Questions have emerged about the mysterious mother of Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow, amid concerns regarding the Wisconsin school shooter's home life. Investigators are examining whether Natalie's parents, Jeff and Melissa, had any influence or role in her actions, which resulted in two deaths and six injuries before she took her own life.
Reports suggest that Natalie had a tumultuous home life, frequently moving between different homes due to her parents' troubled marriage. Authorities conducted a raid on the Rupnow family's Wisconsin home after Monday morning's tragedy, and Natalie's father has reportedly been cooperative with the ongoing investigation. However, police are still not sure who proved Rupnow the gun used by her.
Suspicious Grows on Mother
The 15-year-old's parents are being investigated for any "negligence" on their part could have contributed to the tragic event. While some details about the troubled teen have been gathered from her father's social media, little is known about her mother, Melissa.
Jeffrey's Facebook provided occasional glimpses of his daughter, including a disturbing photo of her holding a gun, but Melissa's Facebook appears to have either been made private or deleted.
She still maintains an active Pinterest account, and there is a Facebook profile that may have been deleted or set to private, featuring a profile photo and a picture from a trip to Florida.
The Pinterest account, which hasn't been updated in years, includes a pin titled "Ideas for Natalie's room," featuring many Disney-themed suggestions.
Melissa follows around 210 accounts, including Kim Kardashian, and has around 90 followers herself. The profile photo shows her with a young girl who resembles the photos of Natalie found on her father's Facebook.
Court documents reveal that Rupnow's parents married two years after she was born, in 2011.
Previously married and divorced, Melissa had another daughter, now 20, from a different relationship in which she was never married. Court records show that Rupnow's half-sister was placed under the care of other legal guardians.
Troubled Family Life
Jeff and Melissa first divorced in 2014, agreeing to share joint legal custody of Natalie, but with the stipulation that she would primarily live with her mother. They remarried in 2017, but divorced again in 2020, once again agreeing to share custody of their daughter.
Following the second divorce, Rupnow's time was split more evenly between her two parents—spending two days with her father, two with her mother, then three more with her father, before the schedule flipped the next week.
Shortly after Rupnow's parents divorced for the second time, they remarried again. However, by April 2021, they were seeking a third divorce. A judge granted the divorce a month later, with a note in the court records that the "parties [were] admonished concerning remarriage."
In July 2022, over a year later, the parents agreed to share legal custody of Natalie, but it was decided she would primarily live with Jeff.
By this point, Rupnow had started therapy, which was intended to help her make decisions about which parent she would spend her weekends with, according to the records.
The 2022 custody papers said: "The parents report a generally positive co-parenting relationship and will continue to communicate with one another by text messages and phone conversations."
Authorities have been investigating how the 15-year-old shooter got her hands on the gun she used during the attack at the Catholic school.
In August, Jeff posted a photo on Facebook of a child—though it's unconfirmed whether it was Natalie—practicing at a shooting range, wearing a shirt similar to the one worn by the Columbine shooters.
The teenager underwent multiple rounds of therapy as her parents divorced and remarried several times, according to the Washington Post.
Records indicate that her therapy at the time focused on helping her decide which parent she would spend her weekends with.
Despite the reported family difficulties, Jeff's Facebook page is filled with seemingly joyful memories of him, Natalie, and Melissa.
One photo shows Jeff and Melissa bringing Natalie home from the hospital after her birth in 2009.
In 2015, Jeff shared a photo of him and Natalie at the beach. Two years later, he and Melissa were photographed at one of Natalie's martial arts competitions. Another post shows Natalie playing with two dogs in a pile of autumn leaves.
"We also want to look at if the parents may have been negligent," Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said about Natalie's parents on Monday.
He said that the parents had been cooperative and that, at this point, there was "no indication" of any criminal activity.
However, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said on Tuesday that it was "far too early" to determine whether Jeff and Melissa would face charges.
