Unless you lived in far west Texas during 2017 this hashtag doesn’t mean much, but if you resided in the sleepy town of Alpine, Texas (pop. 6,020) then justice for Zuzu meant you wanted to see the murderers of a young woman behind bars forever.
Story By Evalice Arguello
Alpine, Texas is a picturesque town burrowed into the base of the Davis Mountains. Crime is nearly non-existent here partly due to the population being made up of mostly young families, retirees, college students and die-hard nature lovers and mostly due to the fact that Border Patrol agents, State Police, local police and even Federal agents call Alpine, Texas home. Naturally, when the tragic details of Zuzu Verk’s death began to unravel, locals rallied together to find the cold-blooded killers.
Zuzu Verk, 21-year-old native of Keller, TX, moved to Alpine to attend Sul Ross State University. She began dating Robert Fabian. According to friends and family, the relationship had a good start, but things began to get rocky. Zuzu Verk’s brother told the Dallas Morning News, “Robert always treats her (his sister) good but I think that he cares more for Zuzu than she cares for him.” Zuzu made it apparent that she wanted out of the on and off again relationship, still she remained close with Robert Fabian and this friendship would ultimately cost Zuzu her life. Zuzu began dating another Alpine man yet remained close friends with Robert Fabian and he became increasingly jealous and aggressive towards her. Two weeks before her disappearance, Zuzu mentioned to a classmate that she no longer felt safe and would be transferring to Texas A&M, particularly because her tires had been mysteriously slashed. She said, “I don’t think that Robert had slashed my tires, but he might have done it.”
According to affidavits the timeline of Zuzu’s untimely death and disappearance begins on October 11, 2016. Earlier that day Zuzu had finished up a mid-term at school (which she aced, according to her mother Lori Verk). Zuzu went to the Rangra Theatre in Alpine, Tx with a group of friends including Robert Fabian. She mentioned to him that her back had been hurting so he invited her over for dinner and a massage later that night. Robert Fabian’s downstairs neighbor reports smelling food being cooked from Fabian’s apartment between 9-10pm, and Zuzu showed up at Fabian’s apartment around 10:12pm. The walls of the apartment building are thin and the neighbor, John Franco and his girlfriend Abigail, can hear conversation between Fabian and Verk. All seemed normal but the neighbors then reported hearing arguing around 11pm and Fabian yell “Shut the f** up”.
No one saw or heard from Zuzu Verk ever again after that night. Zuzu’s parents in Fort Worth began worrying when their daughter had not received any of their calls in three days. They immediately departed to Alpine to begin the nightmare task of finding their beloved daughter. Local police were notified and Zuzu Verk was officially declared as a missing person on October 16, 2016. Local authorities searched Fabian’s apartment and they didn’t find much more than a painter’s drop cloth that they had previously discovered Fabian had bought at Dollar General the night of Zuzu’s disappearance. This indicated foul play and Fabian was officially named as a suspect in Zuzu’s disappearance.