Shivangi Sinha
In November 2012, when Cari Farver vanished from Omaha, Nebraska, something immediately felt wrong. She had told her mother, Nancy Raney, that she was moving to Kansas, but Nancy sensed that this didn’t add up and filed a missing person report. Meanwhile, Max Farver, Cari’s son, couldn’t accept the idea that his mother had simply walked away, and he kept trying to reach her and understand what had happened. When the family finally received confirmation that Cari had died, it brought a sense of closure after months of turmoil. In ABC’s ’20/20: A Tangled Web,’ Nancy speaks about her daughter, the grief they endured, and the difficult events that unfolded in the aftermath.
Cari Farver’s Family Always Doubted That She Had Left of Her Own Will
Nancy Raney was married to Dennis Gene Farver when their daughter, Cari Farver, was born. Cari grew up with her two younger brothers, Adam and Joseph Farver, and was deeply loved by everyone in the family. After Nancy and Dennis separated, the children primarily lived with their mother in Macedonia, Iowa. Nancy has spoken about how difficult it was to watch her daughter struggle after being diagnosed with depression in her twenties, but she said things improved when Cari welcomed her son, Max, on April 1, 1996. By 2012, Cari was living with her mother and her son in the same town and was in a good place. Nancy supported her daughter in every way she could and looked after Max whenever help was needed.
Nancy stopped hearing from her daughter after November 13, 2012. Around the same time that Dave Kroupa began receiving threatening and harassing messages from Cari’s number, Nancy also received a text in which Cari claimed she was moving to Kansas. She asked her daughter to call and speak to her directly, but that call never came. All communication Nancy received from her after that was only through text. Cari supposedly wrote about selling all her furniture and even asked her mother to leave the house door open. At one point, a check was mailed to her, signed in the name of Shanna Golyar, but Nancy didn’t understand the significance of it at the time. On December 7, 2012, Cari’s father passed away, but she never showed up, which only deepened the family’s fears.
She continued missing other important events, including her son’s 15th birthday and Thanksgiving, which made Nancy increasingly suspicious. She had filed a missing person report in November 2012, but authorities suggested that, given Cari’s mental health history, it was possible she had left on her own. When the latter’s car was found in January 2013, Nancy felt a brief sense of hope, but it quickly faded. Six months later, Max sent a message to Cari’s Facebook profile with three questions only his mother would know, but he never received a reply. Despite everything, the family never gave up hope. In December 2016, when Shanna “Liz” Golyar was finally arrested, it brought relief, but their worst fears that Cari had been killed were confirmed.
Maxwell “Max” Farver is Making a Remarkable Career as a Software Engineer Today
After his mother’s disappearance, Max Farver was raised by his grandmother, Nancy Raney, in Macedonia, Iowa. Her support shaped much of his early life, and Max grew up determined and driven to build a future his mother would have been proud of. He went on to attend Iowa State University at age eighteen, where he studied Software Engineering and Data Science. During college, he immersed himself in tech societies like HackISU and the Weight Club, gaining hands-on experience that prepared him for a strong start in the industry. Max began his professional journey in 2019 with an internship at Corteva Agriscience, where he helped build new features for an internal web application.
He then interned at CO-OP Financial Services, creating a multithreaded load-testing tool that strengthened his skills in C#, UX, and database interaction. In 2021, he moved into full-time software engineering roles, first at Dealership Advantage and then at Fetch Rewards, where he designed high-performance backend services. In 2023, Max joined Chime as a Software Engineer, working on secure, scalable systems that supported PCI-DSS compliance and improved developer workflows. His strong technical leadership led to a promotion in 2025 to Senior Software Engineer. Today, at twenty-nine years old, Max leads company-wide initiatives on secure data handling, mentors engineers, and shapes the frameworks that power Chime’s internal systems.
Max has also built a fulfilling and meaningful personal life. He married his longtime girlfriend, Sara Wede, in 2020, and the couple now shares a daughter who has brought immense joy to their home. Despite the challenges of his past, he has remained deeply connected to his grandmother, who continues to be one of the closest people in his life.
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Nancy Raney Has Always Found the Love of Her Family Enduring
Nancy Raney has always been the fiercest advocate for her daughter, Cari. From the moment Cari disappeared, Nancy fought tirelessly for answers, refusing to let her memory fade. She also stepped in to raise Cari’s son, Max, giving him stability, support, and every opportunity she could. Today, Nancy continues to be active in her community and lives in Macedonia, Iowa, with her husband, Mark Raney. She has stood by him through life’s milestones, proudly celebrating moments like his graduation and later his wedding in 2020.
Nancy has endured profound loss. On September 12, 2019, her son Joseph passed away. In 2022, she lost her beloved father, Max Bisbee, another blow that left a lasting mark. Despite the grief that has touched her life, Nancy has remained incredibly strong. Her family, especially her grandson, her son Adam Farver, and her siblings, Jeff and Barb Bisbee, are her greatest sources of comfort and strength. They visit often, and her great-granddaughter is truly the apple of her eye. Even as she moves forward, Nancy’s heart carries the ache of missing Cari every day. Her daughter’s absence is felt in every family gathering, but Nancy continues to honor her memory.
