Case File 1804DFWI
Jeanette Zapata
Missing since October 11, 1976 from Madison, Wisconsin
Classification: Endangered Missing
Vital Statistics
Circumstances of Disappearance
August 2006, After nearly 30 years under a cloud of suspicion, Eugene Zapata, 67, was charged with first-degree murder for his wife's presumed death. Police in Henderson, Nev., where he lives, arrested him at his home and took him to the Clark County Jail in Las Vegas, where Zapata will await extradition back to Madison. Jean Zapata's body has never been found.
Eugene Zapata's trial ended in a mistrial in September 2007.
Jean Zapata sent her two teenage daughters and 6-year-old son to school shortly after 8 a.m. October 11, 1976. They last saw her as she sat at the kitchen table in their East Side home near La Follette High School.
Two days after Zapata's children saw her for the last time an accountant at Frickleton School of Aeronautics, reported her missing because she hadn't come to work.
Immediately after she disappeared, her purse and other belongings, including her new car, were found at the home, but a .30-06 rifle was missing.
Police said that they believe Jean Zapata is dead, but don't say the mother and flight instructor was murdered. Jean Zapata was in the middle of a divorce and had a temporary restraining order against her husband when she disappeared.
Investigators
Madison Police Deaprtment
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Criminal Intelligence Unit
Or
Madison Area Crimestoppers
608-266-6014
NCIC Number:
Source Information:
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Channel 3000 News
Wisconsin State Journal
WKOWTV
Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin State Journal 9/7/07
WEAU News 9/17/07