Christi Nichols

FACTS OF THE CASE:

Christi Nichols was a 22 year old mother of 2 small children, living in a small town in Nebraska, with her husband Mark Nichols. Christi married Mark when she was 19 and was a doting mom whose life revolved around her children and marriage. December 11, 1987 Christi is reported missing by Mark at 1:37pm.

Known at the time she was missing:

• DOB: 9/6/65
• 5’9, 120lbs
• Brown Hair, Green Eyes
• Allergic to Smoke
• Scar on her abdomen
• Possibly wearing: Blue jeans and hiking boots

Christi and Mark had been having a rough time in their marriage. Mark was known to be abusive in past relationships and also with Christi. Ten days before her disappearance Christi was seen by her doctor, Dr Carol Severeid-Shackleton, for injuries likely related to this abuse, although the doctor was not able to get much out of Christi because Mark was waiting right outside. Debra Fredrickson, Christi’s cousin, was shown bruises on Christi’s side that were confirmed to have been from an argument earlier with Mark. While Mark, in the Unsolved Mysteries episode, downplays these arguments and says that Christi was physical with him and he “may have” pushed her onto a bed. TWO DAYS prior to Christi’s disappearance she met with a divorce lawyer in a different town, because she was unimaginably afraid of Mark finding out about the meeting. Christi had tried to reach out to an abuse counselor, but Mark found out and she was threatened and never went again. Mark also monitored her phone calls and comings and goings every.single.day. Christi met with the divorce lawyer, Claude Berreckman, and disclosed the abuse and that she would be going for custody of her two small children. Claude and Christi were going to go to the police regarding the abuse and begin the process of divorce. Claude advised Christi not to return to her home that day, but Christi said she had to go back, and so she did.

On December 10, 1987 Christi and Mark took their two children to a local Pizza Hut and then to see Santa. They then dropped the children back at home with babysitter, Diane Janssen, who had previously watched the children. Christi and Mark then go to a local bar, where Christi was employed. According to Mark, they enjoyed the time at the bar and he felt things were going smoothly and nicely. After they left the bar, Mark states they stopped at a convenience store, but we do not know why or if anything was purchased.

Mark returns home at roughly 12:30am-1:00am on 12/11/87. When Diane (babysitter) asks Mark where Christi is, Mark says that Christi is with him and that she went to the bathroom and then to bed. Diane states there is no way that Christi could have come into the home and into the bathroom without her seeing and/or hearing her. Mark then pays Diane in cash, which was also odd to Diane because Christi was the one who always took care of payment and it was always with a check. Mark then states the couple goes to bed about 2am. The children wake Mark up at 7am and that’s when Mark first realizes that Christi is not anywhere in the house. Christi’s mom, Connie Stanley, calls at 9:30am and Mark tells her that Christi is still sleeping. He states the reason he did not tell the truth was that he did not want her to worry as they didn’t know what was going on with Christi at this point. Later that morning he takes the two children to Christi’s grandma’s, Violet Williams, and asks her to watch the kids so he could look for Christi. Violet states that Mark never asked her if she had seen or heard from Christi at all. Mark then states he drives around for a couple of hours in search of Christi. Not ONE person in the town can corroborate this and not ONE person saw him driving that day/afternoon. Mark finally reports Christi missing at 1:37pm on 12/11/87.

THE DAY AFTER Christi goes missing Mark and the children move out of the house, and a few weeks later packed up all of Christi’s belongings and proceeded to sell both cars. Another interesting tidbit is that Christi never picks up her last paycheck from her job.

In March of 1988, at an I-80 rest stop, roughly 30 miles outside of town, Christi’s purse and suitcase were found. The belongings were found not thrown from a car or dumped, but placed in a deliberate way that they would be found, according to officials in the case. Now these belongings EXACTLY matched the belongings that Mark told officers Christi took with her. Mark knew EXACTLY down to the nail file in her purse and the bra in her suitcase what would be found!

Police found Christi’s blood in the couples home and in the TRUNK of Mark’s car. When Mark was questioned about this he told investigators that it was “menstrual blood”.

Their was an exhaustive search of the area and surrounding areas that led to nothing. The overall thoughts from the town is that they believe Christi is deceased, but they just don’t have enough evidence to prove who did it or what happened.

MY TAKE:

With the facts laid out above, I truly believe that Christi’s husband Mark killed and got rid of Christi’s body.

He is an extremely controlling, manipulative, and abusive man as PROVEN by several people in Christi’s life and by Christi’s very own account of her marriage. Abusive and controlling relationships are one of the hardest things to live with and not know how to get out of, especially because at the end of the day that was her children’s father and I’m sure she loved him. Nobody knows the awful situation of being in an abusive (physically or emotionally) until you have LIVED it yourself. I commend Christi for trying to get help and work towards a great life with her two children.

I believe that with the knowledge of the abuse in the relationship and the control Mark had, there is no way that Christi would have just got up, packed, and left without a single person knowing, and without her two children.

Mark knew every single item in Christi’s purse and suitcase that were found months later, miles away from where she was last seen, and put out so they would be found. This is odd, if he knew she was going away and knew EVERY.SINGLE.ITEM in her purse and suitcase then why wouldn’t he know that she left and where she was going? NOT to mention the fact that Mark was at the home the entire time, so he wouldn’t have noticed her packing and leaving him? But he would know every item found later?

Also odd to me is that Mark states that the blood that was found in the trunk of his car, and later determined to be Christi’s blood, he explains away as MENSTRUAL BLOOD. In the trunk of a car?? Seriously…I don’t know about you, but that is just not adding up for me.

The saddest part of this case is the two children that grew up without a mother. They grew up with their father, who is the likely suspect in their mother’s disappearance/murder. Christi’s family tried to get custody of the children but Mark inevitably won that battle, and I can’t imagine he allows her family much contact with the children. I truly hope that someone will step forward and say something, someone KNOWS something that can help solve this case.

Mark is currently living in Arizona with his THIRD wife. Which, GIRLLL if you see this…Mrs. Third Wife….PLEASE GIRL RUN!

Christi deserves justice and her children deserve to have some closure on just what happened to their mother. If anyone knows anything or has any clues as to what happened to Christi Jo Nichols please call: North Platte State Patrol @ 308-535-8047.