Wisconsin woman Karen Marx finds missing husband married to another woman

A MARRIED man who disappeared almost a decade ago has been discovered by his wife online — living in the same state, and married to another woman.

Karen Marx, 48, had been searching for her spouse, Adam, ever since he vanished without an explanation in 2005.

But when she finally tracked him down on Facebook she was shocked to find he was living about 250km away in her home state of Wisconsin, and happily married to someone else.

“I just thought, ‘How could he get married again?’” Karen told the Post Crescent. “Am I dead? What did he do with my identity?”

Karen, who has three kids from a previous relationship, said Adam was married with two children of his own when she met him at a local caival in the 1990s, where he worked as a ride operator.

But Adam agreed to divorce his first wife for Karen, who he married a year later.

Abandoned ... Adam left Karen Marx, pictured, nine years ago. Picture: Facebook Source: Supplied

Adam quit his caival job and moved in with his new wife, who supported the family on her machine operator wage. But after about a year, he vacated the family home leaving only a note.

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

However, he retued several months later — right when she was due to collect her Christmas bonus.

Karen took him back, and used her savings to buy the family a new home in Clinton, Montana. He found work at a timber framing company while she tried to start a cleaning business.

However, about a year into their new life Adam started accumulating debt and Karen confronted him about suspected infidelity.

He left in his truck and Karen 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. He left me with just a note in Wisconsin and then he left me in Montana.”

Lies ... Adam allegedly told the marriage clerk that Marcie was his first wife. Picture: Facebook Source: Supplied

A short time later, Adam lost his job at the timber company and stopped answering his phone.

Karen, still saddled with Adam bills and debts, bumped into her husband once at a nearby Kmart and asked him for a divorce. He said he’d call.

“Needless to say, I never heard from him,” she said.

In 2012, Karen moved home to New London, Wisconsin, to look after her sick dad, and found Adam’s mum on Facebook. She told Karen of Adam’s new life — and his new wife, Marcie.

Stunned, Karen contacted the police, who arrested Adam and charged him with bigamy, fraud and making a false statement on his marriage license.

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

Adam allegedly told investigators he thought Karen took care of the divorce in Montana, and that he lied about his latest marriage being his first to expedite the procedure.

Facing jail ... Fraud carries a maximum six-year prison sentence. Picture: Facebook Source: Supplied

Karen vowed to finally file for divorce, and said she wouldn’t date anyone until it’s finalised.

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

“Even though he’s married to some other woman, I’m still a married woman, and married women don’t do that.”

If convicted of fraud, the most severe charge, Adam faces up to six years in prison. Bigamy also carries a maximum penalty of 3.5 years’ jail in Wisconsin.