The murder of Susan Poupart
Lac Du Flambeau, Vilas County, Wisconsin · May 20, 1990
Evidence the Vilas County Sheriff's Office has held since 1990 went to several laboratories in 2024 and 2025, and the Lac du Flambeau Tribe has posted a $25,000 reward, but no results have been made public.
Overview
Susan "Susie" Poupart, 29, a mother of two and a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, left an early-morning house party in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, on May 20, 1990. Witnesses saw her get into a car with two men; accounts differ on whether she was offered a ride or was walking home when the car stopped. Her family reported her missing two days later. On Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1990, deer hunters found her remains in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, about 12 miles from her home. She was identified from a jawbone by dental examination, and her death was ruled a homicide, though the cause could not be determined. The Vilas County Sheriff's Office has worked the case for 36 years. Hundreds of people have been interviewed, John Doe hearings were held in the 1990s and 2007, and earlier DNA tests produced nothing usable. No one has been charged. In 2024 and 2025, with grants and donations, the sheriff sent evidence to several laboratories, and in May 2025 the Lac du Flambeau Tribe offered a reward of up to $25,000. As of the most recent reporting, results had not been announced.
Where it stands
Susan Poupart's death was ruled a homicide in 1990, but the pathologist could not determine a specific cause, and nobody has been charged. The Vilas County Sheriff's Office, which has jurisdiction on the Lac du Flambeau reservation under Public Law 280, remains the lead agency, with help from the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Sheriff Joe Fath, who worked the case as a young investigator in 1990, told NBC's Dateline in 2022 that the two men who were last seen with her are "still probably our main people of interest" because they have not been able to prove they were not involved. He said a third person has also come up over the years. The men have told officers that they argued with her and dropped her off. They are not charged, and this page does not name them. John Doe hearings were held in the 1990s and 2007, but the district attorney did not ask the judge for a probable cause ruling. Earlier DNA submissions were unsuccessful, and a laboratory holding deer hair samples was destroyed by a hurricane. The recent development is the testing. In August 2024 the sheriff's office won a grant of $8,570 for DNA testing at the state crime lab in Wausau; the first round, ICT and A&E reported, did not yield enough for a profile. In February 2025, ICT reported, three more pieces of evidence went to three laboratories, and in April 2025, A&E reported, another batch was sent. On May 16, 2025, the Lac du Flambeau Tribe offered up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction and said investigators awaited results. In a late-2025 interview a detective declined to discuss results because they were pending. Sheriff Fath has said the best chance of convictions is hard, physical evidence, and that he is confident people in the community know what happened. We found no announcement of results. The case could be close, or it could remain where it has been for 36 years.
Persons of interest
The theories below are reported strictly as attributed to the cited sources. Naming a person here is not an accusation. Individuals are named only where they are deceased, were formally charged, were officially named by authorities, or have been publicly cleared.
- Two men who gave her a ride from the partyNot publicly named
Sheriff Joe Fath told NBC's Dateline in 2022 that the two men, who told officers they argued with her and dropped her off, were still probably the main people of interest because they had not been able to prove they were not involved in her disappearance. Neither has been charged.[1]
- A third manNot publicly named
Sheriff Fath told Dateline that a third person had come up in the investigation over the years. ICT reported that three local men were widely considered suspects and that police had interrogated but not charged them; other reports describe only two men in the car.[3]
Sources
- 32 years later, daughter fighting for justice in 1990 Wisconsin homicide of Susan Poupart (May 21, 2022)
“are still probably our main people of interest because they have not been able to prove that they were not involved in her disappearance.”
- Man pledges $10K for DNA testing to crack unsolved murder in Lac Du Flambeau (September 6, 2024)
“In August it was awarded a $8,570 grant for DNA testing. This will allow the department to test their most probative item.”
- Murder in Flambeau: An MMIP cold case gets renewed attention with DNA (April 2, 2025)
“Advances in DNA technology have prompted police to test evidence that was collected when her body was found several months after she disappeared in a remote cedar swamp surrounded by dense brush.”
- Evidence re-submitted cause for optimism (April 18, 2025)
“Evidence pertaining to the 1990 cold case has been resubmitted for new DNA testing”
- Tribal police offer reward for information on woman missing since 1990 (May 17, 2025)
“The Lac du Flambeau Tribe is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the 1990 murder of Susan “Susie” Poupart.”
- Rewards offered both to find a missing LDF woman and to help solve a cold case killing (May 19, 2025)
“They’re awaiting results of DNA testing on evidence that was recently sent to sophisticated, high-tech crime laboratories for analysis.”
- Tribe offers $25,000 reward for info on 1990 cold case murder of Susan Poupart (May 23, 2025)
“Though the press release says DNA is being analyzed, Remick said his office has items it is “preparing for DNA examination” that may lead to a break in the Poupart case.”
- New DNA Testing Techniques Might Lead to Answers in Susan Poupart’s Disappearance After 35 Years (November 24, 2025)
“In April of 2025, another batch of DNA was sent for testing.”