Christopher James Harvey, 14, disappeared from a family vacation trailer at a mobile home park on the edge of the San Juan National Forest in Hinsdale County, Colorado. On the afternoon of July 11, 1984, he returned from visiting a neighbor, took the family dog, and walked into the nearby woods around 3:30 p.m. The dog later came back to the trailer alone; Christopher never returned.

Searches by local and state authorities plus community volunteers began the next day and continued for days. About a week later the FBI joined the effort, but no trace was found in the area and investigators concluded he was likely no longer in the county. Six weeks after the disappearance, a severely beaten teenage boy found near Gypsum was initially thought to be Christopher by his parents, but dental records later showed the injured youth was a different missing 18-year-old who had been hitchhiking. Foul play became the prevailing theory, and the case remains unsolved.