NE NE - Christi Jo Nichols, 22, Gothenburg, 10 Dec 1987

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http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10206471
From Doenetwork. http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2469dfne.html
Nichols, mother of two small children, was last seen alive December 10, 1987, at her home in Gothenburg. Her husband reported her missing the next day, and she has never been seen since. The Nebraska State Patrol investigated the case and the family hired a private detective — to no avail.
Although authorities suspect Christi Jo Nichols is dead, her body never has been found. At first, police handled the disappearance as a missing persons case, but as time progressed it evolved into suspicion of murder.
An investigation revealed traces of Christi's blood in the couple's house and in the husbands car. Recent DNA tests have proved that the blood found was indeed Christi's.
Her suitcase, along with her purse was found at a rest stop near Maxwell in 1988.
Christi was in an abusive relationship and had been treated in an emergency room for injuries weeks before she disappeared. She was planning to leave her husband at the time of her disappearance.
 
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/08/14/41198a15960f4

August 14, 2004

Unsolved Murders In The Old West
North Platte was "Little Chicago"


Christi Jo Nichols – 1987

Christi Jo Nichols, 22, of Gothenburg, mother of two small children, was last seen alive Dec. 10, 1987. Her husband Mark reported her missing the next day.

At first, police handled the disappearance as a missing persons case, but as time progressed it evolved into suspicion of murder.

An investigation revealed traces of Christi's blood in the couple's house and in Mark's car. Recent DNA tests have proved that the blood found was indeed Christi's.

According to Christi's mother, Connie Stanley of Lodgepole, there were other signs.

Stanley said Mark knew the exact contents of his wife's suitcase, which was found along with her purse at a rest stop near Maxwell in 1988.

Stanley and some police investigators believe Mark planted the items to be found.

Christi's body has never been found. Mark Nichols was never charged in her disappearance.

The Gothenburg police handled the case at first but were soon joined by investigators from the Nebraska State Patrol.

NSP cold-case investigators continue working on the case today.

Stanley said she and her husband Greg knew things weren't quite right with her daughter's relationship with Mark, but they didn't realize how bad it was until after she disappeared.

Stanley now says Mark continually beat Christi and that she had sought help from an abuse counselor.

"When Mark found out, he was furious," Stanley said. "He took the kids and only agreed to bring them home if Christi agreed not to meet with an abuse counselor again or talk to anyone else."

Stanley said Christi agreed, but she met with the abuse counselor again anyway.

"She planned to leave Mark the next day," Stanley said. "She never made it."

Stanley believes Mark Nichols beat Christi to death and disposed of her body.

Stanley has learned a lot about her daughter's situation in the ensuing years: that other family members knew that Christi was being abused by Mark and that he had an abusive past, that Mark was probably monitoring every call Christi made to her family, and that Christi had been treated in an emergency room for injuries weeks before she disappeared.

Stanley got temporary custody of the two kids but a judge placed them in a foster home after four months. Shortly afterward, Mark Nichols got the children back.

Nichols filed for divorce from Christi about a year after her death. He then remarried and moved to North Platte.

Stanley said Mark Nichols now lives in Arkansas with his third wife and she has not seen her grandkids in years. She now has a great-granddaughter that he has never seen.

"The only solace we had was hoping to see justice done," Stanley said. "I don't think we'll see justice in our lifetime.

"I would just like to lay Christi to rest."
 
http://www.omaha.com/article/20121211/NEWS/712119919/1685

By David Hendee
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
PUBLISHED TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2012 AT 1:00 AM
UPDATED AT 1:11 AM

The kids grew up.

The husband moved on.

But Joanne Kniss of Omaha hasn't given up hope of learning what happened to her niece in Gothenburg, Neb., 25 years ago today.

bilde
 
:bump: for Christi Jo, now missing 26 years. :(

Snipped:

Foul play is suspected in Christi's disappearance and it is classified as a homicide. Mark is the only suspect in her case. Trace amounts of Christi's blood were found on the floor of her bedroom, and in the trunk of Mark's 1977 Mercury Cougar. Authorities stated there was not enough blood to indicate Christi was dead. Mark told investigators it was menstrual blood, but analysis proved this statement was untrue.

Christi's case remains unsolved. She is described as a quiet, very shy woman and a dedicated mother. It is uncharacteristic of her to abandon her children.

 
Christi Jo Nichols – The Charley Project
Christi Jo Nichols
  • christi_jo_nichols_1.jpg
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Christi, circa 1987

  • Missing Since12/11/1987
  • Missing FromGothenburg, Nebraska
  • ClassificationEndangered Missing
  • Date of Birth09/06/1965 (53)
  • Age22 years old
  • Height and Weight5'9, 120 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionBlue jeans and hiking boots.
  • Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Nichols's ears are pierced. She has a scar above her left eye and a scar on her abdomen.
Details of Disappearance
Christi and her husband of three years, Mark Nichols, left their two children with a babysitter and went to a bar in Gothenburg, Nebraska on the evening of December 10, 1987.

After midnight on December 11, Mark came home and paid the babysitter in cash. Usually, it was Christi who paid the sitter, and she did it with a check. 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.

Mark reported Christi missing later that day. He said they argued until 2:00 a.m., when he went to sleep. At 7:00 a.m., the children woke up Mark and he realized Christi was missing. At 9:30 a.m., Christi's mother called and Mark lied, saying Christi was asleep in bed. He later said he did this so her mother would not worry about her.

Later that morning, he took his children to Christi's grandmother's home and asked her to babysit them while he searched for his wife. He said he spent two hours driving around in the area, looking for her, but never saw her. Nobody in town reported having seen him do this, however.

Mark moved out of the house the day after his wife's disappearance, and a few days after that, he packed up all their belongings and sold both the family's vehicles. Christi has never been heard from again.

Mark said she took a suitcase and her purse with her, and was able to describe the contents exactly: the suitcase contained jeans, a sweatshirt, a bra and jacket and the purse held a hairbrush, a pen, a lighter, a matchbook, lipstick, Neutrogena cream, a nail file, a mirror and one piece of gum.

Both the suitcase and the purse, with everything still inside, were found at an Interstate 80 rest stop near Maxwell, Nebraska in March 1988. Authorities stated it looked as if whoever placed them there had wanted them to be found. Christi left behind all her other belongings, including her diamond jewelry and driver's license, and she never picked up her last paycheck from the bar where she worked part time.

Mark and Christi were having marital problems in 1987, and Mark was allegedly physically abusing her and monitoring her phone calls. Christi once had to go to the hospital emergency room for injuries allegedly caused by Mark. She went to see an abuse counselor, and Mark was angry when he found out and made her promise not to go again, but she went again anyway.

Two days before she disappeared, Christi met with a divorce attorney. The attorney stated Christi was extremely stressed and appeared to have been beaten. She told him she wanted a divorce and custody of her children. The attorney advised her not to return to the home she shared with Mark, but she refused. She made another appointment to see him, but disappeared before she could keep it.

When interviewed about Christi's disappearance by reporters for the Unsolved Mysteries television show in 1989, Mark said the only time one of their arguments escalated into violence was when Christi had hit and kicked him and burned his neck with a cigarette after he asked her to stay home one night, and he tossed her on the waterbed in self-defense and accidentally injured her in the process.

In 1990, Mark filed for divorce from Christi on grounds of desertion. He said she had left of her own accord, abandoning him and their son and daughter. Authorities believe she was seeing another man at the time of her disappearance.

After she went missing, a note from Christi, addressed to the other man, was found in the Nicholses' car. Christi wrote she would be leaving after Christmas, but promised to contact the man within a few months. Investigators interviewed the man and he has been ruled out as a suspect in Christi's case.

Mark took a polygraph about her disappearance in 1987, but the results were inconclusive. He now lives in Arkansas with his third wife. Foul play is suspected in Christi's disappearance and it is classified as a homicide. Mark is the only suspect in her case.

Trace amounts of Christi's blood were found on the floor of her bedroom, and in the trunk of Mark's 1977 Mercury Cougar. Authorities stated there was not enough blood to indicate Christi was dead. Mark told investigators it was her menstrual blood, but analysis proved this statement was untrue.

Christi's case remains unsolved. She is described as a quiet, very shy woman and a dedicated mother. It is uncharacteristic of her to abandon her children.
 
UPDATE: Christi Jo disappearance, 32 years later

The case may be cold, but the search for answers is heating up

December 10, 1987. A lot has changed in the world since then, but for one family time came to a standstill on that date. And 32 years later, they are still looking for answers.

The Nebraska State Patrol, Dawson County Sheriff’s Office and Gothenburg Police Department consider this an open case, and have continued to investigate off and on over the years since Christi Jo Nichols’ disappearance. The local authorities have sparked a renewed interest in the case with a press release put out through social media on Jan. 3. The Gothenburg Police Department stated that “while leads in the case have dwindled to just a few each year, each one is important and followed up on exhaustedly.”

The letter continues, “Once again we ask the public to please come forward with any information, no matter how seemingly unimportant you might think it is, it might just be the piece of the puzzle that is needed to bring closure to Christi Jo’s family.” It is signed by Dawson County Sheriff Ken Moody and Gothenburg Police Chief Randy Olson.
 

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