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

[annie.221]

Did the friends or parents ever speak to the press? Something I could read? Was Guatney the only suspect they had?

 

[STANDREID]

Guatney is about the only one you hear mentioned but I assume the police looked at others. I personally doubt that Guatney did it although I can't really come up another name that's better.

 

[Gardener1850]

Unidentified remains found along the Illinois river in Kingston Mines: http://www.pjstar.com/news/20170613/...kingston-mines

Distance from Kingston Mines to Pekin: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/King...8!2d40.5675388

(I also posted this to Robert Bee's thread-- there is no info yet on the condition/age of the remains)

 

[bonjelica]

http://www.centralillinoisproud.com...ns-consistent-with-13-year-old-male/774078914

 

[Brainy]

Was the sled or any other belongings of Richard ever recovered? Has the possibility of an accident been discussed?

 

[Brainy]

Is it known who among Richard's relatives are still living? If his parents are deceased, when did they pass away? It is heartbreaking that there is so little known on this case! All that I think is sort of remembered, is a sled found in some bushes or in a yard? Standreid, isn't that what you remember reading?

Satch

it looks like his mom, Helen passed away in 2012, his dad Merle Richard died in 2016

Dad:

info from findagrave

Birth:	Dec. 19, 1927
Death:	Dec. 20, 2016
Merle Richard Griener was born to Joseph Frederick ad Edna Marie Pick Griener on December 19, 1927, in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a graduate of Rankin Trade School in St. Louis. He worked as a pattern maker all his life, retiring from Gardner-Denver. Merle was a US Army veteran of both WWII and the Korean Conflict. He was a member of the VFW and the American Legion. Merle was also an accomplished watercolor painter having served as past president of the Great River Watercolor Society, Quincy, Illinois. He was a past member of the Sedalia (Missouri) Visual Arts Club. He won numerous awards in art shows in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, including the Best of Show Award in the Professional Division at the Missouri State Fair in 2002. In December 1955, Merle married Helen J. Long. They were married 56 years. In addition to his parents and wife, he was preceded in death by his brother, Joseph; his sister, Audrey Weber; his son, Richard; and his son-in-law, Robert Snoddy. He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Jeanne and Randy Haraldson, and his grandson, Daniel Snoddy, and several nieces and nephews. Visitation is at 9:30, followed by the funeral service at 10:00 is Tuesday, December 27th at the John Knox Village Chapel,400 NW Murray Road, Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Burial will be at the New Lebanon Cemetery, Pilot Grove, Missouri. Memorials are suggested to the Disable American Veterans: DAV, 3725 Alexandria Pike, Cold Springs, KY 41076, or www.dav.org.

Mom:

info from findagrave

Birth:	May 14, 1932 Pilot Grove Cooper County Missouri, USA
Death:	Feb. 11, 2012 Columbia Boone County Missouri, USA
Helen J. Griener, 79, of Marshall, MO, died Saturday, February 11, 2012, at Boone Hospital Center in Columbia, MO. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, February 16, 2012, at Campbell-Lewis Chapel in Marshall, with Rev. Kathleen Schmidtke officiating. Visitation will be held from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Burial will be in New Lebanon Cemetery in New Lebanon, MO. Born May 14, 1932, in Pilot Grove, MO, she was the daughter of the late William David Long and Mabel Anona Rothgeb Long who survives of Marshall. She was a graduate of Granite City High School in Granite City, IL and the Jewish Hospital in St. Louis later she trained as a trauma specialist. On December 10, 1955, she married Merle R. Griener who survives of the home. She had lived in Marshall since 2001 moving from Quincy, IL and was a member of the First United Methodist Church. She was a retired registered nurse and received a 50-year pin as a registered nurse. She was a lifelong American Red Cross member, an avid gardener, seamstress and loved to sing. In addition to her mother and husband, she is survived by one daughter, Jeanne (Snoddy) Haraldson and husband Randy of Grandview, MO; one grandson, R. Daniel Snoddy; and several aunts and cousins. In addition to her father, she was preceded in death by one son, Richard W. Griener; and a son-in-law, Robert Snoddy.

 

[ThingsKnown]

i do think it was his sled, iv just recently started looking at this case, being from the general area i became interested, if you have learned anything new about this case i would really like to know, hope you still check on this page, ill be creating a video for my youtube account to try to get any info i can out in the public.

thanks you,
ThingsKnown

 

[ChicagoCrimeSearch]

The case file I received is over 800 pages long. There was definitely more than 1 serial killer looked at. Looks like law enforcement did feel that this case was linked with Mark Helwig. There were several psychics and plenty of people that came forward with suspicions. At the end of the day, those 3 serial killers are deceased and other suspects came and went. There were several sleds that were similar to Richard's but nowhere does it show any confirmation that any of them were ever confirmed his. Back then DNA wasn't a factor for years to come. If I find more updated information I will post here.

 

[madamx]

Bumping

 

[Diane Redfern]

Wow!

Creepy and very sad coincidence. Maybe related. At "Find a Grave.com" there is a Richard William Griener who was born in 1958 and died the same day that our Richard Griener went missing: (January 17, 1972)

Richard William Griener (1958-1972) - Find A...

This can't be him. Or can it? The cemetery is in Missouri, so I think this is not related. But when I saw the same name and death date, I got goosebumps down my back and they are still there as of this writing!

Satch

PS. Oh My! Was missing Richard Griener's mother named Helen? Helen spent time in Quincy, Illinois. How far is that from Peoria? If that is Richard's grave, how devastatingly sad!

I think this is a cenotaph.
I found this (you can read the article text OCR): The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois on August 21, 1979 · Page 3
It mentions several of the cases where Guatney was a suspect. I wonder what evidences the police had to arrest him and acusse him of murder, kidnapping and sodomy in the Hanrahan case. Were there any witnesses? Was he already a suspect before this last crime?
William J. “Frieght Train” Guatney (1922-1996) -...
There's also certain confusion about Guatney's death. Find a grave says it was in 1996.

I would like to know more details about the previous minutes of Richard's disappearance. He was surrounded by other children, but the only statement is the last sighting... Did they see someone else? Why did Richard go up the hill alone? Was he about to go sledding or was he coming back home?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

What an absolutely heart-breaking case. Just a kid out being a kid, and he was never found and never received justice.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[laginog]

I know this is an old subject, but I wanted to chime in. Next week it will be 50 years since Richard disappeared. He sat right next to me in class at Edison school, when he disappeared. It was horrible sitting there every day next to his empty desk, hoping to see his shy, smiling face come in the door. Several of us that went to school with Richard have our own theory, which was investigated by the Pekin Police. We had a teacher at Edison that was very, very odd, and creepy. He gave special attention to boys, often taking them into a back room in his office, and shutting & locking the door. Most of us students had this teacher, so I’m quite sure Richard did too. He would have gone with him undoubtedly. Either way, everyone knew him. We are very that he was responsible for Richard’s disappearance, and probable death. A while later, police did search his home & cabin, but found nothing to implicate him. I understand that they do believe that he did it. One of them wrote a book called “Slayer of Innocence”.
And……the teacher died in 2010, and they still haven’t found Richard. His parents move away from Pekin not too long after this happened, and I’m not sure where his Sister is now. I can’t think of a way that this story can continue from here, although most of us that knew him would be overjoyed with an ending. RIP Richard, we think of you often.

 

[madamx]

I know this is an old subject, but I wanted to chime in. Next week it will be 50 years since Richard disappeared. He sat right next to me in class at Edison school, when he disappeared. It was horrible sitting there every day next to his empty desk, hoping to see his shy, smiling face come in the door. Several of us that went to school with Richard have our own theory, which was investigated by the Pekin Police. We had a teacher at Edison that was very, very odd, and creepy. He gave special attention to boys, often taking them into a back room in his office, and shutting & locking the door. Most of us students had this teacher, so I’m quite sure Richard did too. He would have gone with him undoubtedly. Either way, everyone knew him. We are very that he was responsible for Richard’s disappearance, and probable death. A while later, police did search his home & cabin, but found nothing to implicate him. I understand that they do believe that he did it. One of them wrote a book called “Slayer of Innocence”.
And……the teacher died in 2010, and they still haven’t found Richard. His parents move away from Pekin not too long after this happened, and I’m not sure where his Sister is now. I can’t think of a way that this story can continue from here, although most of us that knew him would be overjoyed with an ending. RIP Richard, we think of you often.

Hello laginog and welcome. Thank for sharing this very personal experience and information of Richard on the thread. I could only imagine how hard it was to be sitting next to his empty seat day after day. It is heartbreaking that after all these years he still has not been found especially since the person of interest lived for so long. Hope one day you all receive the news you have been hoping for.

 

[Richard]

Missing for 50 years...

Richard William Griener

Richard, circa 1972

• Missing Since 01/17/1972
• Missing From Pekin, Illinois
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 08/15/1958 (63)
• 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.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Dark brown hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Richard left his home on the north side of Pekin, Illinois at approximately 4:00 p.m. He planned to go to the snow sledding hill at the local park, four blocks away. His friends last saw him at the hill at 5:30 p.m. He was carrying a blue plastic roll-up toboggan-style sled at the time of his disappearance. He has never been heard from again.

An extensive search of the local area turned up no sign of Richard. A skull found in Michigan was originally thought to be his, but it turned out not to be.

Authorities 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.

Investigating Agency

• Pekin Police Department 309-346-3132

Source Information

• The Doe Network
• The Bloomingtom Pantagraph
• The Peoria Journal Star
• William Guatney | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers
  
• Richard William Griener (1958-1972) - Find A...
• Richard William Griener – The Charley Project
• Unsolved Crimes: Richard Griener
  
• Richard Griener
  
• For the Lost Blog » Richard Griener missing forty-nine years
  
• Richard William Griener - Illinois Missing Person Directory
  
• Porchlight International for the Missing & Unidentified-Griener, Richard January 17, 1972

 

[pamelaleigh]

Laginog....thank you for posting. Do you happen to remember the condition of Richard's teeth? Missing, buck teeth, etc. There is an unidentified skeleton on Doe that does bear some resemblance. Hard to tell the teeth on the only photo I have seen. Serious long shot, but it's something. 2128UMFL

 

[pamelaleigh]

I know this is an old subject, but I wanted to chime in. Next week it will be 50 years since Richard disappeared. He sat right next to me in class at Edison school, when he disappeared. It was horrible sitting there every day next to his empty desk, hoping to see his shy, smiling face come in the door. Several of us that went to school with Richard have our own theory, which was investigated by the Pekin Police. We had a teacher at Edison that was very, very odd, and creepy. He gave special attention to boys, often taking them into a back room in his office, and shutting & locking the door. Most of us students had this teacher, so I’m quite sure Richard did too. He would have gone with him undoubtedly. Either way, everyone knew him. We are very that he was responsible for Richard’s disappearance, and probable death. A while later, police did search his home & cabin, but found nothing to implicate him. I understand that they do believe that he did it. One of them wrote a book called “Slayer of Innocence”.
And……the teacher died in 2010, and they still haven’t found Richard. His parents move away from Pekin not too long after this happened, and I’m not sure where his Sister is now. I can’t think of a way that this story can continue from here, although most of us that knew him would be overjoyed with an ending. RIP Richard, we think of you often.

Laginog....thank you for posting. Do you happen to remember the condition of Richard's teeth? Missing, buck teeth, etc. There is an unidentified skeleton on Doe that does bear some resemblance. Hard to tell the teeth on the only photo I have seen. Serious long shot, but it's something. 2128UMFL

 

[Richard]

Both of Richard's parents have passed away. He is mentioned in the linked obituary.


Merle Richard Griener
BIRTH 19 Dec 1927
DEATH 20 Dec 2016 (aged 89)
BURIAL New Lebanon Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Pilot Grove, Cooper County, Missouri, USA

LINK:

Merle Richard Griener (1927-2016) - Find a Grave...

Merle Richard Griener was born to Joseph Frederick ad Edna Marie Pick Griener on December 19, 1927, in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a graduate of Rankin Trade School in St. Louis. He worked as a pattern maker all his life, retiring from Gardner-Denver. Merle was a US Army veteran of both WWII and...

www.findagrave.com

 

[Richard]

Possible suspect:



William J. “Freight Train” Guatney
BIRTH 14 Feb 1922
DEATH 31 Mar 1996 (aged 74)
BURIAL
Fairview Cemetery
Cherryvale, Montgomery County, Kansas, USA

Possible connected case:

Mark Helmig, age 9, Murdered 1 August 1976

LINK:

Mark Helmig, 9, August 1, 1976, Pekin, Tazewell County, Illinois

Robert Bee Junior, Richard Griener and Mark Helmig may not have been the only children missing in Pekin, but Richard is the only one still missing. Robert was found murdered in 2018. Mark was found murdered in 1976. Detectives in the area joined in a span of several different agencies of law...

www.missinginillinois.org

 

[StrangeOne]

Bumping