Vanderlei Szczepanik, a 36-year-old Brazilian missionary, went missing on December 14, 2009, along with his wife Jacqueline and their 7-year-old son, Christopher, from Omaha, Nebraska. The family had been living at the Christian Community Center, where they were renovating an old school building for a Florida-based church, the Assembly of God Bethlehem Ministry. Initially, their disappearance did not raise alarm, as relatives assumed the family might have gone on a holiday break.
However, when no one heard from them for weeks, a missing persons report was filed on January 6, 2010.
Authorities searched their home and found all their belongings intact, suggesting they had intended to leave for only a short time. Their vehicles were later discovered abandoned nearby. Following an investigation, police arrested three men—Valdeir Goncalves-Santos, Elias Lourenco-Batista, and Jose Oliveira-Coutinho—who had worked for Vanderlei. These men were later charged with the family’s murder. Goncalves-Santos confessed, revealing that they had killed the family over a financial dispute, and disposed of their bodies in the Missouri River. While Christopher's body was recovered in 2011, Vanderlei and Jacqueline's remains have never been found.
The case remains a tragic chapter in Omaha's history, with some of the suspects still awaiting full justice. The men involved in the murder had used the family’s bank cards after their disappearance, leading to their arrest. Goncalves-Santos ultimately accepted a plea deal, while Oliveira-Coutinho was identified as the ringleader behind the brutal crime.Last Seen: Dec 14, 2009
