NE NE - Vanderlei, Jaqueline, Chris (fnd dec'd) Szczepanik, 7, Omaha, 14 Dec 2009

[Sillybilly]

Not looking good for the family. It appears we've gone from "no foul play" to the homicide unit being involved.

Initial reports had a white work van accounted for, so it now seems the family had a total of 4 vehicles (white work van, blue volvo, grey nissan pickup, and beige caravan). Interesting that there are 2 vehicles absent from the residence.

 

[Sillybilly]

Couple of observations:

There appears to be a blue plastic bag on the corner of the bed.

GIFTS !! Where are the gifts? December 17 and there are no gifts under the tree !!

 

[liz b.]

This might not be related, but, a few months ago my family was on vacation in a very small town in Hawaii. We stayed in a condo, and 90% of the building was occupied by immigrants from Brazil. They told us that they worked for churches in Brazil. But, they never tried to " spread the good word ", never worked at any other jobs, and partied into the night on several nights. Never saw them going to any church.Their kids did not attend the local schools in the village either. It was weird, because the area is an expensive place to live ( average rents are about 1700 a month), and it is just not the kind of place where immigrants would look to live. We could never figure it out, but came to the conclusion that they were scamming big time.

 

[nervous_nellie]

http://www.ketv.com/news/22423357/detail.html

article from feb.3rd...

http://www.ketv.com/news/22394901/detail.html
truck found

A gray Nissan pickup truck belonging to Vanderlei and Jaqueline Szczepanik was discovered near 15th and Vinton streets late Saturday.


http://www.omaha.com/article/20100204/NEWS01/702049879
article feb.4th

The van was described as a beige Dodge Caravan with Nebraska license plate RHX005. Authorities asked anyone with information to call the Omaha Police Department's homicide unit at 444-5656.

notice that the homicide unit is handling this? cant be good....

 

[rudegyal]

I believe the surnames Szczepanik and Szcepanski are interchangeable, sometimes within the same branch of the family. I'm basing this on some other research I've done where some chose to Americanize the Slavic root name, with the "ski" suffix added to denote "son of" (or "ska" to denote "daughter of").

Just to let you know, Szczepanski is really a Polish surname. In Poland Szczepanik and Szczepanski would not be interchangeable (I've lived there). They are two totally different surnames. Just like Kuzemski and Kuzemczak or Kuzemik would not be interchangeable.

 

[webrocket]

Just to let you know, Szczepanski is really a Polish surname. In Poland Szczepanik and Szczepanski would not be interchangeable (I've lived there). They are two totally different surnames. Just like Kuzemski and Kuzemczak or Kuzemik would not be interchangeable.

Not that the spelling is all that important, he is at least two steps removed from Poland. He or his ancestors went from a Polish speaking country to a Portuguese speaking country. Who knows what transcription or other errors might have been made upon arrival in Brazil. Then he comes here so who knows if any other changes were made.

 

[dotr]

Any chance these people were"Roma"?

 

[dreamweaver]

It is hard to imagine what happened that night after work was done.
I look at the pics and see a violin, glasses, food in the frig, Christmas tree up,
a normal looking household.

IMO:
My first thought after reading about this disappearance the first time was
maybe Vanderlei's construction co., underbid for other jobs.
He seems to have done other construction as well.
Maybe he had to fire someone?
But then, I thought, no, that's not it. Someone might be angry at him and maybe even turn violent, but that's going to be directed at him.
They are not going to break in, and take the whole family.

Second thing: witness protection program:
I thought, hmm, they are from Brazil, living in the United States, working for a church group.
They have uncashed checks from jobs.
Maybe they discovered important info about the construction industry in Omaha, NE?
They are spirited away in an hours time.

Maybe not.
It sure is hard to think of how and why the whole family has disappeared.

 

[Sillybilly]

Just to let you know, Szczepanski is really a Polish surname. In Poland Szczepanik and Szczepanski would not be interchangeable (I've lived there). They are two totally different surnames. Just like Kuzemski and Kuzemczak or Kuzemik would not be interchangeable.

I am aware that Szczepanski is a Polish surname, and at this point, we'll have to agree to disagree on this rudegyal. While the 3 Polish names you refer to may all be different families, they likely are all derived from the Slavic root of Kuzem with various suffixes affixed. I have been doing genealogical research on a specific poi in the missing/murdered women of Canada for going on 6 years now, and in that case, the examples I used absolutely hold true. Obviously I cannot print the name here, but I can guarantee that the various spellings can and DO occur within the same branch of the family.

http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=Kuzma

(You will find reference to Kuzem and its variations)

Don't know what you are basing your comments on, but here is an example from a Polish genealogy resource site that gives another general example (using the surname Kowal) of how suffixes relate to the root name from which they are derived:

from: http://www.polishroots.com/Resources/GenPoland/tabid/338/Default.aspx

The Slavonic languages use many suffixes to form surnames. As an example let's look at the profession "Kowal" (a blacksmith). Whereas the English language has one surname "Smith", and the German several of them, "Schmitt", "Schmidt" etc. (which differ only by spelling), the Polish language can add numerous suffixes (sometimes even several on the same name). Therefore, apart from the surname "Kowal" we have Kowalski, Kowalik, Kowalewski, Kowalak, Kowalka, Kowalkowski, and Kowalczyk, to name just a few which are the most frequently used ones.

Not trying to fry anybody's brain by going on about Slavic genealogy, but a good primer on root names and suffixes (that just happens to include a reference to the surname Szczepański) can be found at:

http://www.polishroots.com/Resources/SurnameSearch/Surnamesendings/tabid/118/Default.aspx

 

[rudegyal]

I am sure it happens, but I think they are talking about where surnames derive from, which would go back hundreds of years. Of course Szczepanik and Szczepanski come from the same root, but I don't think people change it themselves like that. Maybe to Americanize it and get rid of special characters in the name, but I don't think Polaks do it in Poland is all I'm saying. If someone called my family Miczulak or Miczulowski instead of Miczulski, I would not relate the two. But perhaps he had a good reason to change it...I hope they are found safe.

 

[webrocket]

The corporationwiki flowcharts show an affiliation between the AoG Bethlehem Ministry to a "Bethlehem Immigration Ministry Corp" (which i can't find much about right now)

That part jumps out at me.

I know what Bethlehem Immigration Ministry Corp sound like to me but I'll not say a word. Surely raised an eyebrow or two with me.

 

[summer_breeze]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100204/NEWS01/100209760

Published Thursday February 4, 2010

A fund has been set up to help bring two Brazilian relatives to Omaha to be closer to the investigation of the missing Szczepanik family.

Vanderlei, his wife Jaqueline and their 7-year-old son Christopher have not been seen since Dec. 17. Jaqueline's adult daughter and Vanderlei's brother, both of whom live in Brazil, hope to make the trip to Omaha.

Donations are being accepted at any Wells Fargo branch under the Life Church/Missing Family Fund, said Pastor Dobie Weasel of Life Church, where the Szczepaniks attended.

 

[Sillybilly]

That part jumps out at me.

I know what Bethlehem Immigration Ministry Corp sound like to me but I'll not say a word. Surely raised an eyebrow or two with me.

I'm thinking the name is a bit misleading. From what i can find since my last post, they seem to be a radio station (and I'm guessing broadcasting primarily to Brazilian immigrants in Florida, as opposed to something that relates to the immigration process itself).

 

[Sillybilly]

Thanks for that info summer breeze.

I'd better sign off for the night ... am going buggy here

 

[Sillybilly]

but before I go

just found the link that showed Iara M's firm as being at the Federal Highway addy with consults in numerous other states:

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache...m++"federal+highway"&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

Nite all (until I wander into something else)

ZZzzzzzzzzz

 

[webrocket]

but before I go

just found the link that showed Iara M's firm as being at the Federal Highway addy with consults in numerous other states:

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache...m++"federal+highway"&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

Nite all (until I wander into something else)

ZZzzzzzzzzz

There is sooooooooooooooo much I want to say about this but until I've had a chance to check a few key facts, I can't say what I'm thinking.

 

[gaia227]

Bumping back to the 1st page. This whole thing is just BIZARRE. It appears this family was going about their normal business and poof disappeared. So weird.
I hope LE is checking their phone records and their bank activity.

The whole car business is weird too. One car was found abandoned close to the home and another car is missing. Why would both of their cars be out? Did someone drop the pick-up off while being followed by the van and if so then why? It seems a little staged.

 

[webrocket]

There is sooooooooooooooo much I want to say about this but until I've had a chance to check a few key facts, I can't say what I'm thinking.

Their website says they do consultations in NJ, MA, NY and DC. I looked today and saw no law firms in NJ in the past few years named Nogueira Morton. Does not mean that they never had a presence or that they might not be affiliated with a NJ law firm but as Nogueira Morton, they do not have an office here in NJ.

It gets tricky with federal courts, however. I am not certain but I think lawyers from any state, if admitted to federal practice there, can represent people in federal courts of other states. So they could, in theory, maintain a FL law office and represent Brazilians in NJ for things like immigration and bankruptcy.

 

[Sillybilly]

Their website says they do consultations in NJ, MA, NY and DC. I looked today and saw no law firms in NJ in the past few years named Nogueira Morton. Does not mean that they never had a presence or that they might not be affiliated with a NJ law firm but as Nogueira Morton, they do not have an office here in NJ.

It gets tricky with federal courts, however. I am not certain but I think lawyers from any state, if admitted to federal practice there, can represent people in federal courts of other states. So they could, in theory, maintain a FL law office and represent Brazilians in NJ for things like immigration and bankruptcy.

bbm

That sounds like it should be the case webrocket.

I don't know how to say this clearly (this is about my 5th attempt .. lol) but because federal law would be the same no matter what state, you would think if they are granted federal attorney status in the state in which they are licensed, they could represent in federal cases in ALL states. Maybe one has to apply to be a federal attorney within each state they would represent in? I can't see they would choose to limited themselves to specific states, given that immigrants would exist in all states.

 

[liz b.]

My better half is an attorney. All immigration law is federally controlled, be it federal agencies or judges. A lawyer who is a member in good standing of ANY state bar can represent a client in ANY federal hearing.
An attorney can be a member of many different state bars, and represent clients before federal and state agencies and judges. An attorney can be a consultant on a case, and usually this would be because that attorney has some specialized knowledge of the particular law being argued. In this case it could pertain to obtaining entry visas,or obtaining permanent resident status for church members from Brazil * I am only using that as an example * This is a really interesting case.....