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Sydney Voit is a recurring character in Criminal Minds: Evolution and the wife of prolific serial killer Elias Voit.
Background
Sydney had a father who abused her mother constantly, so Voit wooed Sydney from appearing to be the man who would promise her a safe life and loving family. Eventualy, the couple had two daughters, Harlow and Holly. What none of the ladies in the house ever new for years is Voit was a prolific serial killer and mastermind of a network of violent criminals, first to get his psychopathy out of his systems as he needed to, then as insurance to fund him when his family struggled with income, and he needed accomplices when law enforcement could possibly catch him. The family assumed his nationwide flights and drives were always meant for his networking job, not his crimes he hid from them.
Criminal Minds: Evolution
When Voit was cleaning up after himself by distracting the police with killers and raking in the profits, he returned home and told Sydney was ready to provide further for the family. They both had to deal with Harlow being a teenager and keeping the girls from fighting. Sydney saw Voit pulling away from the family and going on more trips, and she had more questions, but he evaded them and promised he'd be with the family once he finalized several things for "work". But Sydney saw he was decompensating, and when he swore out the family, she demanded answers. Voit lied it was because of his, albeit true, layoff from his company, not the FBI following his crimes. But when Voit kidnapped a woman and reenacted with her how he'd tell Sydney he was a killer, he returned and promised he was there to stay. But Rossi arrived to question Sydney. He hinted at Voit's crimes he realized Voit was the killer they were looking for, saying he'd return. Sydney was shaken up, so Voit lied to her he was a whistleblower in a corporate corruption scandal and he couldn't tell her, saying she should get their daughters to their in-laws while he sorted the issues out. Rossi tried to single Sydney out to convince her to trust him and not Voit, but as Voit knew what he'd say and told Sydney that meant she was in danger, she fled the moment she heard the key phrases. Voit slandered the FBI by posting defaming videos online on extremist sites, then lied to Sydney more that they couldn't trust the government to scare her into being more dependent on him. As the family hid in California, Sydney and the girls pulled away form trusting him more. When Sydney found souvenirs from Voit's murders, she confronted him. Everything deteriorated from there, but the risk of Voit killing his fmaily was paused when the agents arrived. After Voit killed Doug Bailey, however, he took Sydney and the girls hostage and shot at police. Sdney got the girls to flee, but Voit stopped her from leaving. He was near shooting her, but he pulled the trigger of an empty gun. She was rescued, and then he surrendered. As Voit had held Rossi captive the whole time, Sydney made Voit give up his location to prove what he did to family meant something to him and he didn't want it worse for their sake.
Sydney, Harlow, and Holly went into witness protection. The placement was terrible, Harlow was cutting herself, and Holly was regressing. Sh was called upon by the agents again tom get Voit to cooperate, but Sydney, furious about the state of the family's lives, demanded better placement in exchange. The BAU agreed. When Sydney confronted Voit first, she demanded ground rules, including he wasn't promising he'd come back. Voit tried to domineer her again, but she wouldn't have it. After those conditions were set, she brought Harlow and Holly. Holly was glad to see Voit, but Harlow wasn't, and it culminated into her nearly stabbing him. No charges were pressed, and Sydney was encouraged to get Harlow epigenetics therapy. The family was then taken away to be resituated.
Rebecca Wilson mentions to Tara in "North Star" that the US Marshals were targeted by a hack, suspecting Voit of arranging it to track down Sydney and the girls, however, she was able to confirm that their information and whereabouts were not compromised in the breach. In "Save the Children, Sydney is mentioned again when JJ confronts Voit about BAU Gate, deep fake pornographic images of her likeness, having been able to trace the original footage used to create the deep fakes back to footage Voit had filmed of Sydney and deducing he'd filmed Sydney in the original videos without her consent. JJ threatens to reveal Voit's actions if faked images of her were ever to surface again.
Appearances
Criminal Minds: Evolution
Season One
- "Sicarius"
- "Moose"
- "What Doesn't Kill Us"
- "Forget Me Knots"
- "Memento Mori"
- "Dead End"
Season Two
- "Homesick"
- "Kingdom of the Blind"
- "North Star" (mentioned)
- "Save the Children" (mentioned)
Season Three
- “The Zookeeper” (seen in photo)
Trivia
- Sydney's actress, Kiele Sanchez, was married to Zach Gilford, the actor who portrays Voit, at the time of filming Seasons One and Two of Evolution. They divorced in 2025.