STEPHANIE A LOW - 22 yo - Wausau WI

A year after a young Wausau woman mysteriously went missing, her family copes uneasily and waits for news.


In
the photo, Stephanie has her hands on her hips -- sassy -- and a Mona
Lisa smile and a dimple. Her hair is in braids -- not her mother's
favorite style.
But that's Stephanie. She never was one to let anyone else's opinion stop her from doing just what she wanted.
Stephanie
Low is 19 in the photo her mother, Claudia Blake, keeps on a shelf in
her living room. Blake also has one of Stephanie at about 5 years old
and standing in the same pose, same sass, same Stephanie.
It
was Oct. 10, almost a year ago, when a 1 a.m. phone call from Stephanie
to one of her friends ended abruptly. That is the last time anyone has
heard from her. Police found blood in her Wausau apartment, missing bed
sheets and pillows and her two dogs (her "babies," Blake called them)
left unattended.
She was 22 when she disappeared. Wherever she is today -- and if the worst has not happened -- she turned 23 on Thursday.
Blake
and other family members are planning a vigil for her on the
anniversary of her disappearance. It will be at Oak Island Park in
Wausau.
"Maybe we won't need to have it," Blake said in an interview at her Weston apartment. "Maybe by then, she'll be back."
That's
the way it is to live as Blake has lived for the past 12 months, with
her life on hold, she said. Every day could be the day the nightmare
ends. Every phone call could be the one that brings her daughter back to
her. Stephanie could have been found between the time this newspaper
went to print and now. She could be found by the time you finish this
sentence.
'Wild' but caring
Stephanie
was a "wild child," Blake said. She had a few minor run-ins with the
law. Her boyfriend, Eric Maholmes, 30, had a longer rap sheet.
At
the time of Stephanie's disappearance, Maholmes was in Marathon County
Jail on a probation violation. When the police searched the apartment
they shared, they found about 28 grams of crack cocaine inside a safe,
as well as baggies and a digital scale. In July, Maholmes was sentenced
to six years and six months in prison.

Read more: http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20111002/WDH06/110020457/Still-searching-Stephanie-Family-continues-look-missing-Wausau-woman-one-year-later?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cp

New developments in search for Stephanie Low

07/01/2012

TOWN OF CARTER (WAOW) -
Wabeno authorities say a massive search was conducted Saturday in the Town of Carter in connection with the Stephanie Low case.

Wabeno Police Chief Michael Ashbeck told
Newsline 9 several items were found in the forest during the search and
were sent to the state crime lab for analysis.

Authorities will not say what those items were or how they could be related to the Low case.

They say no human remains were found Saturday.

Authorities say 85 people were involved in the search effort, including Stephanie's family.

Newsline 9 spoke with Stephanie's mother,
Claudia Blake, who says Saturday's search provided "no answers" for her
and her family.

The Wabeno Police Chief says the Town of
Carter and surrounding area were also searched about a year ago, and
this latest search was performed to follow up on leads and canvass the
area more thoroughly.

He said it could take weeks before any results come back from the state crime lab.

Stephanie Low went missing in October 2010. She was last seen at her apartment in Wausau.

Newsline 9 will continue to follow this developing story and bring you the latest.
http://www.waow.com/story/18928546/new-developments-in-search-for-stephanie-low

PERSON OF INTEREST NAMED

Wausau police have identified a person of interest related to the 2010 disappearance of Stephanie Low.

Low of Wausau was 22 when she disappeared Oct. 10, 2010.

Police named Kristopher Torgerson, also known as “Spider,” as a person of interest. Authorities interviewed Torgerson soon after Low disappeared two years ago, according to a Thursday news release from the Wausau Police Department.

Since those initial interviews with Torgerson, the department has gathered more information from an ongoing investigation that led investigators to identify him as someone worth their continued tention.

Low’s mother, Claudia Blake of Weston, said police have been diligent in their search for Low. Investigators, she said, won’t give up until someone finds her daughter.

“I’m in constant contact with the police,” Blake said in a phone interview Thursday. “They have no intention of stopping the investigation. They want to find Stephanie probably as much as I do.”

Blake declined to comment on the latest developments in her daughter’s case.

Torgerson, 32, of Wausau, is in Marathon County Jail on a probation hold. Torgerson was charged with possession of methamphetamine Aug. 8.

Torgerson has a history of run-ins with the law in Marathon and Lincoln counties. He was found guilty of resisting and obstructing an officer in 2011. In 2010, he was found guilty of felony bail jumping, and in 2009 was found guilty on charges of misdemeanor battery, according to Wisconsin circuit court records.

The Wausau Police Department has not released any additional information on the case.

Blake asked anyone with information regarding Low’s disappearance to step forward.

“If there’s people out there that may know something, please come forward,” she said.

Anyone with additional information about Low’s disappearance is asked to call the Wausau Police Detective Bureau at 715-261-7883.

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20120824/WDH0101/308240197/Man-person-interest-Low-case

Court records: Man admits to slaying of Stephanie Low
Court documents say person of interest said what he did with body of missing woman
11:07 PM, Aug 24, 2012
A man named a person of interest in the 2010 disappearance of a Wausau woman reportedly told another person that he killed Stephanie Low, removed her body from her apartment and then buried her body, according to court records.

Kristopher Torgerson, 32, has been in the Marathon County Jail the past two weeks on a probation hold and a drug charge and was identified by police Thursday as a possible link to Low’s disappearance. Low was 22 years old when she disappeared nearly two years ago. Torgerson has not been charged in connection with Low’s disappearance.

Investigators on the case are keeping quiet on the details of how Torgerson is linked to Low’s disappearance nearly two years ago.

“(Torgerson) was an associate of Stephanie’s,” Wausau Police Lt. Craig Dunbar said Friday. “We can’t say if he was with her or saw her when she disappeared.”

Low last was heard from during the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2010, when a telephone conversation with a friend ended abruptly, according to police. Officers investigating the case suspect Low was taken against her will based on blood found in her apartment, missing bed sheets and pillows, and the fact that she left her two dogs unattended in the apartment. Low also reportedly received threats before she disappeared, police said.

Police and family members have searched rivers, lakes and forested areas in hopes of finding some sign of Low, to no avail. They’ve held rummage sales to raise money for a reward fund in hopes of luring someone with information about Low’s whereabouts to come forward. Wausau police have investigated dozens of tips since Low went missing, and Dunbar said detectives received four tips in the 24 hours after the department acknowledged Thursday that Torgerson was a person of interest.

Police interviewed Torgerson in the days after Low’s disappearance, and a tip in November led police to focus on him.

According to court documents:

In November, Torgerson’s girlfriend told investigators that Torgerson was out drinking Oct. 9, 2010, and did not have contact with her until between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. the next day. Torgerson called the woman and told her that he planned to take her boat and store it at the woman’s family’s cabin in the Forest County town of Wabeno. The woman’s mother later told police that she found a kitchen knife on the boat that did not belong to her and the boat’s battery was not set for long-term storage.

A witness whose name was not included in court records told police on Oct. 31, 2010, that Torgerson admitted that he had killed Low, wrapped her body in a sheet or tarp, placed the body in the back of his Jeep, transferred the body from the Jeep into a boat on a trailer, then took Low’s body to an undisclosed location where he buried her.

Investigators twice searched locations in the town of Wabeno for Low.

Police with dogs trained to detect human remains searched the boat on April 29, 2011, and detected the odor of human remains on and around the boat.

In July, Wausau police announced that investigators found non-human bones during a search of a property in Wabeno but no evidence was conclusively linked to the Low case.

Torgerson, who has a lengthy criminal record, was arrested Aug. 7 in Wausau on a probation warrant. Wisconsin Department of Corrections spokesman Tim Le Monds said the department’s online records database did not list a specific reason for Torgerson’s arrest. Staff members at the Marathon County Jail found methamphetamine in Torgerson’s pocket and he was later charged in Marathon County Circuit Court with possession of methamphetamine.

People who are on probation can be arrested on a probation hold if police are investigating whether the person is a suspect in a crime, Le Monds said.

Dunbar and Marathon County District Attorney Ken Heimerman declined to share specific details of the ongoing investigation. Torgerson declined a reporter’s request to discuss the case.

Low’s mother, Claudia Blake, on Friday did not want to discuss the new developments in the case, but vowed to do everything possible to find her daughter.

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20120825/WDH01/308250176/Court-records-Man-admits-slaying-Stephanie-Low