Kenneth Eugene Buchanan was 17 and from Redondo Beach, California, when he was abducted while hitchhiking and murdered on March 1, 1976. His remains were found on April 7, 1976, in Inglewood, California. Reports identify Patrick Wayne Kearney, known as the Trash Bag Killer and the Freeway Killer, as the person who killed Kenneth; Kearney targeted young men and boys in Southern California and picked up victims as hitchhikers or from gay bars.

Kearney’s pattern reportedly involved killing victims quickly, then mutilating some bodies afterwards. He later confessed to 21 murders and was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The case of Kenneth Buchanan is one of several connected to Kearney’s crimes in the 1960s and 1970s.

If anyone knew Kenneth, saw him hitchhiking, or has information about his last movements, please come forward.