David Bacon was 22 when he left home in Troy, New York, on the evening of April 10, 1969, for an overnight shift at the Behr-Manning factory and to give his brother a ride. He never arrived to pick his brother up and did not clock in. His car was found the next morning abandoned on Oil Mill Hill near the Waterford Bridge with his lunch and uncashed paycheck inside, suggesting he did not leave voluntarily.

The case went cold for decades after initial files were purged, but new information in 2008 reopened the investigation as a homicide. Detectives linked Nelson E. Costello, a part-time Waterford constable in 1969, to the case. Costello was arrested in January 2009 and later pleaded guilty in October 2009 to first-degree manslaughter. He admitted he pulled Bacon over, drove him to a public boat launch, shot him three times in the chest, and used an accomplice to help dispose of the body. Costello said he buried Bacon along the James River in Bedford County, Virginia, but the body has never been recovered and may have been lost during 1985 flooding.

Anyone who knew David, his movements in April 1969, or who has information about the burial location is asked to come forward.