IL IL - Richard Griener, 13, Pekin, 17 Jan 1972

[STANDREID]

My recollection is that the Griener Case is less than 10% of the book.

 

[STANDREID]

The book is about Guatney and his potential victims.

 

[STANDREID]

As said, I don't think Guatney was involved in Richard's disappearance.

 

[STANDREID]

Greetings,

Can you share with us the "new" information on Richard's case from the book?

Satch

If I recall, it said that Griener had a younger sister which I didn't know about.

 

[STANDREID]

Next week, it will be 41 years.

 

[Satch]

If I recall, it said that Griener had a younger sister which I didn't know about.

I didn't know that either. Is she still living? Has she ever spoken publicly about Richard's case?

Satch

 

[STANDREID]

I don't know about any of those Satch. There was an entry on one web site I saw somewhere that said she had planned to go sledding with him but then canceled out for some reason. It was just a post on that site so I can't say if that's accurate. I don't even remember what the site was but I did come across it Googling.

 

[STANDREID]

Greetings,

Can you share with us the "new" information on Richard's case from the book?

Satch

There was some information about the body that was found out east that was originally thought to possibly be Richard - of course, it wasn't.

 

[STANDREID]

I don't remember now who it was but I believe that body was identified.

 

[STANDREID]

Griener's picture is at the center of the five shown on the cover of Slayer of Innocence.

 

[Richard]

I wonder if this case is related to the disappearance of Dermot Faulkner Kelly, age 16, who disappeared 13 days later (30 January 1972) from LaSalle, IL. LaSalle is only 60 Miles North West from Pekin, IL.

Dermot is also still missing.

 

[STANDREID]

I can see that possibility Richard. Some similarities including the time of year.

 

[Satch]

I wonder if this case is related to the disappearance of Dermot Faulkner Kelly, age 16, who disappeared 13 days later (30 January 1972) from LaSalle, IL. LaSalle is only 60 Miles North West from Pekin, IL.

Dermot is also still missing.

In Richard's case (See Dermot's Thread for my thoughts on him) I have a terrible feeling that he met up with foul play at the hands of a child pedophile. I know that many people consider William "Freight Train" Guatney a suspect in Richard's dissaperence. Here is more information about this serial killer:

http://murderpedia.org/male.G/g/guatney-william.htm

From what I remember, Richard disappeared very close to where Guatney had once been seen. Wasn't it even close to where one of his abductions had occurred? I don't know if Guatney was a suspect in Richard's disappearance or just a person of interest. Critics however, state that Guatney most often killed in the summer months. I can't remember where Guatney was in mid January of 1972 when Richard vanished.

The other possibility for Richard is that he may have been killed in a car accident and the driver panicked and hid Richard's body. From what I recall, Richard's sled had been found in a yard shortly after he had went missing, but no trace of Richard has ever been found. If this was a car accident, why wouldn't the driver hid the sled as well? This makes me lean towards an abduction.

Satch

 

[STANDREID]

Yes, I don't think any other of Guatney's victims were attacked during cold weather so that makes him less of a suspect here but serial killers are not robots and have at times played against type.

 

[dogperson]

Guatney is the best suspect of known killers, in my opinion, and it's possible that the urge to kill was so strong he went ahead and acted in a winter month. Although I think the possibility of Richard being struck by a car is also very likely. Did we ever determine if his sled was found or not?

 

[STANDREID]

I have not been able to find any confirmation that the sled or any other item was found.

 

[STANDREID]

I'm not discounting Guatney but I wonder why cases like Gacy and the Babysitter Murders haven't been more prominently looked at in connection with Griener's disappearance and presumed killing.

 

[STANDREID]

Or for that matter, Kenneth Hansen, the guy who was eventually convicted of the 1955 Matinée Murders in Chicago.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Im sort of new here and i feel compelled to say about a very vivid dream i had well before i read this case on here about a boy who was sledding and went missing but dont want to come across as crazy. PM if anyone wants to know

 

[STANDREID]

Im sort of new here and i feel compelled to say about a very vivid dream i had well before i read this case on here about a boy who was sledding and went missing but dont want to come across as crazy

You never know. In a totally different case, I had a vivid dream once where I saw Jack the Ripper. He was a teenage boy although I didn't get a name.