Shivangi Sinha
In October 1976, Jean Zapata was living in Madison, Wisconsin. She had three kids and was in the middle of a divorce with her husband, Eugene Zapata. One day, she stopped showing up for work and was never seen again. While Eugene told the kids that their mother had simply walked away, there were many questions surrounding her disappearance, and the investigation was reopened in 2005. CBS’ ‘48 Hours: Into Thin Air’ provides a detailed timeline of the case and the investigation that spanned decades, but was finally resolved and answers came out.
Jean Zapata Sent Her Children to School the Morning She Disappeared
Jeanette Louise “Jean” was born on February 9, 1939, to William and Ruth Herrling. She and her four siblings, Patricia, Terri, David, and John, were raised in Madison, Wisconsin, but Jean was later adopted by foster parents, Daniel and Florence Bradford. She was always someone who loved sports and was just 15 years old when she took her first flying lessons. She completed her initial training with the Morey Airplane Co., and her parents made sure to support this dream of hers. By the age of 17, she had her flying license, which became her true passion. She went on to become a cadet in the Madison Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.
In 1955, she won the Madison Annual Skating Tournament in speed skating and was equally brilliant in her academics. In 1957, she graduated from Edgewood High School, but by then, she wanted a family. On December 26, 1959, she married a promising young engineer, Eugene Zapata, and began her life with him in Madison. They had three children, Christine, Steven, and Linda, but at the same time, while handling the responsibilities of her children, she also wanted to pursue her career. She started working at WPS and then went on to join the Frickelton School of Aeronautics as a Certified Flight Instructor. She specialized in instrument training and also became a part of the international women’s pilot organization.
She was an active member of her church, and everything seemed to be going well for her and her family, but things were not the same behind closed doors. In May 1976, Jean filed for divorce and soon started exploring life as a single woman. She began dating a man named Paul Lee, and it seemed like she was moving forward. However, on October 11, 1976, after sending her three kids to school, she did not arrive at work. She failed to show up for three more days, and that was when her coworkers informed the police. She was soon classified as a missing person, but her remains were never found. She is believed to have passed away, though her remains have not been found to this day.
Jean Zapata’s Case Was Reopened Decades After Her Disappearance
At the time Jean Zapata went missing, there were several things that stood out to the police. According to reports, Eugene allegedly took intimate pictures of her that were sent to X-rated magazines. Her divorce attorney also alleged that he used to take her to bars to see how many men would hit on her, something she did not like. She had filed a restraining order against him, after which he moved out of the house and was only allowed to visit the children between 9 am and 11 am on Saturdays and be in the house during that time. The day she went missing, October 11, 1976, was a Monday. Her coworker had called to ask about her, and it was Eugene who answered the phone. This was suspicious, as according to his visitation rights, he was not supposed to be at the house.
In fact, when she went missing, he reportedly told the kids that she had walked away of her own will, and there was not much conversation about it. Soon after, he was made to take a lie detector test, as items like Jean’s purse remained in the house, which made the police reconsider whether she had actually walked away of her own will. Eugene passed the test, and with no other evidence against him, the case went cold. The case remained cold until late 2004 and early 2005, when a reinvestigation began. Authorities started by executing a search warrant at the house where the family had lived in 1976, and while cadaver dogs reportedly alerted in the crawl space, nothing was found.
Jean Zapata’s Killer Traveled to Move Her Remains After an Investigation Reopened
Eugene had remarried a woman named Joan and moved to Nevada, but in April 2005, he returned to Madison, Wisconsin. Detectives attempted to speak with him, but he denied having any information. However, investigators pulled his phone and financial records, which revealed that he had rented a warehouse just outside the city in 2001, around the time he moved to Nevada. During his 2005 visit, he had gone to Walmart, where he purchased two gallons of water, an odor-absorbing mask, several large containers, a tarp, two cans of Lysol, Pledge wipes, scissors, recycling bags, and paper towels. He then drove to a landfill about 80 miles from the store.
The police encouraged Linda to speak with her father in a recorded call, during which he simply admitted that Jean could have passed away. By August 2005, the police were searching the landfill but did not find any remains. They also executed a search warrant at his house in Nevada, where they discovered three envelopes marked, “Destroy. Do not read.” Detectives alleged that these contained notes he had made from the time Jean had filed for divorce up until her disappearance, which they described as evidence of alleged “stalking.” Based on all this evidence, even though Jean’s remains were never found, Eugene was charged with first-degree murder in August 2006.
Eugene Zapata is a Free Man Today
Eugene Zapata stood trial in September 2007 but was not found guilty. It seemed the case might never be resolved, but in February 2008, he decided to plead guilty in exchange for the charge being reduced to homicide by reckless conduct. He admitted that on the morning in question, he had gone to the house and an argument broke out. He said he hit Jean in the head with a paperweight and then strangled her until she passed away.
The police believed that he first disposed of her remains in Madison and later, in 1977, bought an empty plot where he relocated them. In 2001, before moving to Nevada, he rented a storage unit where he stored the remains. He admitted that in April 2005, he returned to the storage unit, dismembered what was left, and disposed of it in a landfill. Under the laws of 1976, he received a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He was likely released after serving this short sentence and has been a free man since, keeping a low profile. He would now be in his 90s and is most likely living in Nevada with his second wife.
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