Edward Leroy Nichols, known as Ed, was 22 when he vanished from the woods of northern Kentucky after going deer hunting on the morning of December 3, 1974. He left his parents’ home in Florence with a friend, David Stites. The two stopped at a store for hunting socks and drove to Shady Nook Bottoms near the Boone and Gallatin County line. Stites says they separated to hunt and agreed to meet back at the car; when Stites returned at the appointed time Nichols was not there. After waiting about four hours Stites called authorities and a search began.

Early investigators considered that Nichols might have left voluntarily; he was on probation for a drug charge, had missed a meeting with his probation officer, and a warrant had been issued. Other hunters reported seeing a man they identified as Nichols who fled from them. Nichols family members rejected the idea he would run away. The case later shifted to a suspected homicide when no contact turned up.

In 2021 a family member of Stites reported that Stites had said another hunter, Bobby Franxman, shot Nichols in the face during an argument over a woman and forced Stites to help bury the body.

Did anyone who hunted in Shady Nook Bottoms or knew this hunting group in 1974 ever hear about a burial or unusual activity in that area?