Cari Lea Farver

• Missing Since 11/13/2012
• Missing From Council Bluffs, Iowa
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Age 37 years old
• Height and Weight 5'7, 145 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Farver has the following tattoos: a large sun in between her shoulder blades, a flower on her lower back, a tattoo of the Chinese symbol for "mother" on the top of her foot, and an unspecified tattoo on her left hip. Her ears are pierced.

Details of Disappearance

Farver was last seen in Council Bluffs, Iowa on November 13, 2012. She has never been heard from again. Her mother reported her missing on November 16.

Farver had plans to go to her half-brother's wedding a few days after her disappearance; her son was part of the celebration. She never showed up for the event. Her father died a month after she went missing; they were very close and she visited him often, but she didn't attend his funeral. She worked at West Corp. at the time of her disappearance and was considered reliable and an ideal employee, but when she disappeared she didn't give notice at her job.

On January 10, 2013, almost two months after her disappearance, Farver's vehicle was found abandoned in Omaha, Nebraska. It was at her boyfriend's apartment complex, but next to a different building.

In December 2016, Shanna "Liz" Golyar was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in Farver's disappearance. A photo of Golyar is posted with this case summary. Authorities believe Farver was stabbed to death within twenty-four hours of her disappearance while inside her SUV; they found bloodstains on the passenger seat cushion, under the cover. They think Golyar burned her body, and that the crime was committed in Omaha.

The two women did not know each other and had only had one chance meeting, but they were both dating the same man, Dave Kroupa, at the time of Farver's disappearance, and investigators found Golyar's fingerprints inside Farver's vehicle and some of Farver's property.

After Farver went missing, people close to her got numerous messages sent from her phone and online accounts, saying she was still alive and had suddenly moved away. Both Golyar and Koupa received threatening messages from accounts in Farver's name for months. The two of them reported Farver to the police for harassment and stalking. At one point Golyar's house was set on fire and her pets were killed in the blaze; she blamed Farver. Authorities later determined all the messages had in fact been sent by Golyar, not Farver, and the fire was also set by her.

Koupa was cooperative with the police as they made their case against Golyar, and gave them a tablet she had used while they were dating. Police found a memory card from one of Golyar's old phones in the tablet, and on the card were photos that appeared to be of decomposing human body parts. One photo was of a foot with a Chinese symbol tattooed on it; Farver had that same symbol tattooed on her foot. There was also a photo of Farver's vehicle, taken after her disappearance and weeks before police located it.

At her trial, Golyar maintained her innocence and her attorney suggested perhaps Farver wasn't even dead. She was convicted of first-degree murder in August 2017 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was also sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison for the arson of her home, which she had tried to blame on Farver.

Foul play is suspected in Farver's disappearance due to the circumstances involved.