Robert "Bob" Christian (4 of Spades, Wisconsin)
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Who was Robert 'Bob' Christian and what is his story?
Our card this week is Robert L. Christian, the Four of Spades from Wisconsin. In the fall of 1977, Robert, who went by Bob, was just weeks into his freshman year at UW-Madison. He was a math whiz with a knack for computers and a really big heart. And at 18 years old, there was no telling how far he'd go. But no one ever expected to be asking the question, where did he go? Yet here we are, almost half a century later, with that burning question and just a string of bizarre clues that lead many to believe an infamous serial killer could be to blame for his disappearance. I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is The Deck.
On the evening of Friday, September 16th, 1977, 20-year-old Randy Griffith was at his mom's house in Baraboo, Wisconsin, waiting for his childhood friend, Bob Christian, to arrive. The pair had planned to spend the weekend together to kick off the start of deer bow hunting season. Bob was going to come over at 6, eat dinner with the Griffiths, stay the night, and then the duo would head out with their bows early the next morning. But 6 o'clock came and went with no sign of Bob.
What happened on the night Bob disappeared?
One thing is, Bob was always earlier or definitely on time, but he was never late. And when he didn't arrive by 6.30, we said, this ain't like him. And my mom called his mother and said that Bob hadn't arrived yet. And his mom said he didn't leave till about 5.15. Okay, so it's an hour from their house to where my mom's house is. So I'm thinking, okay, 6.15, it could be a few minutes late. But, you know, and then they didn't arrive still at 9 o'clock.
That was Randy you just heard. With Bob now a full three hours late, Randy's mom called the Christians again. And this time around, Bob's parents weren't so quick to brush it off. Bob's youngest sister Amy was home when that second call came in, and she remembers that night vividly.
Right away, my mom started calling places to find out, was there any accidents reported, any of the hospitals? They checked with, you know, the different areas and nobody, there was no reports of an accident or anybody going into the hospital. I know that kind of went on the next day. I can remember, you know, because he was 18, they had to wait 24 hours or something before they could even consider him missing. And that's why my Uncle Glenn came from Milwaukee the next day and we started looking because we're like, we know there's something wrong. This is not Bob. Bob is not somebody who is going to just take off without letting somebody know what's going on.
The last time Amy spoke to Bob, the Christians were sitting down for dinner in Madison. Bob was the oldest of four kids, followed by 15 year old Kathy, 13 year old Mike and 11 year old Amy. The family of six almost always ate dinner together. But on this night, Bob's hunting plans with Randy meant that he wouldn't be joining them.
That night, he had an excuse to get out. My mom was doing Weight Watchers, and she made a Weight Watchers soup. And we all kind of laughed because Bob was like, ah, we'll see you guys later. And I remember him leaving because he was like, I'm out of here. That's probably the last time I remember him saying goodbye to us all, that he was heading out and was going to be, you know, heading to Baraboo.
Bob had just bought a new motorcycle, but he'd blown the motor out that week, so his mom Carolyn let him borrow her brand new 1977 AMC Hornet for the trip. Wearing a flannel shirt and blue jeans, he threw his overnight bag into the car and pulled away from the house. That night, Carolyn actually saw her son once more in town when she was taking the younger Christian siblings to a high school football game. She drove by Bob and waved to him as he was leaving the bank where he'd gone to take out $25 in cash. And that was the last time she would ever see her son. The Christians spent all of Saturday calling everyone they could think of trying to locate Bob. And by Sunday, the Christians and their extended family had split themselves up to drive every possible route between their home and the Griffiths, searching for any sign of Bob. The most likely drive would have been on rural two-lane highways until reaching Sauk City, and then another rural stretch until Baraboo. But they didn't find anything on that route.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who was Robert 'Bob' Christian and what is his story?
0:04–1:51
2
What happened on the night Bob disappeared?
1:51–6:46
3
What unusual clues were found related to Bob's disappearance?
6:46–13:01
4
How did the investigation into Bob's disappearance unfold?
13:01–18:00
5
What significance do the break-in at Sister Genevieve's cottage and the mysterious car hold?
18:00–23:37
6
What leads did the police find from the car and physical evidence?
23:37–28:56
7
Who was Bob according to his family and friends?
28:56–33:15
8
Was Randy Griffith ever considered a suspect in Bob’s disappearance?
33:15–44:08