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

[Richard]

Richard William Griener
Missing since January 17, 1972 from Pekin, Tazewell County, Illinois.
Classification: Missing



Vital Statistics:

• Date Of Birth: 1959
  
• Age at Time of Disappearance: 13 years old
• Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'0; 90 lbs.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Dark brown hair; brown eyes.
• Clothing: Griener was wearing a gold colored nylon jacket with attached hood, a long brown ski mask, blue jeans, green rubber insulated boots and carrying a blue plastic roll up toboggan.
• Dentals/Fingerprints: Fingerprints, dental records and skull X-rays are available.

Circumstances of Disappearance:

According to his mother, Richard Griener left home, which was located at Brentwood Court, at about 16.00 walking four blocks to a local snow sledding hill in the city park. He had to cross a large railroad switch yard to get there. He was seen by friends on the hill at about 17:30 and was never seen again.

• If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Pekin Police Department
Investigation Division
309-346-3132


NCIC Number: M-663039870
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.


Source Information:
Pekin Police Department

 

[STANDREID]

Thanks for the additional information Richard. I'm not sure I would call it exactly a "large" railroad switch yard but I guess it's a matter of perspective. I think the only part of that left is a frame railroad building.

 

[STANDREID]

I wonder if there were any railroad dicks on duty that day.

 

[Robin Hood]

This guy was handling the case at some point.

http://www.pekintimes.com/news/x135750983/Gillespie-then-and-now

 

[STANDREID]

Thanks Robin. I think that guy pulled me over for speeding once althoughlease: he may not have given me a ticket.

 

[STANDREID]

I will try to find Conover's Slayer of Innocence at the library today.

 

[STANDREID]

I did find the book and it didn't say anything about a coat or anything being found so I must have confused this with another case - sorry. The Griener case is one chapter in the book and it has some additional information that I didn't know.

 

[STANDREID]

Sometime I will try to get a picture of that railroad building that I believe is the last remnant of the switching yard.

 

[STANDREID]

I will try to get that pic up on here when I get it in gear.

 

[STANDREID]

I looked yesterday and there is a railroad building there but I think it was moved there from somewhere else relatively recently so I will have to investigate further. A building that wasn't there during the events has no bearing.

 

[STANDREID]

I will try to verify that one way or the other.

 

[STANDREID]

Irregardless of whatever the building is or how long it has been there, it appears to be only a couple of hundred feet from the barns where William "Freight Train" Guatney worked at the 4-H Fair. That's just a point of interest. I doubt that it means anything due to the season.

 

[STANDREID]

Those are the barns where Guatney was working when Mark Helmig was murdered.

 

[STANDREID]

Griener's fingerprints were gotten off the inside of some model cars he built.

 

[STANDREID]

There's not much chance of finding Richard now when there would be any readable fingerprints however.

 

[STANDREID]

Richard would now be 54.

 

[Satch]

Griener's fingerprints were gotten off the inside of some model cars he built.

I assume the model cars were found at Richard's home? There is conflicting evidence about Richard's sled. It would be interesting to find out more about this. My gut feeling is that Richard was abducted, but there is also the possibility of a fatal accident. Could Richard have been struck by a car, and the driver panicked and hid Richard's body? I still believe that this would be difficult to do considering that Richard disappeared around dinner time. People in the area most likely would have seen something, making a cover-up situation difficult.

Satch

 

[STANDREID]

Yes, the model cars were found in his bedroom and then dissembled for prints. It was assumed that he was the only person who would have left prints on those inside surfaces before they were cemented together.

 

[Satch]

I did find the book and it didn't say anything about a coat or anything being found so I must have confused this with another case - sorry. The Griener case is one chapter in the book and it has some additional information that I didn't know.

Greetings,

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

Satch

 

[STANDREID]

There were a few things that were new to me but the book has been out for quite some time so nothing really "new" in the scheme of things.