On August 30, 1975, 13-year-old Jon Simpson and his 12-year-old friend Jacob Surber disappeared after leaving the Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln. Nine days later Jacob’s body was found south of the fairgrounds with multiple stab wounds. Jon’s body was recovered on September 22, 1975, in a closed hopper car that had been moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and returned to Lincoln. Jon’s remains were in such condition that an exact cause of death could not be determined, though investigators reported wounds on his bones consistent with stabbing.

A transient fair worker, William J. Guatney (also known by aliases Freight Train and Choo Choo), was questioned in mid-1976 and later arrested in August 1979 and charged in the deaths of Jon and Jacob and another boy in Topeka. He pleaded not guilty, claimed multiple personality disorder, was found incompetent to stand trial in 1980 and committed to a mental institution; the charges were dismissed and he died of natural causes in 1996. No conviction was recorded in Jon Simpson’s death.