Mark told them that Christi was out shopping. 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I am confident, in fact I am positive that if investigators work the point of origin from the rest-stop back to somewhere in between the bar, the convenience store and her home, that they will finally locateChristi Jo. On December 10, the day after the meeting, she and Mark went Christmas shopping with Lindsey and Preston. He was convinced that the abuse did happen. It was like the person that put them there wanted them to be found. Kniss said Lindsey, now 27, lives in Georgia and Preston, now 26, works in Lexington. Learn how your comment data is processed. They are property, they are to think as he does, meet his wants and needs, want the same wants and needs andthe victim must always live up to the abusers expectations. More recent DNA tests have proved that the blood found in Marks car was indeed Christis. Christi Jo Nichols Christi, date, approximate 1987 Date Missing 12/11/1987 Missing From Gothenburg, Nebraska Missing Classification Endangered Missing Sex Female Race . Oddly, both family cars were in the driveway at the time Christi Jo. When they married in 1983, Christi was just 19 years old, and the pair soon became the parents of two young children: Lindsey, who was born in December 1984, and Preston, who was born in April 1986. Dale Nichols asked for prayers for the familyin a post a on Facebook: Example video title will go here for this video. There are currently no cases that match the selected filters. While Mark tried to tell them it was menstrual blood, later DNA analysis would prove this statement to be false. He claimed that he said that because he did not know who was calling. Kniss has devoted her life to keeping the search for the killer alive. . According to him, people even went to the dump and dug around, looking for her. When Mark found out, he was "furious" and told her that she would not get to see Lindsey and Preston again unless she stopped visiting the counselor and stopped talking about the abuse. Date: December 11, 1987, Occupation: Bartender at Pete's Lounge On December 10, 1987, the couple went Christmas shopping with Lindsey and Preston, a trip which also involved a visit with Santa Claus and dinner at Pizza Hut. It is believed that Mark found about her meetings with Claude and the counselor because Claude contacted Shackleton about the abuse and the counselor met with Christi in Shackleton's office. According to the police however contrary to what Mark said, no one in town could recall seeing Mark driving around searching for his wife that day. Results: Unsolved. Such a sad and awful story. The move brought her to a town located within the heart of Nebraskas farm belt, which had within it a strong sense of community. You must log in or register to reply here. It is uncharacteristic of her to abandon her children. Christi was in an abusive relationship and had been treated in an emergency room for injuries weeks before she disappeared. No, men like this, take time to actually plan this out despite the long held belief that abusive men dont always plan the murder. Mark did a stand up performance by telling medical staff that he was injured from a cigarette burn to the neck administered by Christi Jo and in his attempt to ward her and the weapon off, he might have inadvertently injured Christi Jo. . Avoiding and outsmarting are two completely different things. Which is actually pretty dead on. In fact, she had planned on coming back; when she left, she made an appointment to come back to his office the following week. You have permission to edit this article. Update: Christi Nichols disappearance, 32 years later, Someone knows something: remembering Christi, still searching for answers, SitcomsOnline Discussion of Christi Nichols. Connie was aware that something wasnt quite right in regards to her daughters marriage, but she would later state she hadnt realized just how bad it was, and Marks uncle, who owned the bar where Christi worked part-time, could sense the stress between the couple. According to Mark, the pair had a good time that night. Christi was described as very shy, quiet and smart when she was growing up. Two months since her body was found in a Springdale hospital parking lot. Christi Jo never picked up her last paycheck, She did go to see an abuse counselor but when Mark found out he became very angry and either took the children out of the home for a time or made the threat that he would take them should she continue to see the counselor. The Nebraska State Patrol investigated the case and the family hired a private detective to no avail. The patrols cold case unit includes her in a deck of playing cards featuring photographs of homicide victims. Men like Mark tend to feel above the law. To this day no trace of her has been found and no one has ever been charged in her disappearance. Officer Terry Ahrens was put in charge of this case. At this point, Berreckman contacted the Gothenburg Police Department to report Marks abuse. UPDATE: Christi Jo disappearance, 32 years later. Now . The Charley Project is NOT a registered non-profit organization and any donations will NOT be tax-deductible. Ken Williams, her father, has returned to Gothenburg from Colorado. Connie Stanley, her mother, lives in western Nebraska. The babysitter later stated she did not believe Christi came home with her husband, but Mark said Christi was there and the babysitter simply never saw her. Between 12:30am and 1:00am, Mark came home. During their investigation, the state patrol discovered that he moved out of their house the day after her disappearance. December 10, 1987. Dianne told investigators she never actually saw Christi Jo come in and that Mark had paid her in cash which was pretty unusual because Christi Jo always paid her and she paid her by check. Its important to know that quite a few individuals knew Christi Jo was being abused by Mark and that the relationship was in trouble. A man who is controlling, abusive and who knows every move his wife makes is a whole different breed of killer. Before she left Berreckmans office, she made a follow-up appointment, at which time they had planned to move forward with the divorce proceedings. Claude felt that when she was in his office, she was not panic stricken to the point that she would run or leave. He was interviewed by police and has been ruled out as a suspect. However, she always had a negative self-image and never felt that she did anything well until she had her children. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. Alone. She said that she was having problems with him and that he had beaten her. Images also acquired from CharleyProject.org, directly from the clients of Unfound Podcast or created by Unfound. It's been three months since local woman, Christy Nichols was reported missing. He left her backpack in a residential area where it would be found because he wanted it found. I would love to get more attention for her case. Not for the same reason Christi Jos killer wanted her belongings found, the point is they were left in a specific area so as to ensure that they would be found. He hoped to spot her leaving a store or friend's house. Please contact about missing person cases, press inquiries and speaking engagementsImages subject to fair use allowance. It appeared to them that whoever had previously had the items had wanted them to be found. He would have the known the area very well. His Uncle Gary, who owned the bar, contradicted his story, stating that it was apparent that there was "tenseness" between them. As a result of the abuse, Christi began seeing an abuse counsellor, which upset her husband. The Disappearance and Death of Christi Jo Nichols December 11, 1987. Its believed that the then-police chief, who was friends with Christis husband, had informed Mark of her visit to the divorce lawyer. In some cases while it appears they have been able to outsmart the law, the reality is that they simply found a way to avoid a murder charge, for the time being. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, by David Hendee document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Injured. Updated: 5:27 PM CDT September 22, 2017. He now lives in Arkansas with his third wife. He either drove around with her body, including back to his home with her that night or stashed her in a temporary location until he could figure out where to actually put her and when. She found it odd, as Christi was the one who usually payed her and . Think of shapes, leading back to the point of origin. Carol said that she was acting like a "scared rabbit", not maintaining eye contact and not being very verbal. This is due to Marks behaviour in the days after her disappearance moving out of the family home, selling the familys vehicles as well as him being able to name everything shed supposedly taken with her. He always knew that if he ever had to, this would be the area he would dispose of a body. She has a scar above her left eye and a scar on her abdomen. According to Diane, Mark arrived home between 12:30 and 1am. There is a strong sense of community among its 3,000 residents. 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