Richard William Griener

• Missing Since 01/17/1972
• Missing From Pekin, Illinois
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 08/15/1958 (67)
• Age 13 years old
• Height and Weight 5'0, 90 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A gold-colored hooded nylon jacket, a long brown ski mask, blue jeans, and green rubber insulated boots.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Blue plastic roll-up toboggan-style sled made by Cole Co., with a strap. The sled is 18 inches wide and 38 inches, or 3 1/3 feet, long.
• Distinguishing Characteristics White male. Dark brown hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Richard left his home on Brentwood Court on the north side of Pekin, Illinois at approximately 4:00 p.m. on January 17, 1972. He planned to go to the snow sledding hill at McNaughton Park, four blocks away.

He was carrying a brand new blue plastic toboggan-style sled at the time of his disappearance; it had been purchased just the day before. The sled, which was made by Cole Co. and is 18 inches wide and 3 1/2 feet long, rolls up and has a strap. It's unclear whether he Richard ever made it to the park.

Suppertime at his family's home was at 5:30 p.m., and he was rarely late. At 5:40, Richard's family began looking for him. They called police at 6:30 and they and the police searched through the night but found no sign of Richard. An extensive search of the local area turned up three sleds, but his parents were unable to identfy any of them as their son's.

A child who lived in Richard's neighborhood recalled seeing a boy she thought was him walking aimlessly at 8:30 p.m. that evening. The boy she saw didn't have a sled, or the ski mask Richard been wearing when he left his family's home that day, and the child wondered at the time what he was doing out so late. Authorities have been unable to confirm or dismiss this possible sighting.

His parents stated Richard had been doing well in school and appeared to be in good spirits around the time of his disappearance. A few months earlier, he had become ill, gone into convulsions and was semi-comatose for a week. He was ultimately diagnosed with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain tissue, caused by an infection. He appeared to be recovering well with no brain damage, but his mother theorizes he could have had some kind of relapse that led to his going missing.

He has never been heard from again. His family never believed he had run away, stating he cared too much about his parents to have done so, and the police also think this possibility is unlikely. He left behind his belongings, including a wooden bowl he had started to carve as a present for his mother's birthday.

His mother said she had had taught her children to never get into anybody's car, but that he could have been forced into a car. She speculated he went sledding, sustained a head injury that made him confused, and may have been picked up by someone who took advantage of him. A skull found in Michigan was originally thought to be his, but it turned out not to be; it was identified as a 32-year-old man's. The serial killer John Wayner Gacy was also investigated in Richard's case, but none of the bodies buried in the crawlspace of Gacy's home were Richard's.

Authorities do, however, believe Richard is deceased. One suspect in his case is William "Freight Train" Guatney, who confessed to the murders of several children, including a nine-year-old boy who was abducted only 200 yards from where Richard was last seen. However, Richard disappeared during the winter, and Guatney's other suspected victims were all attacked during the warmer months. Guatney was committed to a mental institution after being found incompetent to stand trial for murder. He died in 1997. He was never charged in Richard's case.

The child remains missing and his case is unsolved. He was an eighth grade student at Edison School at the time of his disappearance.