MURDERED: Stephanie Casberg

The story of Stephanie Casper, an 18-year-old waitress from Milwaukee who vanished on July 6, 1969, after her shift at Mark's Big Boy restaurant, is one of the most haunting cold cases in Wisconsin history. Her dismembered remains were discovered two days later along the Root River in Racine County, wrapped in a Milwaukee Sentinel dated June 24th and scattered across the riverbank. Despite extensive investigations, no definitive suspect emerged—initial leads included her boyfriend John, her father Charles Casper, and several coworkers, including Michael Bartelt, a cook who claimed to have seen her leave through the back door but later contradicted himself. Over the decades, new leads arose: a woman named Pam alleged Michael and his brother Dan were involved, citing family abuse and a fabricated trip to Hawaii. DNA testing on pubic hairs from a sun-kissed box found near a farmhouse revealed two partial male profiles, but none matched Michael, Dan, or Wilbert Mackey, a convicted child predator whose son claimed he was forced to help dispose of a body. Despite these developments, the case remains unsolved. In 2024, a breakthrough came when Lieutenant Brian Van Sock, inspired by a Crime Junkie episode about a similar dismemberment case in Idaho, identified a new suspect tied to a possible national pattern of violent crimes. The investigation is ongoing, with Van Sock working tirelessly across jurisdictions to close the case for Stephanie’s family and bring justice after more than 50 years.