Shivangi Sinha
On the morning of October 11, 1976, Christine, Steven, and Linda Zapata headed off to school. It was a perfectly normal morning for them in Madison, Wisconsin, where they had grown up, and they had seen their mother just before leaving. When they returned home, she was nowhere to be found, and they never saw her again. For a long time, they believed their mother had abandoned them of her own accord. But in 2008, when their father confessed to the homicide, all the pieces finally fell into place. CBS’ ‘48 Hours: Into Thin Air’ features an interview with her youngest daughter, Linda, who also played a role in assisting with the investigation.
Jean and Eugene Zapata’s Kids Didn’t Discuss Their Mother’s Disappearance
In 1976, Christine, Steven, and Linda were 16, 14, and 11 years old, respectively. They had grown up in Madison, Wisconsin, in a comfortable home, but that year had been difficult for their family. In May 1976, their mother, Jean Zapata, filed for divorce from their father, Eugene Zapata, who subsequently moved out of the house. In fact, after Jean obtained a restraining order, their father was only allowed to visit them for two hours on Saturdays, and that was the extent of his contact. The three children were in school, and though it was a turbulent time, they still had their mother, who was devoted to them. On the morning of October 11, 1976, she was in the kitchen when Linda last saw her as she walked out of the house.
By the time the children returned home, Jean was gone, and three days later, her coworker filed a missing person report. According to Linda, there was little discussion about why their mother had left; their father simply told them that she was gone. Linda said that she and her siblings shut down and didn’t speak about it, and she didn’t even say the word “mom” until she was in her 20s. About three weeks later, Eugene moved back in with them, but they never received any answers. Linda explained that she had always believed her mother had abandoned them, and that’s what she told others until 2005, when the investigation was reopened.
Linda was the only one of the children involved in the investigation. When detectives first approached her, the first thing she asked was whether her father was involved. It was something she said that came out instinctively, at a time when she didn’t know much. As the police worked on the case, she alerted them when Eugene returned to Wisconsin in April 2005, suspecting he was tampering with evidence. In August 2005, she even agreed to record her conversations with him, directly asking if he had been involved in any way. These recordings were played at Eugene’s 2007 trial, but he was not found guilty after the jury was hung.
Jean and Eugene Zapata’s Kids Had Different Opinions About Their Father’s Involvement
In September 2007, before Eugene Zapata’s trial, Steven Zapata made a public statement saying he believed his father was innocent. He noted that their younger sister, Linda, was quite young at the time of the incident and didn’t know much about their parents’ relationship, and their elder sister, Christine, also supported their father at the time. Linda was the only one who demanded the strictest punishment for their father, and he eventually confessed in February 2008.
In April 2008, she held a memorial for Jean Zapata at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona. As part of his sentencing, Eugene was also ordered to pay her $5,000 to cover the memorial and other related expenses. At the time, Linda was living in Madison, Wisconsin, and working as a nurse practitioner, while Steven and Christine were based in California. Steven even has a son named Michael, but aside from that, all three have kept a low profile and have stayed out of the public eye since Eugene’s guilty plea.
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