Overview

Last-seen date: March 1, 1988 is the listed date of last contact, although investigators have questioned whether Marie was still alive that late.

Last-known location: Amherst Junction, Portage County, Wisconsin.

Age when missing: 76.

Physical description: White female, approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall and 150 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

NamUs case number: MP18226.

Main circumstances: Marie’s disappearance was discovered only after the Social Security Administration sought assistance locating her in 2012. Her Social Security checks had continued to be cashed despite authorities being unable to establish that she was alive. Her son Theodore had also disappeared. Searches, interviews and a subsequent fraud investigation failed to establish what happened to Marie or locate her remains.

Case status: Unsolved. A 2025 Wisconsin missing-person report continued to list Marie as missing and identified the Portage County Sheriff’s Office as the investigating agency.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Marie D. Jost: The Unsolved Wisconsin Disappearance That Has Went Undetected for Decades

Marie D. Jost disappeared from the Amherst Junction area of Portage County, Wisconsin, under circumstances that would not draw serious law-enforcement attention until decades later. Her official missing-person information lists March 1, 1988 as her date of last contact, although investigators have said she may actually have disappeared years earlier. The case ultimately grew into an investigation involving her missing son Theodore Jost, decades of Social Security payments, disputed sightings, searches of the family’s rural property, and questions that remain unanswered.

Brief Case Summary

Last-seen date: March 1, 1988 is the listed date of last contact, although investigators have questioned whether Marie was still alive that late.

Last-known location: Amherst Junction, Portage County, Wisconsin.

Age when missing: 76.

Physical description: White female, approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall and 150 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

NamUs case number: MP18226.

Main circumstances: Marie’s disappearance was discovered only after the Social Security Administration sought assistance locating her in 2012. Her Social Security checks had continued to be cashed despite authorities being unable to establish that she was alive. Her son Theodore had also disappeared. Searches, interviews and a subsequent fraud investigation failed to establish what happened to Marie or locate her remains.

Case status: Unsolved. A 2025 Wisconsin missing-person report continued to list Marie as missing and identified the Portage County Sheriff’s Office as the investigating agency.

A Wisconsin Woman Vanishes — But No One Reports Her Missing

Marie D. Jost lived on a roughly three-acre property in the Amherst Junction area of Portage County. Her son Theodore, an Army veteran, was also associated with the property. What makes their cases particularly unusual is that neither disappearance triggered a conventional missing-person investigation when it happened.

Some relatives told investigators that they had last seen Marie around 1980, when her daughter Patricia died. However, a former bank employee later reported seeing Marie at a bank sometime after beginning work there in March 1988. Investigators have acknowledged uncertainty surrounding that sighting, including the possibility that the employee could have mistaken another family member for Marie.

That uncertainty explains the conflicting dates attached to Marie’s case. Her missing-person information lists March 1, 1988 as the date of last contact, while other accounts place her disappearance around 1980 or 1982.

The Social Security Administration Raises the Alarm

The case finally surfaced in 2012.

Marie would have been approximately 100 years old. According to investigators interviewed by WSAW-TV, the Social Security Administration had unsuccessfully attempted several times to verify that she was alive while Social Security checks issued in her name continued to be cashed. On August 30, 2012, the agency sought assistance from the Portage County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies encountered Marie’s son Charles “Butch” Jost at the family property. Charles maintained that Marie was alive and traveling with Theodore. Investigators found that explanation difficult to verify, and neighbors interviewed during the investigation reported that they had not seen an elderly woman living at the property.

Police soon discovered another major problem: Theodore had not been reliably seen for decades either. What began as an attempt to establish the whereabouts of an elderly woman had become a two-person missing-person investigation.

A Difficult Search of the Jost Property

Investigators conducted an extensive search of the rural property.

WSAW-TV reported that portions of the property contained enormous quantities of accumulated trash, sheds, vehicles and other material. Investigators sometimes had to move through waist-high debris while searching. Lt. Wayne Kropidlowski later described the operation as the most expensive investigation in Portage County’s history.

Investigators examined an area marked by a white cross that appeared as though it might be a burial location. Excavation did not reveal a human burial. Cadaver dogs were also used, and various animal bones were located, but investigators reported finding no evidence of deceased humans.

Earlier reporting stated that several small bone fragments were sent for testing after the search began. Later law-enforcement reporting summarized by WSAW said the investigation ultimately produced no evidence of human remains.

Letters Raised More Questions

Investigators also discovered mail addressed to Marie, including cards and correspondence sent years after she may have disappeared.

Some relatives had even received apparent responses.

That became significant because investigators learned that Marie had routinely used an “X” when signing documents. A bank employee who knew her said this was because Marie was unable to write her name. Investigators therefore questioned correspondence supposedly written and signed by Marie years after her disappearance.

A scrapbook recovered from the Dishers’ residence reportedly contained letters dated between 2006 and 2011 and bearing Marie’s name. The existence of those letters became another element of the investigation into whether others had been maintaining the appearance that Marie was still alive.

The Social Security Fraud Investigation

Authorities alleged that approximately $170,000 to $175,000 in Social Security benefits issued in Marie’s name had been collected over the years. The investigation eventually resulted in charges involving Marie’s son Charles Jost, daughter Delores Disher and son-in-law Ronald Disher.

Charles was ultimately found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Charges against Delores were dismissed because of her medical condition. Ronald Disher’s 2014 trial on the fraud allegations ended without a unanimous verdict on the theft charge, although he was convicted on separate misdemeanor charges stemming from an encounter with investigators.

Ronald later entered a plea agreement and was convicted of felony theft/false representation. He received a 4½-year prison sentence, with credit for time already served.

Those proceedings established criminal consequences surrounding the Social Security money, but they did not establish what happened to Marie.

Was Marie Jost Murdered?

No homicide has been established in Marie Jost’s disappearance, and her remains have never been located.

Investigators nevertheless examined the possibility of foul play. WSAW reported in 2023 that Lt. Kropidlowski identified Ronald Disher as investigators’ strongest person of interest, based partly on statements reportedly made while Disher was incarcerated. Kropidlowski also emphasized credibility problems involving the inmates who provided that information. No murder conviction resulted.

The lieutenant offered another possible scenario: Marie may have died naturally, after which her death was concealed so that Social Security payments could continue. He noted that Ronald had worked at an Almond-area waste facility, raising the possibility that remains could have been disposed of through the waste system. That remains an investigative theory, not an established fact. The facility was not searched, and investigators have not recovered Marie’s body.

Theodore Jost Remains Part of the Mystery

Marie cannot be separated completely from the disappearance of her son Theodore.

Theodore had apparently vanished years earlier and never applied for Social Security benefits despite eventually becoming eligible. Investigators were told that Marie and Theodore had spent decades traveling around the country in a motorhome, but authorities found significant problems with that account.

Investigators have also considered the possibility that Theodore left Wisconsin. WSAW reported that authorities had indications Theodore and Charles may have traveled to California sometime in the 1990s, but investigators were unable to establish what became of Theodore.

Theodore has his own missing-person case, and the mystery of whether his disappearance is directly connected to Marie’s remains unresolved.

Latest Investigation Information

The most detailed recent public law-enforcement discussion located for this article came from WSAW-TV’s September 2023 examination of the case. Lt. Wayne Kropidlowski said investigators still did not know what happened to Marie and Theodore. The renewed media attention prompted him to revisit photographs and reports from the investigation and consider whether another attempt should be made to speak with Charles Jost.

The case has continued to appear on Wisconsin missing-person resources. A November 2025 Wausau Pilot & Review report still listed Marie as missing, described her as last known alive around 1988 although potentially missing since 1980, and continued to direct information to the Portage County Sheriff’s Department.

A more recent April 2026 retrospective also described Marie and Theodore as having vanished without a confirmed resolution. No credible public announcement located in researching this article reports that Marie’s remains have been recovered, that she has been positively identified among unidentified remains, or that anyone has been charged with causing her death.

More than three decades passed before authorities even knew they needed to investigate. That enormous gap remains one of the greatest obstacles in determining exactly when Marie disappeared, whether she died naturally or through foul play, where her remains are located, and who knew the truth.

Anyone with information concerning Marie D. Jost or Theodore Jost should contact the Portage County Sheriff’s Office at 715-346-1400.