Curtis Corky Chandler was 14 when he disappeared from Lockport, Illinois, on the evening of August 28, 1977. He had told his mother he would spend the night at a neighbor’s home — the girlfriend of 47-year-old Owen Clark — and was last seen that night with Clark. Reports conflict on whether the two left the girlfriend’s house by car or on foot; the car was later found in the driveway with the keys inside.

Curtis was about 5 feet 2 inches and 134 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes, an enlarged left ear, a scar on the left side of his head, and an appendectomy scar. He was last seen wearing a dark blue short-sleeved t-shirt, blue jeans, and red tennis shoes. Around 4:30 a.m. the next morning Clark arrived at a fire station with burns over roughly 70 percent of his body and gave a story about being robbed and set on fire after an argument with Curtis; police treated Clark as a suspect but he was never charged. Clark has since died.

The disappearance remains unsolved and the circumstances around their movements that night — including the differing accounts of leaving the neighbor’s home — have never been reconciled. If anyone knew Curtis, saw him that evening, or has information about where he might have gone, please come forward.