A former El Paso County deputy who went missing for a year was found and arrested in April after lying about having cancer and getting a divorce to solicit money from friends, family and colleagues, and leading a double life while married to two women, according to the arrest affidavit.
Kevin Sypher, 57, is charged with two felony counts of theft and charitable fraud and two misdemeanor counts for misconduct. He was booked into the Teller County Jail on a $100,000 bail following his arrest on April 2, according to court records.
An investigation into Sypher’s conduct began in March 2023 after a doctor allegedly filed a complaint with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Internal Affairs Unit claiming that Sypher had asked for help with a fake crisis negotiation training scenario earlier that month. During the scenario, the doctor called a “role player” and read a script provided by Sypher. The script stated that Sypher had several tumors and had recently stopped taking a chemotherapy drug used to treat cancer, officials say. The “role player” was later discovered to be Sypher’s second wife, according to the affidavit.
At the time the complaint was filed, Sypher was on medical leave for a recent procedure and was supposed to return to work around April 19, 2023. He was notified of the open investigation in March 2023, the affidavit states.
During the investigation, officials learned that at least seven people — including multiple law enforcement officers and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 9 nonprofit — reportedly gave Sypher large sums of money after he claimed he had cancer and couldn’t afford to pay for treatment, according to the affidavit. He also married another woman while still married to his first wife and solicited money by claiming he was divorcing his first wife and his bank accounts were frozen, the sheriff’s office said.
Sypher married his second wife in March 2023 and “told her he had terminal cancer and convinced her to marry him as one of his last dying wishes so that he could live with her,” according to the affidavit. Sypher’s second wife also alleged that he staged scenarios, like a break-in, to make her feel unsafe in her home, the affidavit states.
Between 2015 and 2023, Sypher reportedly told multiple people that he was sick with cancer and receiving treatment overseas. He told family members on Thanksgiving in 2022 that he had terminal cancer and, in April 2023, told his brother that he had pancreatic cancer and only a couple of months left to live, according to the sheriff’s department.
According to medical records from Penrose Hospital, where Sypher was treated in March 2023, and Premise Health, a medical records sharing service contracted by the county, Sypher never reported a history of or received treatment for cancer and “no concern for cancer was ever found,” the affidavit states. Travel records indicated that Sypher had not left the country in more than a decade, according to officials.
Sypher received more than $20,000 in cash between March 2022 and March 2023, according to the affidavit. Officials say that credit card and bank statements show that Sypher spent the money on fast food, dance lessons, entertainment and vacations with his second wife.
“Kevin Sypher used the donations he received from colleagues to live a double life, rather than to provide relief from true financial hardship caused by a divorce or paying for medical treatment out of pocket as portrayed,” the affidavit states.
After his medical procedure, Sypher did not return to work on April 19, 2023, and requested a medical leave extension. Eight days later, he was reported missing in Parker by his second wife. He left his wallet and was seen on camera walking down the street carrying two trash bags after signing the title of his car over to his second wife’s daughter.
Officials, who believed Sypher had gone through a divorce before his second wedding, contacted his first wife to tell her Sypher was missing. The first wife, who had been living in California for at least two years, informed officers that they were not divorced and flew to Colorado to help with the search. On April 29, 2023, Sypher was found by his first wife and eldest son at a hotel in the Denver metro.
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He disappeared again on April 30, 2023, after he was seen walking away from his vehicle in the Wild Basin area in Rocky Mountain National Park, according to a 2023 news release. Sypher’s missing persons case was closed by May 5, 2023, because of evidence that he was not missing in the national park and a lack of cooperation from his family, according to the arrest affidavit.
Sypher was employed by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office for 11 years and was fired in August 2023 following his disappearance four months prior. Sypher was not found until his arrest on April 2, 2024, according to officials.
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