Russell Lloyd Nelson was 21 and a University of Minnesota student from Duluth when he disappeared after traveling to Chicago with another young man to work for a contractor. On October 17, 1977, he called his mother to wish her a happy birthday — the last time his family heard from him. In the days after his disappearance a man claiming to be Nelson’s friend contacted the family, saying they had been at a club and Nelson vanished outside; that caller later demanded money and threatened the family, prompting Nelson’s brothers to go to Chicago, where the man offered them work with John Wayne Gacy.

Nelson’s remains were recovered beneath Gacy’s house and identified by dental records on January 6, 1979; he is listed as Body 16 among the victims found in the crawl space. Gacy was arrested December 21, 1978, and later convicted of dozens of murders. No one else was charged in connection with these killings, though reports include Gacy’s later claims that other employees of his construction company had been suspects.

If anyone knew Russell, where he stayed in Chicago or who he was working with in October 1977, please share what is known.