Overview

Last seen: July 27, 2000, at approximately 3:15 p.m.

Last-seen location: Leaving her workplace at Demco in DeForest, Dane County, Wisconsin.

Age: 30

Home area: Poynette, Wisconsin

Case status: Daniel H. Kutz was convicted of Beth’s murder in January 2001 and sentenced to life in prison. Beth’s remains have never been recovered.

Main circumstances: Beth had recently separated from Daniel and moved with their two children to her mother’s home. Witness testimony later documented a pattern of Daniel following Beth in the days before she disappeared. On July 27, Beth called her mother as she left work and instructed her to come looking for her if she was not home within approximately half an hour. She never arrived.

NamUs: MP8075

Detailed Case Breakdown

Elizabeth Ann “Beth” Kutz: Wisconsin Murder Case and the Search for Her Remains

Elizabeth Ann “Beth” Kutz was a 30-year-old mother of two from Wisconsin who disappeared on July 27, 2000, after leaving her job in DeForest. Although her remains have never been recovered, her estranged husband, Daniel H. Kutz, was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse, stalking, and obstructing an officer.

More than 25 years later, Beth remains listed as a missing person in Wisconsin, and authorities continue to seek information that could lead to her remains.

Brief Case Summary

Last seen: July 27, 2000, at approximately 3:15 p.m.

Last-seen location: Leaving her workplace at Demco in DeForest, Dane County, Wisconsin.

Age: 30

Home area: Poynette, Wisconsin

Case status: Daniel H. Kutz was convicted of Beth’s murder in January 2001 and sentenced to life in prison. Beth’s remains have never been recovered.

Main circumstances: Beth had recently separated from Daniel and moved with their two children to her mother’s home. Witness testimony later documented a pattern of Daniel following Beth in the days before she disappeared. On July 27, Beth called her mother as she left work and instructed her to come looking for her if she was not home within approximately half an hour. She never arrived.

NamUs: MP8075

Beth Kutz Disappears After Leaving Work in DeForest

On Thursday, July 27, 2000, Elizabeth “Beth” Kutz went to work at Demco in DeForest, Wisconsin. She was living with her mother near Poynette at the time after separating from her husband, Daniel Kutz, approximately a week earlier. The couple had been together for about 12 years and had two children.

At approximately 3:15 p.m., Beth left work. According to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals record, she called her mother and said she would be home in about half an hour. She instructed her mother to come looking for her if she did not arrive.

Beth never came home. Her family reported her missing later that day.

Fear and Allegations of Stalking Before Beth Vanished

The court record describes a troubled period immediately preceding Beth’s disappearance. Beth had moved out of the home she shared with Daniel and taken their children to her mother’s house.

Testimony presented at trial described Daniel following Beth from room to room at her mother’s home, waiting outside a hair salon on July 19, confronting her in DeForest around July 20, following her to work, and following her into her mother’s driveway on July 25. Witnesses also reported seeing him around Beth’s workplace several times on July 27.

The appellate record additionally describes statements Beth made to family members and another person about Daniel following her. On July 21, she reported that he was watching her from his car as she tried to leave. On July 22, she said he had found her in DeForest and confronted her. On July 25, she reported being followed to a Burger King. On the morning she disappeared, she said Daniel had been following her to work for several days and that she had seen him that morning.

The jury later convicted Daniel of stalking in addition to the homicide and other charges.

Daniel Kutz Was the Last Known Person With Beth

Daniel told police that he had arranged to meet Beth after work. According to his account, he entered the green Jeep Cherokee Beth was driving and the two traveled around discussing their marriage and children.

He claimed they eventually went to Token Creek Park and later drove to a Stop-N-Go, where he got out. Daniel said Beth told him she was going to Portage and drove away. He maintained that he did not harm her.

Evidence presented at trial, however, conflicted with significant portions of that account.

A witness placed the Jeep turning onto the approximately 180 acres associated with Beth and Daniel at about 3:35 p.m. The key to a vehicle Daniel had borrowed from his brother was later found on that property. A surveillance recording placed Daniel at the Stop-N-Go at 9:21 p.m.

Daniel Found Walking Without Shoes or a Shirt

At approximately 11 p.m. on the night Beth disappeared, Dane County sheriff’s deputies encountered Daniel walking north on Highway CV near the airport.

He was not wearing shoes or a shirt.

Police took him to his brother’s home in DeForest. DeForest officers subsequently located him there and asked him to come to the police department for additional questioning.

Approximately two hours later, Daniel was arrested.

Investigators seized his wristwatch during the arrest. Testing later revealed traces of Beth’s blood on it.

The court record also states that officers observed scratches on Daniel’s wrist, a sore on his hand and what appeared to be dried blood.

Beth’s Borrowed Jeep Is Found in Madison

Beth had been driving a borrowed green Jeep Cherokee with the vanity license plate “DIDIS.”

The Jeep was ultimately found at approximately noon on July 29, 2000, in a parking ramp at Meriter Hospital in Madison. Witnesses for the prosecution placed the Jeep in the ramp at approximately 6:15 p.m. on July 27 and in the same location during the early morning hours of July 28 and July 29.

The physical evidence recovered from the vehicle became central to the prosecution.

Beth’s blood was found in the cargo area of the Jeep. Daniel’s fingerprint was found on the exterior near the driver’s door handle. According to the appellate decision, his was the only fingerprint recovered from the Jeep. Evidence showed that Beth had washed the vehicle on July 26, the day before she disappeared.

The prosecution argued that Beth had been killed or that her injured or deceased body had been transported in the cargo area.

No murder weapon and no body were recovered.

Prosecutors Build a Murder Case Without Beth’s Body

Investigators never located Beth, but prosecutors proceeded with a homicide case based on circumstantial and physical evidence.

The prosecution relied heavily on Beth’s blood in the Jeep, blood on Daniel’s wristwatch, his fingerprint on the vehicle, his admitted contact with Beth after she left work, inconsistencies in his statements, and evidence concerning his behavior toward Beth before her disappearance.

The court record states that a knife Daniel had reportedly kept in his car was missing when the vehicle was searched. A shovel and a five-tine fork were also reported missing from the property where Daniel had continued living after Beth moved out. Investigators did not establish any of those items as the murder weapon.

The prosecution’s theory was that Daniel killed Beth, disposed of her body, drove the Jeep to Madison, left it in the Meriter parking ramp and then traveled north on foot.

The defense disputed that account and presented witnesses who reported seeing a Jeep resembling Beth’s vehicle after Daniel was in custody. Some witnesses described seeing a woman resembling Beth. The appellate court noted that several of those accounts were uncertain or inconsistent.

Daniel Kutz Convicted of Beth’s Murder

In January 2001, a jury convicted Daniel H. Kutz of first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse, stalking, and obstructing an officer. He received a life prison sentence.

Daniel appealed his convictions.

On September 25, 2003, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment. The appellate court concluded that police had probable cause to arrest Daniel. It also considered challenges involving statements Beth had made before her disappearance. Although the court determined that some statements concerning alleged threats had been improperly admitted under the hearsay rules, it concluded that the errors were harmless in light of the other evidence and affirmed all four convictions.

The appellate case is State of Wisconsin v. Daniel H. Kutz, 2003 WI App 205, Appeal No. 02-1670-CR, originating from Dane County Circuit Court Case No. 00-CF-1809.

Where Are Beth Kutz’s Remains?

The conviction answered the legal question of responsibility for Beth’s death, but it did not answer one of the most important questions for her family: where is Beth?

Her remains have never been recovered.

In 2022, Columbia County Detective Captain Jason Kocovsky publicly said the case would remain open until Beth’s body was found and appealed for information concerning the location of her remains.

The Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Missing & Exploited Children & Adults continues to list Elizabeth Ann Kutz as missing from DeForest since July 27, 2000. Its current case page states that Daniel Kutz was convicted of her murder, is serving a life sentence, and that Beth’s remains have never been located.

Latest Information on the Search for Beth Kutz

Public attention returned to the case in March 2024 when Murder in the Heartland featured Beth’s case in the episode “Uncomfortable Truths.” The program revisited her disappearance, the investigation and the search for answers about her remains.

Another development came on January 5, 2025, when The Doe Network added Elizabeth Ann Kutz to its missing-person database as case 4985DFWI.

Interest in the case continued into 2026, including new true-crime coverage discussing the disappearance and unresolved location of Beth’s remains. However, a review of publicly available information through September 20, 2026, did not locate a newer official law-enforcement announcement identifying Beth’s remains or announcing that the search had been closed.

The Wisconsin Clearinghouse continues to publish Beth’s missing-person case, and Columbia County remains the law-enforcement agency identified for information.

The central unresolved question therefore remains the same more than a quarter-century after Beth disappeared: where are Elizabeth “Beth” Kutz’s remains?

Anyone with information that could help answer that question is encouraged to contact the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin at 608-742-4166. Anonymous information may also be submitted to Columbia County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-293-TIPS (8477).