prosecution's case. When questioned about his activities on March 13, Jason failed to mention this shopping trip, and the bags he purchased were never accounted for.
Krista left behind her vehicle, which remained parked at the duplex. Given her recent ankle injury and continued limp, her friends found it implausible that she would have walked away from the residence. Angie Zoromski took the initiative to call local cab companies, but none reported picking up a passenger from the Sypher address on March 13. How Krista left the duplex, if she left at all, remained a mystery to everyone except, presumably, the person who had been there with her.
Seven Days of Silence
What happened next would strike investigators as particularly suspicious. Jason Sypher did not immediately report his wife missing. He waited a full week, until March 20, 2017, before walking into the Plover Police Department. He was accompanied by his children and Krista's father, Richard Kellerman Jr., who had apparently urged him to file the report. Jason told Officer Jennifer Graham that he hadn't heard from Krista in seven days and reiterated his story about her leaving with her boyfriend.
The delay itself raised red flags. For a woman who texted and called constantly, who never went more than hours without checking in with friends and family, seven days of complete silence should have been alarming from the very first day. Yet Jason had gone about his business, conducted his daily activities, and waited a full week before involving law enforcement.
When police began investigating, they quickly discovered inconsistencies in Jason's narrative. Corey Kitowski confirmed that he and Krista were not in a romantic relationship at the time of her disappearance and that he had not seen her or helped her leave Plover. Krista's cell phone had been turned off since March 13, making it impossible for law enforcement to track her movements through normal means. Her three children, now without their mother, were placed in the primary custody of Krista's parents.
The Investigation Unfolds
Plover Police Chief Dan Ault would later describe the case as one that consumed him. He kept a photo of Krista on his desk, a constant reminder of the mother who had vanished from his small community. The investigation quickly mobilized significant resources, with as many as 40 investigators from various agencies working the case at one point. The Sypher home was searched, and several disturbing discoveries were made.
During an initial search of the residence, a cadaver dog named Crosby, handled by Madison Police Officer Jason Baumgart, indicated the presence of human decomposition in multiple locations. The dog alerted in the couple's bedroom, in a bathroom drain, and in Jason Sypher's truck. Additionally, the K9 alerted to laundered clothing in the washing machine. While Crosby had only recently completed his training and had worked just a handful of crime scenes, his 97 percent accuracy rate gave investigators confidence in the findings.
Detectives also noticed that a large butcher knife was missing from a knife set in the home. When questioned, Jason explained that he had disposed of the knife because there had been an incident between him and Krista involving the blade, which had resulted in him being cut. The missing knife was never recovered, and police never definitively determined its fate.
Technology provided another avenue of investigation. The GPS system in the couple's Chevy Cruze revealed a pattern of suspicious activity in the days following Krista's disappearance. The vehicle had stopped at or near public dumpsters around Plover on multiple occasions between March 13 and March 16. Surveillance footage caught Jason driving up to a dumpster, stopping briefly, and then driving away. When investigators reviewed the footage more closely, they found his fingerprints on a shopping bag that had been discarded.
Perhaps most chilling was surveillance video from the Portage County Solid Waste Transfer Facility in Mosinee, which processes garbage from Plover. Footage from the facility, recorded on March 20 (the day Jason finally reported Krista missing), showed a long black plastic bag consistent with the size and shape of a human body falling from a garbage truck as it emptied its load. The Wilson Avenue dumpsters that Jason had visited on March 16 had been emptied on March 20, and the timing aligned perfectly with the video evidence.
Additionally, the garbage disposal driver had noted something unusual about the Sypher household's trash on March 14, the day after Krista disappeared. The container weighed between 80 and 90 pounds, significantly exceeding the garbage company's 60-pound limit. The garbage was also in a different container than usual. Jason had also made multiple trips to the Portage County Solid Waste Transfer Facility on March 15 and 16, further suggesting he was disposing of something he desperately wanted to remain hidden.
The Digital Trail
Law enforcement's investigation into the couple's electronic devices revealed more suspicious behavior. When police examined Jason's cell phone, they found that his call logs and messages had been deleted. Jason claimed this was routine, explaining that he deleted his phone records regularly because he received hundreds of calls and texts daily for work. However, he later admitted that he hadn't actually worked since December 2016, undermining this explanation entirely.
Krista's iPad was also examined for potential evidence, but investigators discovered that its internet history had been wiped clean before the device was turned over to police. Someone had taken deliberate steps to erase the digital footprint from both devices, suggesting premeditation and an attempt to cover tracks.
Krista's mangled iPhone was eventually located in a dumpster, along with some of her clothing. The phone's condition and location suggested it had been deliberately destroyed and discarded. None of the fingerprints on the phone itself were readable, but prints on the shopping bag containing the phone matched Jason's.
A Pattern of Violence
As the investigation deepened, detectives tracked down Jason's former girlfriend from 2008 to 2009. Her testimony would prove devastating. She described multiple instances of violence during their relationship and recounted a particularly terrifying incident in which Jason had sexually assaulted her. Following the assault, he had threatened to kill her and bury her body where it would never be found. The eerie parallel to what prosecutors believed had happened to Krista was impossible to ignore.
Witnesses also described the violence that had characterized the Sypher marriage. The couple's children had witnessed physical abuse between their parents, creating a toxic environment within the small duplex. Court documents would later reveal that both Krista and Jason had engaged in physical altercations, though Jason was described by prosecutors as controlling and highly manipulative.
Jason had painted a picture of Krista to investigators and family members that portrayed her as unstable, possibly bipolar, and potentially suicidal. He suggested she was a chronic liar who couldn't be trusted. However, this characterization stood in stark contrast to the accounts provided by her friends, coworkers, and acquaintances, who described a very different person: someone who was caring, dedicated to her children, and brought joy to those around her.
The Arrest
On August 24, 2018, more than 17 months after Krista's disappearance, the Wisconsin State Patrol arrested Jason Sypher during a traffic stop on Interstate 39/90, approximately five miles north of the Illinois-Wisconsin border. He had moved to Chicago, Illinois, shortly after his wife vanished, distancing himself from the community where she had disappeared.
He was transported to the Portage County Jail and charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse. His bond was set at $750,000 cash. Plover Police Chief Dan Ault expressed confidence that they had built a strong case despite the absence of Krista's body. Prosecutors believed they had enough circumstantial evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Krista was dead and that Jason had killed her.
The Trial: A Community Watches
The trial began in October 2019, nearly two years after Krista was last seen. Judge Thomas Eagon presided over the five-day proceeding, which included testimony from dozens of witnesses. The courtroom was packed with local police officers, friends and family members of Krista, and community members invested in seeing justice served.
Jason's defense attorney, Gary Kryshak, argued that the case was entirely circumstantial, built on inference rather than concrete evidence. He emphasized repeatedly that there was no body and no blood to prove that Krista was actually dead. The defense suggested that Krista could still be alive, that she had a history of dishonesty, and that reported sightings of her had occurred since her disappearance. During the trial, Kryshak pointed out that even some of Krista's own family members believed she might still be out there somewhere.
The defense also challenged the cadaver dog evidence, arguing that Crosby's alerts occurred in areas that Krista had regularly used while she was alive, which could explain the presence of her scent or biological material. They contended that surveillance footage did not definitively show Jason dumping a bag large enough to contain a body and that the prosecution's theory relied too heavily on speculation.
In a particularly dramatic moment during the trial, Krista's own mother testified. When asked directly if she thought her daughter was still alive, she answered yes. Judge Eagon immediately instructed the jury to disregard her response, but the emotional weight of a mother's hope hung heavy in the courtroom.
Krista's sister also testified, acknowledging under defense questioning that Krista had lied to friends and family on various occasions. The defense used this testimony to support their theory that Krista was unreliable and could have manufactured her own disappearance.
However, prosecutors presented a compelling narrative supported by circumstantial evidence that, when viewed together, told a damning story. Assistant Attorney General Annie Jay and Portage County District Attorney Louis Molepske laid out the case methodically: Jason had the motive, means, and opportunity to kill his wife. The marriage was broken, but Jason didn't want a divorce that would force him to split assets and pay child support. He had a history of violence with women. He had purchased heavy-duty trash bags on the day of Krista's disappearance and failed to account for them. He had made multiple suspicious trips to dumpsters. Cadaver dogs had alerted to human decomposition in his truck and home. He had disposed of Krista's phone and destroyed evidence. He had lied repeatedly about his activities and whereabouts.
The prosecution also presented Jason as someone who had manipulated not just investigators but his own children and Krista's family. He had crafted a narrative that painted Krista as an unstable person who would abandon her children, attempting to destroy her reputation even as he was allegedly destroying her life.
The Verdict and Sentence
On October 23, 2019, after just 90 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned with their verdict. They found Jason Sypher guilty on both counts: first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse. The swift deliberation suggested the jury found the prosecution's case convincing despite the lack of physical remains.
The sentencing hearing on November 26, 2019, brought together all the emotional threads of the case. Prosecutors requested life in prison without the possibility of parole, arguing that Jason deserved the maximum penalty not only for taking Krista's life but for the massive cover-up that followed. Annie Jay told Judge Eagon that Jason was being sentenced for obliterating the mother of these children from the face of the earth and for committing the most serious crime under Wisconsin law.
Judge Eagon, in explaining his sentence, noted that Jason appeared to be controlling and highly manipulative. The judge found that Jason had controlled information about Krista to her family, to their children, and to police. He had shown a complete lack of empathy for his children's need to have their mother's love and to know that their mother would be there for them. Perhaps most tragically, Jason had manipulated the children into believing their mother had abandoned them willingly.
Judge Eagon sentenced Jason Sypher to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. For the charge of hiding a corpse, he received the maximum penalty of 10 years, to be served concurrently with the life sentence. With credit for time already served, Jason would be 76 years old before he could potentially petition for supervised release.
Throughout the sentencing hearing, Jason Sypher remained emotionless. When given the opportunity to make a statement, he spoke in an even, measured tone, reading from a prepared text. He disagreed with the results of the trial and maintained his complete innocence. He stated that he did not commit a homicide, did not hide a corpse, and that he was 100 percent innocent of all charges. He concluded by saying he would be moving forward with his issues and that he loved his family.
In a heartbreaking twist, Krista's father, Richard Kellerman Jr., also spoke during the sentencing hearing. Despite the jury's conviction, he maintained his belief that his daughter was still alive somewhere. He expressed disappointment with the trial process, criticized various aspects of the investigation, and stated he did not believe Jason had done anything wrong. He asked the judge for leniency. The divide within Krista's own family added another layer of tragedy to an already devastating case.
The Landfill Search and Unanswered Questions
One of the most extensive efforts in the investigation involved a search of a Wisconsin Rapids landfill in July 2017. Based on the surveillance footage from the transfer facility and the GPS evidence showing Jason's movements, investigators believed Krista's remains had likely ended up in the landfill after being processed with Plover's municipal garbage.
Plover police officers spent five grueling days combing through the landfill, searching for any sign of Krista's body or personal effects. Despite their exhaustive efforts, they found nothing. Chief Ault would later explain in interviews that they believe Krista is likely still in a landfill somewhere, but the sheer volume of waste and the time that had elapsed made recovering her remains nearly impossible.
The failure to locate Krista's body remains one of the most painful aspects of the case for her friends and family. Without physical remains, there can be no proper burial, no place to visit, no sense of closure. Krista's loved ones are left knowing what likely happened to her while being unable to bring her home.
Legacy and Reflection
The conviction of Jason Sypher represented one of Wisconsin's rare bodyless homicide prosecutions, a testament to the strength of the circumstantial evidence and the dedication of law enforcement. The case demonstrated that even without a body, it is possible to prove murder beyond a reasonable doubt when the collective weight of evidence becomes overwhelming.
For the community of Plover, the case shattered any illusion that small-town life is immune to violent crime. Behind the closed door of what appeared to be an ordinary duplex on Hoffman Drive, a troubled marriage had escalated to a fatal conclusion. Chief Ault, who had kept Krista's photo on his desk throughout the investigation, described it as a case that would never go away, one that had left an indelible mark on everyone involved.
Krista's three children grew up without their mother, raised primarily by their grandparents. They were left to navigate the impossible situation of processing their mother's death while their father sat in prison for her murder. For these children, one of Jason's cruelest acts may have been his manipulation of them into believing their mother had chosen to abandon them, adding psychological trauma to their profound loss.
Friends like Angie Zoromski and Amber Maslowski Haferman were left grieving not just the loss of their friend but the shocking revelation of what had happened to her. The woman who never stopped talking, who would call and text until you responded, had been silenced forever. Her energetic presence, her dedication to her children, and her role in the community vanished on March 13, 2017, leaving only questions and grief in its wake.
The Krista Marie Sypher case serves as a sobering reminder that domestic violence can escalate to homicide, that appearances can be deceiving, and that justice can sometimes be achieved even in the most challenging circumstances. While Krista's body has never been recovered, her memory lives on through those who loved her and through a legal system that, despite enormous obstacles, held her killer accountable.
Today, Jason Sypher remains incarcerated, maintaining his innocence while serving a life sentence. Krista Marie Sypher remains missing, her final resting place unknown. And in Plover, Wisconsin, a small community continues to remember a mother, friend, and educational assistant whose life was cut short in the most tragic of circumstances.
Sources
- The Charley Project: Krista Marie Sypher
- Law & Crime: Jason Sypher Killed Krista Sypher
- NBC News: Husband Arrested for Murder
- WSAW: Forgotten Wisconsin Cold Cases
- Point/Plover Metro Wire: Five Years Later
- MEAWW: K9 Detects Human Remains
- Wisconsin Department of Justice: Sentencing
- NBC News: Missing in America Profile
- Point/Plover Metro Wire: Sypher Sentenced
- Stevens Point News: Cadaver Dog Evidence
