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Wisconsin

Wife finds hubby — married — 9 years after he vanished

Ariel Cheung
The (Appleton, Wis.) Post-Crescent
Karen Marx of New London, Wis., found her husband, Adam Marx, married and living in Vernon County, Wis. about 150 miles away. Missing for 9 years, he's now been charged with bigamy among other crimes.

NEW LONDON, Wis. — Karen Marx always believed that a blood moon rising was an omen for a significant life change.

So when the red-orange orb rose Oct. 8, the first day she saw her husband in nine years, she took it as a sign of better days to come.

Marx, 48, had been searching for her husband since he disappeared in 2005, she said. He left no note, gave no explanation and sent no word for almost a decade until she tracked him down on Facebook.

What she found shocked her: Not only was Adam L. Marx living in Wisconsin, he was happily married — to someone else.

"I just thought, 'How could he get married again?'" Karen Marx said. "Am I dead? What did he do with my identity?"

It was a surprising turn in the mystery of her missing husband, but it was one that Karen Marx was more than willing to solve after nine years of questions.

'One big, happy family'

She met Adam Marx at the Outagamie County Fair, in the shadows of the zipper ride — her favorite. He was working at the fair, running the ride, and Karen Shepard found herself instantly attracted to the man with long hair and endless charm.

He also had a wife.

But the future Karen Marx was undeterred; Adam Marx had been with his first wife for only six weeks before moving out. Seven years later, he still was technically married, but he was willing to change that for her.

"I figured, 'He's going to get divorced, and this means he really wants to be with me and the kids,'" Karen Marx said. "We'll be one big, happy family."

Adam Marx did not respond to requests for comment but did acknowledge the multiple marriages when speaking with police, court records show.

Adam Marx and his first wife filed for divorce in 2001. He married Karen Shepard a year later on Valentine's Day.

After a courthouse wedding and a dinner at the local supper club with her three children and his two, the newlyweds took a honeymoon in Sheboygan, Wis.

Adam Marx quit his job and moved in with his wife, who supported the family as a machine operator.

Within a year, Adam Marx had vanished, leaving behind a note for his wife then.

"The first time he left me, it was like somebody reached into my chest and ripped my heart out of me," Karen Marx said. "He basically told me it was all my fault and he couldn't handle my kids."

He returned several months later, just in time for Karen Marx's Christmas bonus. While she suspected Adam Marx had returned only for the money, she took him back.

"My ultimatum was 'If you ever do this to me again, I won't take you back,' " Karen Marx said. "I did it once. I won't do it twice."

The reunited family needed a fresh start, so Karen Marx cashed in her 401(K) and they moved to Clinton, Mont. — population 1,052.

'Here we go again'

For the first year, Montana seemed like the answer to the couple's problems. Karen Marx had plans to start a cleaning business, and Adam Marx began working for a timber-framing company, even helping his wife's teenage son get into the business.

"There's some good things that came out of Adam," Karen Marx said. "But it was really rare."

Karen Marx  reads a list of daily Bible quotes Oct. 27, 2014, at her home in New London, Wis.

Things began to disintegrate when Adam Marx stopped coming home and started racking up debt with payday loans, Karen Marx said. She began to suspect he was cheating on her and gave him a choice: Shape up or leave.

"I thought, 'Here we go again,' and this time, I'm 1,300 miles away from my family," she said. "It's really not nice to hear from people (that's) your husband's out running around on you."

Adam Marx packed his bags and loaded up his truck. His wife locked the door behind him.

"He tried kicking my door in. I was pretty afraid of him back then," she said.

"But over the years, I just look at it and think he's a coward," Karen Marx said. "He left me with just a note in Wisconsin and then he left me in Montana."

Adam Marx continued to work at the timber company until he was fired and soon he didn't have a phone, Karen Marx said. By 2005, they had lost touch.

Karen Marx was left with her husband's bills and poor health because of stress.

"If it wasn't for my son who was out there with me, I probably would have ended up homeless," Karen Marx said. "I was trying to start a cleaning business, and after he left me, that totally ruined everything."

She moved to another Montana city and saw Adam Marx once more in a Kmart parking lot. She asked him for a divorce, and he said he'd call.

"Needless to say, I never heard from him," Karen said.

'Still a married woman'

In 2012, Karen Marx returned to Wisconsin to care for her father. She moved to New London and attempted to track her husband down.

Finally, she found his mother on Facebook and called her. The older woman broke the news about Adam Marx's new wife.

Karen Marx said she struggled to convince police that the matter needed investigating. She first contacted them around Labor Day.

"They said he told people it was his first marriage, and the (clerk) never checked vital statistics," Karen Marx said. "I think people need to start doing their job and doing it thoroughly, especially when it comes to something like this."

Typically, clerks issuing marriage licenses don't do a background check. Instead, those applying for marriage licenses must sign paperwork stating they aren't married now.

In September, police spoke with Adam Marx, who said while he never had signed divorce papers, he believed that Karen Marx had taken care of the divorce in Montana, according to the criminal complaint. Adam Marx said he claimed the third marriage was actually his first because he wanted to expedite the procedure.

Adam Marx was charged in Vernon County — a county in western Wisconsin at the border of Iowa and Minnesota that has about 30,000 residents — with bigamy, fraud and a making false statement on a marriage license.

If convicted of fraud, the most severe charge, he faces up to six years in prison. Bigamy carries a maximum penalty of 3½ years in prison.

Bigamy is rarely seen in Wisconsin. Outagamie County, where New London is located, hasn't had a case in at least 20 years, court records show.

Karen Marx said she intends to file for divorce and won't date anyone until it's finalized.

"I consider myself married. I thought when you married someone, you married him for life, through sickness and health," she said.

Adam Marx made his first court appearance Oct. 8. Karen made sure she was there.

"I was really nervous, but I just feel so good knowing that he's before the judge and things are going to start happening," she said. "He's finally going to get what's coming to him."

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