Overview

Last seen: July 2, 1998, Helenville/Jefferson County, Wisconsin, according to Wisconsin court records and several case histories. Wisconsin’s current missing-person record lists Thomas as missing since July 6, 1998.

Age when missing: 21

Missing with: His mother Donna, father Allen, and the family’s dog, Hunter.

What happened: Anderson said the other members of the family were preparing to travel to their cabin near Coloma, Wisconsin, for the Fourth of July holiday. They apparently never arrived.

Major development: The family’s Chevrolet pickup was recovered near Reedsburg, Wisconsin, on July 10, 1998. Allen Krnak’s remains were subsequently found in North Carolina in December 1999 and identified in 2001.

Case status: Thomas and Donna remain missing. Anderson was convicted in 2006 of first-degree intentional homicide in Allen’s death. Authorities have suspected that Thomas and Donna were also killed, but Anderson has not been charged in connection with their disappearances.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Thomas John Krnak: The 1998 Disappearance of a Wisconsin Family and the Murder Case That Followed

Thomas John Krnak was 21 years old when he disappeared from Helenville, Wisconsin, in July 1998 along with his mother, Donna Kay Krnak, his father, Allen Krnak, and the family’s cocker spaniel, Hunter. More than two decades later, Thomas and Donna have never been located.

The disappearance eventually developed into a homicide investigation spanning Wisconsin and North Carolina. Allen’s remains were recovered in North Carolina, and Thomas’s older brother, formerly known as Andrew Krnak and later as Derek Nicholas Anderson, was ultimately convicted of murdering their father. No one has been charged with Thomas’s or Donna’s deaths, and both remain officially listed as missing.

Very Brief Case Summary

Last seen: July 2, 1998, Helenville/Jefferson County, Wisconsin, according to Wisconsin court records and several case histories. Wisconsin’s current missing-person record lists Thomas as missing since July 6, 1998.

Age when missing: 21

Missing with: His mother Donna, father Allen, and the family’s dog, Hunter.

What happened: Anderson said the other members of the family were preparing to travel to their cabin near Coloma, Wisconsin, for the Fourth of July holiday. They apparently never arrived.

Major development: The family’s Chevrolet pickup was recovered near Reedsburg, Wisconsin, on July 10, 1998. Allen Krnak’s remains were subsequently found in North Carolina in December 1999 and identified in 2001.

Case status: Thomas and Donna remain missing. Anderson was convicted in 2006 of first-degree intentional homicide in Allen’s death. Authorities have suspected that Thomas and Donna were also killed, but Anderson has not been charged in connection with their disappearances.

Thomas Krnak Disappears With His Family

Thomas lived in rural Jefferson County with his parents, Allen and Donna Krnak, and his older brother, Andrew. Andrew later legally changed his name to Derek Nicholas Anderson.

According to Wisconsin appellate court records, Anderson said he last saw Allen, Donna and Thomas at approximately 5:30 p.m. on July 2, 1998, as they prepared to leave the family residence for their cabin near Coloma in Waushara County for the Fourth of July weekend. The family dog disappeared with them.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice currently records Thomas’s official missing date as July 6, 1998. That differs from the July 2 date appearing in court records and other case histories. The discrepancy appears to reflect differences in how the disappearance/reporting date was recorded; the judicial record specifically describes July 2 as the date Anderson said he last saw his family.

The Family Never Reached the Cabin

The expected vacation trip quickly became suspicious. Investigators determined that the family apparently never arrived at the cabin.

Anderson reported the family missing after they failed to return. Court records indicate that he contacted the Waushara County Sheriff’s Department on July 6. Other later summaries describe the missing-person report as occurring seven days after the family was last seen, creating another minor discrepancy among published accounts.

What investigators did know was that Allen, Donna and Thomas had apparently vanished together, and there had been no confirmed contact from Thomas or Donna afterward.

The Krnak Family Truck Is Found

On July 10, 1998, the family’s black Chevrolet pickup was discovered in a wooded area near Reedsburg in Sauk County.

Published case accounts state that the truck appeared to have been wiped clean of fingerprints. Investigators found no luggage in the vehicle even though Anderson had said the family packed for the trip.

Another major investigative detail concerned the truck’s mileage. Authorities determined that approximately 2,618 miles were unaccounted for—enough mileage for a trip from Wisconsin to the area of western North Carolina where a crucial discovery would later be made and back.

Allen Krnak Is Found in North Carolina

In December 1999, skeletal remains were discovered in the remote Roy Taylor Forest in North Carolina. The remains were identified in 2001 as those of Allen Krnak.

An examination determined that Allen died from blunt-force injuries to his head and face.

The location drew investigators’ attention because Anderson had attended Western Carolina University and was familiar with the surrounding area. Wisconsin court records state that Allen’s remains were found less than ten miles from the university and that Anderson had previously hiked in the area where the remains were recovered.

Investigators also found other potentially important evidence near Allen’s remains. Published case summaries report the discovery of a woman’s shirt, men’s underwear, a wedding ring identified as Donna’s, and canine remains believed possibly to have been the Krnak family’s dog.

Thomas and Donna were not found.

Investigators Focus on Derek Anderson

The investigation increasingly centered on Anderson.

An important part of the prosecution’s later case involved Allen’s actions on the day his family disappeared. Allen received a telephone call while at work and became distressed. He left work early after indicating that he had a family emergency and might have to attend a funeral.

Anderson initially denied making that telephone call but later acknowledged that he had called his father, explaining that he needed help locating a tool while working on his parents’ vehicle.

Testimony also described serious tension between Allen and Anderson. According to court records and case summaries, Allen had previously told coworkers about problems with his older son, including an alleged earlier attack.

Anderson’s familiarity with the North Carolina area, the unexplained mileage on the family vehicle, the circumstances surrounding Allen’s departure from work and other circumstantial evidence eventually became important parts of the prosecution’s case.

Murder Charge and Conviction

Anderson was initially charged in North Carolina with his father’s murder. That prosecution was later dropped, and Wisconsin authorities pursued the case based on their theory that Allen had been killed in Wisconsin before his remains were transported to North Carolina.

Anderson denied murdering his father.

Wisconsin prosecutors ultimately charged him with first-degree intentional homicide. At trial, prosecutors presented a circumstantial case; there was no eyewitness to Allen’s killing and no recovered murder weapon directly establishing what happened.

In April 2006, a Wisconsin jury convicted Derek Anderson of first-degree intentional homicide in Allen Krnak’s death. He received a life sentence.

Anderson appealed his conviction. In December 2009, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected his arguments and affirmed the judgment and postconviction order.

What Happened to Thomas Krnak and Donna Krnak?

Thomas and Donna have never been recovered.

Authorities have publicly expressed the belief that they were also killed and that their disappearances were connected to Allen’s murder. Extensive searching around the North Carolina location where Allen was found did not locate Thomas or Donna.

Despite those suspicions, the distinction between proven and suspected events remains important: Anderson was convicted of murdering Allen Krnak, but he has not been convicted—or charged—with killing Thomas or Donna.

Thomas therefore remains officially classified as a missing person rather than a confirmed homicide victim.

Latest Case Information

As of the latest publicly available information located for this article, there has been no publicly announced recovery of Thomas Krnak’s remains and no publicly announced criminal charge in connection with his disappearance.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice continues to maintain an official missing-person entry for Thomas. It lists him as missing from Helenville in Jefferson County and gives his current official missing date as July 6, 1998. His NamUs identifier is MP11252.

The Wisconsin missing-person poster also continues to request information from the public through the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Missing & Exploited Children & Adults.

A 2026 case review likewise reports that Thomas and Donna remain missing and that Anderson has never been charged in their disappearances. No reliable public source located for this update describes a newly announced search, newly identified remains, new suspect, new arrest or new forensic breakthrough in Thomas’s case.

That absence of a publicly announced development does not mean investigative work has necessarily stopped. It means no newer substantive investigative development could be verified in the publicly accessible records reviewed for this article.

Thomas John Krnak Remains Missing

Thomas was 5 feet 4 inches tall and approximately 117 pounds when he disappeared. He had brown hair and brown eyes, may have worn eyeglasses, had a scar on his right thumb and was also known as Tom.

His case remains intertwined with one of Wisconsin’s unusual family disappearance and homicide investigations: three members of one household disappeared, one was eventually found hundreds of miles away and determined to have been murdered, while two others have never been recovered.

Until Thomas and Donna are found—or evidence establishes conclusively what happened to them—their disappearances remain unresolved.

Anyone with information concerning Thomas John Krnak is asked to contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department at 920-674-7310 or the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Missing & Exploited Children & Adults at 1-800-843-4673.