GA GA - Christoph Zahn, 21, Atlanta, 28 April 1992

[MadMcGoo]

You’ve not been forgotten!

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up for Christoph.
422DMGA - Christoph Zahn

 

[spartanx]

I get the impression that Hale was somehow involved with Christoph's disappearance, I hate just accusing people because everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but all signs point to him... His track record doesn't help matters either. ...at least he was convicted of fraudulently using the credit card...
and I also have the impression that we will never know what really happened to him and being so far from home...
either way
rest in peace

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Christoph R. Zahn – The Charley Project

 

[Rush4087]

Christoph R. Zahn – The Charley Project

Really tragic, RIP Christoph.

Also really tragic that it seems a possible serial killer operating in the southeastern US in the early nineties (at least?) was never brought to justice (great sleuthing and posting by @Richard, @MadMcGoo, and @dotr as always).

Back in the early nineties it was probably even more difficult than it is now to bring murder charges when a victim’s body was not found, but it sure seems there was and is a good bit of circumstantial evidence pointing at Harry Eugene Hale as being the person responsible for CZ’s disappearance:

Hale was living in Austell, GA at the time of CZ’s disappearance (while apparently also having homes in KY and FL) . He was using CZ’s credit cards. Several of CZ’s possessions were later found at Hale’s home in KY. Hale had a reputation (per the Charlie Project links for both CZ and Mitchell Manns of “stalking bus stations and highways searching for young male transients. [..] He is suspected of drugging and sexually assaulting young men in several states.” I have also read that Hale is suspected of at least two murders.

Was Hale responsible for the disappearance of Mitchell Manns in KY? Was he responsible for the disappearance and murder of Walter J Cropper in KY? Hopefully LE has not stopped trying to answer these questions.

Both Manns’ and Cropper’s disappearances were in the area of KY where Harry Eugene Hale lived. Was it confirmed that Cropper’s Seiko “walk-along recorder” was found during the first search of Hale’s house in KY? Although Cropper had been shot, was an autopsy ever done (which might have determined whether he had been drugged?

Were the two (Carrollton?) teens (Musick and Turner) Harry Hale’s next intended victims? Was there further contact after the May phone calls?

Where was the bus depot in Atlanta where CZ arrived on 4/27 - in downtown ATL or out in Dekalb County (Tucker)? Did CZ check out of his motel room across from the bus depot on the 28th, or was he booked for additional nights? If he was booked for additional nights, was the motel room ever investigated as a possible crime scene? Was there any cctv from the Tucker, GA Denny’s?

I wonder if LE (in one or multiple jurisdictions) are presently investigating HEH and trying to determine whether he could have been a serial killer operating in the southeastern US in the early 90’s (and possibly before and/or after)? If attributed to Hale, the disappearances of Manns, Cropper, and Zahn all remind me of Randy Kraft.

Were there any similar disappearances of young men from bus stations or malls in Austell, GA, Carrollton, GA, Cobb County, GA, and like locations in FL (Miami?) and in areas of KY where Hale owned homes or worked or travelled?

Sorry this has been a post full of nothing but questions. Just hoping that LE is still looking into all things HEH. Maybe there should be a thread in the WS ‘Serial Killers’ forum (as a possible SK) for him.

All just my opinion

 

[dotr]

Ws thread..

GA-KY-FL Possible Serial Killer - Harry Eugene Hale

This guy turned up in our investigation of Kentucky UID's. Active from 1980's through 2012. He “had a reputation for stalking bus stations and highways searching for young male transients [and] is suspected of drugging and sexually assaulting young men in several states.”!!! Christoph R. Zahn...

www.websleuths.com

rbbm

Hale v. State

Hale v. State - 220 Ga. App. 667, 469 S.E.2d 871

law.justia.com

''469 S.E.2d 871 (1996)
220 Ga. App. 667
HALE v. The STATE.
No. A95A2417''
''Harry Eugene Hale appeals from the judgment entered on his conviction of three counts of forgery in the first degree based on unauthorized use of the credit card of Christoph Zahn, who disappeared in Atlanta in the spring of 1992. We affirm.

1. Viewed so as to support the jury's verdict, the evidence showed that Zahn, a 21-year-old student who lived in Switzerland but held joint Swiss-American citizenship, embarked on a tour of the United States in September 1991, staying with numerous friends. Zahn did not like alcoholic beverages and did not drink, except for an occasional glass of wine with dinner at home. Zahn also did not drive or have a driver's license. He had a MasterCard with him for expenses. He stayed over the Christmas holidays with the Van Nordens of St. Simon's Island until January 1992, when he continued touring. Zahn kept in touch with the Van Nordens by phone and letter from then until April, when the contact ceased. The last known contact by Zahn with anyone was a telephone call from Atlanta on April 29th to his travel agent, verifying plans for a bus trip of national parks, leaving from Atlanta. In May, the Van Nordens notified Zahn's mother in Switzerland that they had lost contact with Zahn. She also had not heard from him after receiving letters from him in April and a telephone call that month telling her he was returning two days early. His prepaid plane ticket was never used or cashed in. Zahn was reported missing in May and, in August 1992 after the police had not found him or any leads, Mrs. Zahn, through the Van Nordens, hired Select, Inc. of St. Simon's, a private investigation firm composed of former federal agents, to search for her son.

Select's Richard Jones, former Secret Service agent and instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, obtained a number of credit card receipts for Zahn's MasterCard and other documents bearing his purported signature from numerous Atlanta area businesses, including three in Cobb Countya charge slip for food and beverage at Bimbo's Saloon & Eatery on April 30, 1992 (Count 1), a Red Roof Inn guest registration *874 card for May 2, 1992 (Count 2), and a charge slip for Minks Package Store on May 7, 1992 (Count 3). Jones obtained from Minks the security videotape for May 7 and, by matching the cash register receipt with the charge slip, was able to find a picture of a white male, slightly balding, using the Zahn MasterCard. Zahn had a full head of long brown hair, over his shirt collar. This was the first lead obtained and Jones had photos of the man made from the videotape. The photos were taken from overhead and the side of the man using the card.''

 

[vls12345]

Per @MadMcGoo 's post in the Harry Hale thread, HH was released from prison on 01/02/2024.

GA-KY-FL Possible Serial Killer - Harry Eugene Hale

This guy turned up in our investigation of Kentucky UID's. Active from 1980's through 2012. He “had a reputation for stalking bus stations and highways searching for young male transients [and] is suspected of drugging and sexually assaulting young men in several states.”!!! Christoph R. Zahn...

www.websleuths.com

Link to the GA Dept. of Corrections page:

|| Georgia Department of Corrections || - Find an Offender

Welcome to The Georgia Department of Corrections official website including information on offenders, prison, probation, and incarceration facilities, resources for victims, and general public information about Georgia Corrections operations. GDC is one of the largest prison systems in the...

services.gdc.ga.gov

(I find it odd on that page the angle of the photo taken of him. MOO.)

 

[Rush4087]

Really tragic, RIP Christoph.

Also really tragic that it seems a possible serial killer operating in the southeastern US in the early nineties (at least?) was never brought to justice (great sleuthing and posting by @Richard, @MadMcGoo, and @dotr as always).

Back in the early nineties it was probably even more difficult than it is now to bring murder charges when a victim’s body was not found, but it sure seems there was and is a good bit of circumstantial evidence pointing at Harry Eugene Hale as being the person responsible for CZ’s disappearance:

Hale was living in Austell, GA at the time of CZ’s disappearance (while apparently also having homes in KY and FL) . He was using CZ’s credit cards. Several of CZ’s possessions were later found at Hale’s home in KY. Hale had a reputation (per the Charlie Project links for both CZ and Mitchell Manns of “stalking bus stations and highways searching for young male transients. [..] He is suspected of drugging and sexually assaulting young men in several states.” I have also read that Hale is suspected of at least two murders.

Was Hale responsible for the disappearance of Mitchell Manns in KY? Was he responsible for the disappearance and murder of Walter J Cropper in KY? Hopefully LE has not stopped trying to answer these questions.

Both Manns’ and Cropper’s disappearances were in the area of KY where Harry Eugene Hale lived. Was it confirmed that Cropper’s Seiko “walk-along recorder” was found during the first search of Hale’s house in KY? Although Cropper had been shot, was an autopsy ever done (which might have determined whether he had been drugged?

Were the two (Carrollton?) teens (Musick and Turner) Harry Hale’s next intended victims? Was there further contact after the May phone calls?

Where was the bus depot in Atlanta where CZ arrived on 4/27 - in downtown ATL or out in Dekalb County (Tucker)? Did CZ check out of his motel room across from the bus depot on the 28th, or was he booked for additional nights? If he was booked for additional nights, was the motel room ever investigated as a possible crime scene? Was there any cctv from the Tucker, GA Denny’s?

I wonder if LE (in one or multiple jurisdictions) are presently investigating HEH and trying to determine whether he could have been a serial killer operating in the southeastern US in the early 90’s (and possibly before and/or after)? If attributed to Hale, the disappearances of Manns, Cropper, and Zahn all remind me of Randy Kraft.

Were there any similar disappearances of young men from bus stations or malls in Austell, GA, Carrollton, GA, Cobb County, GA, and like locations in FL (Miami?) and in areas of KY where Hale owned homes or worked or travelled?

Sorry this has been a post full of nothing but questions. Just hoping that LE is still looking into all things HEH. Maybe there should be a thread in the WS ‘Serial Killers’ forum (as a possible SK) for him.

All just my opinion

Sorry, re: my post above, just realized there already is a thread on WS re: HEH

GA-KY-FL Possible Serial Killer - Harry Eugene Hale

This guy turned up in our investigation of Kentucky UID's. Active from 1980's through 2012. He “had a reputation for stalking bus stations and highways searching for young male transients [and] is suspected of drugging and sexually assaulting young men in several states.”!!! Christoph R. Zahn...

www.websleuths.com

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Christoph R. Zahn – The Charley Project

 

[John/Jane Doe]

422DMGA - Christoph Zahn

 

[Richard]

Christoph Zahn has been missing for 32 years.