Next appearance postponed for fiancé of missing woman

GILLETTE (WNE) —The pre-trial hearing and potential jury trial has been postponed for the man accused of stealing money and running up credit cards belonging to a woman missing from Gillette since March.
Nathan J. Hightman’s pre-trial hearing, originally scheduled for Thursday, was moved to Nov. 3. 
Hightman, 38, pleaded not guilty June 8 to two counts of theft, two counts of crimes against intellectual property and unlawful use of a credit card, all felonies.
The Gillette Police Department investigation into the disappearance of Irene Gakwa, Hightman’s fiancée, is ongoing and as of Thursday, there are no new updates, said Deputy Chief Brent Wasson.
Police arrested Hightman on May 6 after he was suspected of transferring money from bank accounts held by Gakwa into his own electronic money-transferring Zelle account and using two of her credit cards in the weeks after her disappearance.
All bank transfers and credit card uses were made after Gakwa was reportedly last seen. Gakwa was the only one authorized to use the bank account, according to the affidavit of probable cause in the case.
Gakwa was reported missing March 20.
Hightman eventually told police Gakwa had moved out of the home around the end of February. He said she came home from a restaurant, packed her clothes into two plastic bags and said she was leaving Gillette, according to the affidavit.
Hightman told police he had “zero communication” with Gakwa after that day. 
Police found that Gakwa and Hightman talked over the phone regularly before she went missing, said Police Detective Cpl. Dan Stroup during Hightman’s preliminary Circuit Court hearing in May.
A search of Hightman’s residence in late March found Gakwa’s Capital One credit card lying on the counter in plain view. More than 40 different credit card transactions were made after she was reportedly last heard from.
Gakwa’s Visa card was used to buy a pair of boots, jeans and a shovel from Walmart in Gillette on Feb. 25. Surveillance video from the store showed Hightman buy the items, according to the affidavit.
Hightman remains out on a $10,000 bond.
 
This story was published on Sept. 3, 2022.