Xiana Fairchild was 7 when she vanished from Vallejo, California, on December 9, 1999, while on her way to school. A 14-month search followed. Portions of her skull and two pieces of her jaw were found by a construction worker in the Los Gatos hills on January 19, 2001, about 60 miles from Vallejo; dental and DNA testing positively identified the remains. The Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office ruled her death a homicide, though the exact cause of death was not disclosed.

Curtis Dean Anderson, a 39-year-old convicted child molester, emerged as a prime suspect after being arrested in August 2000 for abducting and molesting an 8-year-old Vallejo girl who escaped after two days. Anderson reportedly confessed to three people, including Xiana’s great-aunt, and later admitted to kidnapping, molesting, killing Xiana and disposing of her body in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He was charged in May 2004 and pleaded guilty in December 2005; he was already serving a 251-year sentence for the earlier abduction and molestation. Anderson died in prison in December 2007 of natural causes while serving his sentence.

Anyone with memories of Xiana, her routine in Vallejo, or information about that area in late 1999 is asked to come forward.