In late spring 1978 St. Joseph, Missouri, was rocked by the disappearance and death of four-year-old Eric Christgen. On May 26, Eric was left briefly outside a downtown store by his babysitter and vanished. His body was found the next day in a weedy area near the Missouri River; an autopsy determined he had been sexually abused and died of suffocation. The community responded with a massive search and a large funeral for the child.

Police focused on 25-year-old Melvin Lee Reynolds, who had been seen near the abduction site. After eight months of repeated interrogations that included hypnosis and a so-called truth serum, Reynolds gave a confession that became the primary basis for his 1979 conviction for second-degree murder and a life sentence. In 1982 another child, 11-year-old Michelle Steele, was murdered in a similar manner; investigation of her death led to Charles Ray Hatcher.

While in custody for Steele’s murder, Hatcher confessed to killing Eric, providing crime details that matched the scene. Reynolds’s conviction was overturned in 1983 and Hatcher was later convicted for Eric’s murder. Hatcher died by suicide in custody in December 1984. Does anyone have further information about Eric’s last known movements downtown or witnesses from 1978?