MURDERED: Stephanie Casberg
In the summer of 1969, Stephanie Casberg walked out the front door of a Milwaukee restaurant after her waitressing shift — and was never seen alive again. Days later, her dismembered remains were found near a condemned bridge along the Root River, leaving investigators with a chilling conclusion: the work of someone methodical, skilled and patient.
More than five decades later, the case has led detectives from a co-worker who lied his way into the narrative to a convicted child predator who terrorized his family by claiming to be the killer. More recently, a Crime Junkie episode playing through a detective’s earbuds while he mowed his lawn added a new name to the case file.
Stephanie Casberg
Source: Casberg Family
Stephanie Casberg
Source: Casberg Family
Stephanie Casberg and her siblings
Source: Casberg Family
Marc’s Big Boy, where Stephanie worked
Courtesy: Milwaukee Police Department
Stephanie’s gold clutch purse and items found along a rural road
Courtesy: Racine County Sheriff’s Office
The police search for Stephanie
Courtesy: Racine County Sheriff’s Office
Stephanie’s earring
Courtesy: Racine County Sheriff’s Office
The military jacket found at the scene
Courtesy: Racine County Sheriff’s Office
The towel found in the box
Courtesy: Racine County Sheriff’s Office
Racine Sheriff’s Lieutenant Brian Van Scyoc
Courtesy: Brian Van Scyoc
Stephanie’s case binders
Source: Audiochuck Staff
Root River in 2025
Source: Audiochuck Staff
Where some of Stephanie’s bones are found off a rural road
Courtesy: Racine County Sheriff’s Office
Timeline:
4:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Stephanie leaves her parents’ home to go to work.
12:30 a.m.
Stephanie is last seen alive leaving her shift at Marc’s Big Boy Restaurant.
Stephanie is killed and dismembered. Pathologists later estimated this occurred 12 to 24 hours before her remains were discovered.
1:45 p.m.
A family fishing discovers Stephanie’s dismembered body parts along the south bank of the Root River near a condemned bridge.
11 p.m.
Stephanie’s father, Charles Casberg, contacts the Racine County Sheriff’s Office after news reports about the discovery.
1:30 a.m.
Charles identifies Stephanie at the hospital.
Human bones are found on a family farm located about 4.5 miles away from the Root River bridge.
Investigators search near the farm and find a weather-beaten white cardboard Sunkist box. Inside and around the box, they find Stephanie’s rib cage, spine, and a dirty towel with pubic hairs.
A woman calls police and tells them she believes her brother, Michael Bartelt, killed Stephanie.
A detective interviews Michael Bartelt in Hawaii, where he changes his account of 1969 events. Michael changes his 1969 story.
The Wisconsin State Crime Lab analyzes hairs from the multicolored towel associated with the cardboard box recovery. Analysts developed one partial male DNA profile suitable for comparison and a second, weaker profile that cannot be entered into databases.
An anonymous tip introduces the name Wilbert Roger Mackey, who died in prison in 2009.
Investigators track down Wilbert Mackey’s adult children. They say he subjected them to severe abuse and often made them read “Root River Killer” stories.
Michael Bartelt’s brother contacts Stephanie’s sister-in-law and says he is confident Michael killed Stephanie.
Investigators submit the Sunkist box towel and a green military jacket for advanced M-Vac DNA testing. Low quantities of male DNA are detected on both items, but the samples are too small to build a profile.
Michael Bartelt dies in a Hawaii hospital from complications of sepsis. An FBI agent collects DNA samples from his body, which do not match the pubic hair.
Investigators obtain a DNA sample from Michael’s brother. It does not match the pubic hair.
The investigation shifts focus to a new person of interest linked to the 1991 dismemberment killing of Kristin David in Idaho.
Milwaukee
The city where Stephanie lived and was last seen by her family before leaving for work.
Root River
The location where Stephanie’s dismembered remains were first discovered near a condemned bridge.
Marc’s Big Boy
The former site of the restaurant where Stephanie worked and was last seen leaving after her shift.
Franklin
The city where residents turned over a cluster of items found along a rural road. Among them were Stephanie’s gold clutch-style purse and a plastic wallet containing her Social Security card, a driver’s license application and photographs.
Farmhouse
The approximate location of where additional remains were discovered in a Sunkist box near a farmhouse.
Please contact the authorities if you have any information about the case:
Racine County Sheriff's Office
If you have any information about the murder of Stephanie Casberg, contact the Racine County Sheriff’s Office at 262-636-3225. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 888-636-9330 or by texting “RACS” and the tip to 274637.
We’d love to speak with you and see how we can support.
If you’re a law enforcement agency or family member of one of the people we mentioned in this episode, or if you’re looking for more coverage on a case, please reach out. You can email us at:
Episode Source Material
- Original reporting by Nina Schutzman
- Racine County Sheriff’s Office records
Suggested Episodes
MURDERED: Sue Gunderson Higgins
The last moments of Sue Higgins’ life were ordinary for the 27-year-old mom. She had just put her toddler down for a nap, opened a can of Diet Pepsi and turned on the TV.
MURDERED: Brittany McGlone
On May 4, 2007, 19-year-old Brittany McGlone did something she rarely did. Instead of going home after work, she went to her boyfriend’s house. By that afternoon, she was found dead in his bed, brutally beaten.
MURDERED: Melanie Howell
In 1976, 22-year-old Melanie Howell was stabbed to death in her LA apartment. The case went cold until a single bloody fingerprint changed everything. For the first time, hear the name detectives never publicly revealed.
Join our Fan Club to listen ad-free!
Unlock ad-free listening for this episode & hundreds of episodes across the Audiochuck network.
Join the Fan Club now for early access, exclusive content, & more!