Missing: Vanderlei Szczepanik
Case: Foul Play Missing/ Presumed Deceased
Nickname: Unknown
Missing From: Omaha, Nebraska
Missing Date: December 17, 2009
Race: White Sex: Male
Age at Time Missing: 36
Height: 6′
Weight: 160-170 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Tattoos: Unknown
Scars/Piercings/Unique Marks: unknown
Other: Unknown
Police Agency: Omaha Police Department; Jeff Kozeny, (402) 444-4126
Case Number: 84144-X
Circumstance: Vanderlei has been reported missing along with his wife and young son ( whose young body was found in the Missouri River in Oct. 2011).
They have not been seen or heard from since December 17, 2009. They were living in and renovating an old school.
Case History:
The Szczepanik family lived in and were renovating a school to convert to a Church. A very religious family, they are loved and missed by many.
On January 6, a friend who normally spoke to the family daily, hadn’t been able to contact them and was concerned. When they checked the Szczepaniks’ home, they found all their belongings there, including clothes, hunting guns, furniture, computers and cellular phone chargers. Authorities stated it looked as if the Szczepaniks had intended to leave home for only a few minutes or a few hours, but something prevented them from returning. The family’s gray Nissan pickup truck was found abandoned a few blocks from their home days after their disappearances were reported. In February, Jaqueline’s beige Dodge Caravan was also located.
In May 2010, police arrested Jose Carlos Oliveria-Coutinho, Elias Lourenco-Batista, and and Valdeir Gonclaves-Santos and charged them with unlawful use of a financial transaction device. The three men, allegedly used the Szczepaniks’ personal and business cards to withdraw more than $4,000 from ATMs. The money was then spent on food and clothing. The financial transactions began right after the family disappeared. The charges against Lourenco-Batista and Gonclaves-Santos had to be dropped in January 2011 for procedural reasons. All three men are illegal immigrants from the same Brazilian town and had worked for the Szczepanik family. They were reportedly angry at Vanderlei for not paying them enough.
At his murder trial in August 2011, Gonclaves-Santos’s wife testified against him, as did the wife of Oliveria-Coutinho. The two women traveled from their homes in Brazil to report statements their husbands had made to them around the time of the Szczepaniks’ disappearances; they were the star witnesses. Right before the end of his trial, Gonclaves-Santos admitted his guilt and said he would confess and testify against Lourenco-Batista and Oliveria-Coutinho in exchange for a plea to a single count of second-degree murder and a twenty-year sentence; he may serve only ten. According to his testimony, the three men beat Vanderlei to death in front of his wife, hung Jaqueline and Christopher later that day, and threw their bodies into the Missouri River.
It wasn’t until after Gonclaves-Santos’s confession that authorities had enough evidence to charge the other suspects with murder. By that time, Lourenco-Batista had been deported to his native Brazil. It may be impossible to extradite him; the Brazilian constitution forbids it, with a few exceptions. He could be tried on Brazilian soil, however. Authorities believe Oliveria-Coutinho was the ringleader in the plot to kill the Szczepanik family. They plan to seek the death penalty against him.
Christopher’s young body (skeletal remains) were found in the river in October 2011, after Goncalves-Santos lead police to the disposal site. Authorities believe they will be able to locate Jaqueline and Vanderlei’s bodies too.
Christopher Szczepanik Jaqueline Szczepanik
