In the autumn of 1991, in Medina, Ohio, a 26-year-old woman named Kathern Fetzer vanished, leaving behind a life that, on the surface, seemed ordinary. On November 26, she left a note for her husband of five years, stating she was feeling restless and was heading to a local mall to do some window shopping. She took her purse and a white knee-length cotton coat but left behind nearly all of her other personal belongings, including her clothing, checkbook, credit cards, and essential medications for asthma and migraine headaches. A load of laundry was still in the washing machine, a small but poignant detail suggesting she intended to return. Her husband reported her missing, initiating a search that would soon uncover unsettling clues. The day after she was reported missing, her blue 1985 Ford Tempo was discovered locked and abandoned about 25 miles from her home. The car was found on a gravel truck turnaround near an unused railroad line, a desolate location that offered no answers.
Inside the vehicle were some of her possessions, but there were no signs of a struggle, no fingerprints, and no clear indication of what had happened to her.
The investigation into Kathern's disappearance soon uncovered a secret aspect of her life: she was involved in an extramarital affair with a married coworker named Christopher J. Below. Detectives learned that Below's apartment was located near where Kathern's car had been found. Initially, Below denied any involvement and provided an alibi for the time of her disappearance, but his alibi was later proven to be false. For years, the case remained cold, a painful and unresolved mystery for Kathern's family and community. The lack of evidence left investigators with few leads to follow, and the passage of time seemed only to deepen the silence surrounding her fate. The discovery of her abandoned car was the last significant physical clue in the initial stages of the investigation.
Years later, a major breakthrough occurred when Christopher Below confessed to his role in Kathern's disappearance. In 2003, he admitted to shooting her with a. 380 caliber pistol in his apartment on the day she went missing. He claimed that he disposed of her body in a trash bin. Investigators believe the motive for the murder was Kathern's desire to end their relationship. Following his confession, Below pleaded guilty to attempted involuntary manslaughter and received a prison sentence. Despite his admission, Kathern's remains have never been recovered, leaving her family without a final resting place for their loved one. The case took on a more sinister dimension as law enforcement began to consider Below a possible suspect in the disappearances and murders of other young women. This has led to the enduring overview of the case as not just a singular tragedy, but potentially one piece of a much larger and more disturbing puzzle of violence.Last Seen: Nov 26, 1991
