Investigators say Alexis Nelson’s body has not been found, but evidence tied her husband to her disappearance.

JUNEAU, Wis. — A Wisconsin man is charged with killing his wife after investigators said her blood was found on a trash can and her wedding ring turned up with a woman he began dating after she vanished.

Aaron Nelson, 43, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in the disappearance of his wife, 42-year-old Alexis Nelson. The case now turns on a chain of records, searches and witness accounts because authorities have said Alexis Nelson’s body has not been recovered. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office said Nelson was arrested May 15 after an extensive investigation and is being held in the Dodge County Jail.

The complaint places one of the last confirmed public sightings of Alexis Nelson at 9 a.m. March 29, 2025, at a Kwik Trip on North Center Street in Beaver Dam, where surveillance video showed her with Aaron Nelson. Investigators said Alexis Nelson had last spoken by phone with her mother on March 25. The next morning after the Kwik Trip sighting, Aaron Nelson used his debit card at a Menards in Beaver Dam to buy a 32-gallon Rubbermaid Brute trash can, according to the complaint. That purchase became one of the central pieces of the case after police later found a matching trash can among Nelson’s belongings at another property. Sheriff Dale Schmidt said law enforcement would not release more details beyond the court record because the matter is before a judge.

Investigators also looked at what happened online after Alexis Nelson’s known contact with family faded. Authorities said Aaron Nelson created a Facebook account under the name James Nelson and listed his relationship status as widowed. Prosecutors said he later met another woman on Tinder on April 30, 2025, and was living with her in Oakfield by the end of May. When officers interviewed that woman, they saw she was wearing a ring that investigators later identified as belonging to Alexis Nelson. The woman has not been accused of wrongdoing in the public reports. The ring became another marker in the timeline, coming after the last confirmed sighting and before investigators had found Alexis Nelson’s remains.

The strongest physical evidence described in public reports centers on the trash can found during a search at the Oakfield residence in Fond du Lac County. Officers said the trash can was found in a shed with Aaron Nelson’s property. DNA testing on swabs from the container showed results consistent with Alexis Nelson’s DNA, and no other male or female profile was found on the garbage can, according to the complaint. Reports also said human remains detection dogs alerted to the scent of decomposing remains at locations tied to the investigation, including a shed. Authorities have not said where Alexis Nelson’s body is, how she died or whether a weapon was recovered. Those gaps leave prosecutors to present the case through records, forensic testing and witness testimony.

The filing also describes tension in the marriage before Alexis Nelson disappeared. Prosecutors said Aaron Nelson had been abusive toward her and that a domestic incident led Alexis Nelson to file a restraining order. That order caused Aaron Nelson to stay with a co-worker for a time, according to reports describing the complaint. A neighbor, Carrie Peaine, told FOX6 she remembered hearing fighting in the building where the Nelsons lived and seeing Alexis Nelson only when Aaron Nelson was with her. “I still wish he would tell them where her body is,” Peaine said. “The family needs it.” Her comments reflected the unease in Beaver Dam after a missing-person case became a homicide prosecution.

Alexis Nelson’s family contacted police months after the last known in-person sighting. Her mother reported concerns to Beaver Dam police on Oct. 30, 2025, and told officers Alexis Nelson had lived in Beaver Dam with her husband. One reported message from Alexis Nelson’s phone on May 7 said she had moved to Missouri, but her mother did not get a mailing address after asking for one. Investigators examined phone records and social media activity as they tried to determine whether Alexis Nelson had left on her own or whether someone was using her phone or accounts. Public reports said her social media activity later dropped off. The complaint does not publicly answer who sent the Missouri message, and that question remains part of the case’s disputed timeline.

Nelson made his first court appearance May 18, when a judge set cash bond at $1 million. He also had review and preliminary hearing dates set for late May. The charges are felonies, and first-degree intentional homicide carries a possible life sentence in Wisconsin if a defendant is convicted. Prosecutors must still prove the allegations in court, and Nelson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office said the district attorney formally charged him under Wisconsin statutes covering intentional homicide and hiding a corpse. The sheriff’s office said members of the public and media could obtain the criminal complaint through the Dodge County Clerk of Courts Office.

For investigators, the case moved across several Wisconsin communities. Beaver Dam was where the couple lived and where surveillance video showed them together. Sun Prairie appeared in phone records after the last known sighting. Oakfield became important after Aaron Nelson moved in with the woman he met online. Fitchburg appeared in the complaint after a co-worker said Nelson talked at a jobsite around Halloween 2025 and said his wife had died from excessive alcohol abuse, without giving further details. Each place added a fragment rather than a full answer. Law enforcement has not announced the discovery of remains, and the sheriff’s office has said it will not provide further public comment while the case is pending.

The case remains active in Dodge County Circuit Court, with Nelson jailed as prosecutors move forward on homicide and corpse-hiding charges. As of Wednesday, June 17, authorities have not announced that Alexis Nelson’s remains have been found.

Author note: Last updated Wednesday, June 17, 2026.