Thirteen-year-old Richard William Griener left his home on Brentwood Court in Pekin, Illinois, around 4:00 p.m. on January 17, 1972, headed for a sledding hill about four blocks away. To reach the hill he had to cross a large railroad switchyard. He wore a gold-colored nylon jacket with hood, blue jeans, a long brown ski mask and green rubber insulated boots, and carried a blue plastic roll-up toboggan. Friends reported seeing him at the hill about 5:30 p.m., but he never returned for dinner and did not come home.

An extensive search turned up no leads and Richard was never seen again. A skull found later in Michigan was at one time thought to be his but was ruled out. Authorities have long suspected foul play. William Freight Train Guatney, a transient who frequented train yards and later confessed to several child murders, has been named as a possible person of interest because one of his victims was taken about 200 yards from where Richard was last seen; Guatney usually attacked in warmer months and was never charged in Richard’s disappearance.

Both of Richard’s parents died without learning what happened to their son. The Pekin Police Department lists the case as an open cold case.