Jerry Howell was 19 and from Kansas City, Missouri, when he accepted a ride from a familiar local shopkeeper and flea-market regular, Robert Berdella. Berdella told Howell he would drive him to a dancing contest in Merriam, Kansas; Howell climbed into the car expecting a normal night out.

For years there were no remains to recover and the disappearance remained unresolved. The case changed after a man later identified as Christopher Bryson escaped from Berdella’s home in spring 1988, prompting a police search that expanded from an assault investigation into a broader homicide probe. Berdella was arrested and later pleaded guilty to multiple murder charges, including a second-degree murder plea tied to Jerry Howell, as part of an agreement that avoided the death penalty and resulted in life imprisonment without parole.

Are there readers who knew Jerry Howell, his family, or his activities in Kansas City in 1984 who can share memories or information?