Teen charged with stealing car of dead parents found in home

Posted at 12:50 PM, March 5, 2025 and last updated 7:55 AM, April 14, 2025

VILLAGE OF WAUKESHA, Wis. — A Waukesha teenager has been charged with felony counts after his mother and stepfather were found dead last week in their home following a welfare check.

Nikita Casap, Tatiana Casap, Donald Mayer

Nikita Casap, 17, Tatiana Casap, and Donald Mayer (Casap Family via Scripps News Milwaukee)

Nikita Casap, 17, is facing one count of operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and one count of theft of movable property (special facts), according to a criminal complaint filed March 3.

Two family members confirmed the victims as 51-year-old Donald Mayer and his wife, Tatiana Casap.

Deputies were called to the home for a welfare check after Mayer’s mother from Massachusetts reported not hearing from them in weeks. Prosecutors said Nikita Casap had also been absent from school for two weeks.

Casap was taken into custody during a traffic stop late Friday night in his mother’s car in WaKeeney, Kansas, the complaint said.

A previous emergency phone ping showed Casap and one of the victims’ phones in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Investigators said officers found the family dog inside, along with a firearm that belonged to his stepfather, ammunition, spent shell casings, and the victims’ driver’s licenses in the vehicle, according to the complaint.

Police had been searching for Casap since the bodies of his mother and stepfather were found last week inside a home in the village of Waukesha.

According to the criminal complaint, their bodies were found in different rooms, both concealed under blankets and clothing.

Casap Family Home with Cop Car Outside

A Waukesha teenager has been charged with felony counts after his mother and stepfather were found dead last week in their home following a welfare check. (Scripps News Milwaukee)

Court records show that the mother was found with “a possible exit wound in the back near right shoulder,” and the stepfather was found with “an obvious wound to the back of victim’s head.”

According to the complaint, investigators said a neighbor saw Casap driving his mother’s car alone on Feb. 23. Travel data indicated Casap left Waukesha on Feb. 24, passing through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado.

The 17-year-old is currently in custody. The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department said the investigation is ongoing.

 

This story was originally published by Scripps News Milwaukee, an E.W. Scripps Company.