The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that the human remains found Friday in Taylor County had been confirmed as Anita Bucki, who was reported missing by her husband from their town of Corning home April 26. Immediate family was contacted of Anita’s death.
Anita’s husband, Mark Bucki, was taken into custody Monday and was formally charged with her murder. He made an initial appearance in Lincoln County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon.
At a press conference Tuesday morning, Lincoln County Chief Deputy Nathan Walrath confirmed that the case is now considered a homicide.
“This case has shifted from a missing person to a homicide investigation,” Walrath said. “That changed when the remains of Anita Bucki were recovered from Taylor County.”
The sheriff’s office did not yet have a coroner’s report, Walrath said Tuesday morning.
Mark Bucki appeared via video conferencing from the Lincoln County Jail for Tuesday afternoon’s court hearing. He is charged with first degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse, and strangulation and suffocation. Noting the severity of the charges, Lincoln County Circuit Court Judge John Yackel honored District Attorney Don Dunphy’s request for a $2 million cash bond.
Dunphy said the evidence against Bucki is based on the observances of law enforcement and the statements made by Bucki to investigators. While an autopsy report was not yet available, Dunphy said Anita Bucki was stabbed seven times and appeared to have been strangled as well.
According to the criminal complaint, Mark Bucki told investigators that he and Anita had been living separately and had been discussing divorce on the night she disappeared. Among other things, investigators noted that half the bed of Mark Bucki’s truck appeared to have been cleaned and smelled of household cleaner.
Officers returned to the Bucki’s home on April 29 with a search warrant. During that investigation, blood evidence was found in the home. Cadaver dogs indicated the presence of decomposition in the bed of the truck, the defendant’s boots, the main floor shower, a burn barrel in the yard and what appeared to be a shallow but unoccupied grave, according to the complaint.
Defense attorney Jessica Schuster noted that Mark Bucki has not confessed to the crime, but has been cooperative with the investigation.
On the evening of April 26, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Mark Bucki, reporting that he was unable to find his wife. According to Mark, he and Anita were talking the night before into the early morning hours of April 26. Mark reported that he went to bed and Anita remained up. Mark reported that this was the last time he had seen Anita. Mark advised that he woke up at around 5 a.m. and at that time she was gone.
Anita left all of her personal belongings, as well as her car, purse, and cell phone at the house.
Investigators spent three days scouring the Bucki home and property at N2034 Wegner Road in the town of Corning.
The State Crime Lab was on the scene and dive teams with sonar were also employed to check nearby water bodies, including the pond behind the Corning fire station.
“We want to thank all the agencies and volunteers that assisted in investigating this complaint,” Walrath said.
On Friday, May 10, a couple out for a walk spotted a body in the woods off County Road C in Taylor County, about 20 miles from the Bucki home, and called authorities.
Anita Bucki’s brother, Cliff Brown, arrived in Merrill from his home in Rapid City, S.D., Friday with his girlfriend and another brother. He said the family is waiting for Anita’s son to get to Merrill from Minnesota before making any funeral or burial arrangements.
Brown said he is sympathetic toward Mark’s family.
“His family is having a hard time with it all too,” Brown said. “We’ve got to respect them.”
Cliff said Anita was one of nine siblings in the family. She left home at 16 and still graduated with honors from Rapid City Central High School in 1983.
“She was a good woman with a big heart,” Cliff said. “She’d take a lot of people under her wings.”
A preliminary hearing for Mark Bucki has been set for May 23.