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Kevin Sypher, 57, faces charges of theft, charitable fraud and official misconduct.
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — A now-fired El Paso County deputy who was reported missing twice last year conned friends, family members and coworkers into giving him thousands of dollars by falsely claiming he had cancer but spent the money on jewelry, vacations and food, an arrest affidavit says.
Kevin Sypher, 57, was arrested in March on charges of theft, charitable fraud and official misconduct. The affidavit for his arrest indicates he was living a double life – and had married his second wife in March 2023 while still legally married to his first wife.
Sypher began working with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in 2009 as a volunteer. He eventually became a jail deputy and then a crisis negotiator. He was terminated in August 2023 after an internal affairs investigation.
His firing came shortly after he took leave for a medical procedure and asked for additional leave to recover. When staff contacted his doctor, the doctor said he had not seen Sypher since his checkup two weeks after the procedure and said he had no restrictions for returning to work.
Not long after that, on April 27, 2023, Sypher’s second wife reported him missing from their Parker home, the affidavit says. She reported that he had walked away from the home carrying trash bags and had not returned. She said he left his wallet on the bed and had signed his car’s title over to her daughter.
A sergeant with the sheriff’s office, who was a friend of Sypher’s first wife, called her as a courtesy to let her know Sypher was missing. When the sergeant called the wife, the sergeant learned that Sypher and his first wife were not divorced, even though she had been living separately in California for years. The affidavit also indicates that several sheriff’s office employees had attended his second wedding the month before.
Sypher’s first wife flew to Colorado to help look for him, and she and his adult son found him at a Greenwood Village hotel on April 29.
Days later, on May 1, Sypher was reported missing again at Rocky Mountain National Park after he was seen walking away from his vehicle there on April 30.
He was with his adult son when he walked away. All friends and family members reported that he had not heard from Sypher since April 30, but investigators ended up closing the case due to a lack of cooperation from his family and finding evidence indicating Sypher was not “truly missing” in the park, the affidavit says.Â
The internal affairs (IA) investigation into Sypher began in March 2023, when a doctor called the sheriff’s office to file a formal complaint. He indicated that Sypher had asked him to take part in a crisis negotiation training scenario. As part of that, Sypher provided the doctor with a script he was supposed to read to a “role player.” The “role player” was actually Sypher’s second wife.
During the call, the doctor was instructed to tell the “role player” that Sypher had five tumors on his pancreas. A day after the call, Sypher’s wife left a voicemail for the doctor explaining that she was confused because the surgeon who had just completed Sypher’s procedure had no idea what she was talking about when she mentioned the tumors.
The doctor told investigators he was also confused because he was not expecting a follow-up call from the “role player.” When he made the complaint, the doctor indicated he was concerned that Sypher had used his “official capacity” to mislead him into believing he had been participating in a legitimate training scenario. When Sypher’s sergeant was advised about the incident, he said Sypher had stopped participating in the crisis negotiations unit in February 2023.
Through the IA investigation, it was determined that between August and November 2023, Sypher solicited money from friends, family and coworkers, by claiming he was in the midst of a divorce and his assets were frozen and by telling others he was going through cancer and couldn’t afford treatments.
Between March 2022 and March 2023, the affidavit says, Sypher received more than $20,000 in cash. None of that money went to pay for cancer treatments or living expenses. Instead, the document says, Sypher spent the money on jewelry, fast food and vacations with his then-girlfriend (second wife).
In one instance, Sypher told a friend he was on vacation in Florida when his assets were frozen due to actions taken by his ex-wife and he needed money because his payment for his stay at the resort was declined.
That friend provided Sypher with thousands of dollars; however, according to the affidavit, Sypher was staying at a timeshare that was “gifted” to him by someone else. Investigators also determined Sypher’s assets were never frozen.
Another person reported that Sypher told them he had traveled overseas for cancer treatments, but investigators reviewed travel records and found Sypher had not traveled outside of the U.S. in more than a decade. They also reviewed medical records dating back to 2012 and found Sypher never reported a history of cancer and doctors never found a concern for cancer.
When interviewed, his second wife told investigators she believed Sypher had persuaded her to marry him as one of his “last dying wishes” after being told he had terminal cancer. She later filed to have the marriage invalidated.
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