Christopher Kerze: Minnesota Teenager Vanishes from Home
The teenager left behind a note, saying that he'd be back later that day if he didn't get lost, but he was never seen again
Teenager Feigns Sickness and Leaves Home
On April 20th, 1990, Christopher Kerze, 17, told his mother that he wasn’t feeling well and stayed home from school. The intelligent and reliable Christopher wasn’t one to play hooky, so his parents saw no reason to doubt his word.
However, when his mother Loni returned home from work later that day, she was alarmed to find that both her son and the family van were missing, and that their dog was uncharacteristically running loose in the yard.
Adding to the confusion was a note from Christopher that Loni discovered in the kitchen. In it, he told her that something important had come up, but that he’d be back by 6 p.m., provided that he didn’t get “lost” (which was underlined twice).
But Christopher never came home. Within days, the Kerzes’ 1988 Dodge Caravan turned up abandoned near the George Washington State Forest in Itasca County, Minnesota. In addition to this, Jim and Loni would be the recipient of a distressing letter, as well as an odd series of phone calls, but were no closer to finding their son.
What happened to Christopher Kerze?
Christopher Matthew Kerze
The oldest of three sons, Christopher Matthew Kerze was born on February 19th, 1973, to parents Jim and Loni. He grew up in Eagan, Minnesota, where he developed a love of books, skiing, laser tag, computers, and camping.
Introverted and highly intelligent, Christopher excelled in school and had a small group of close friends. He was a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist and was even invited to join the National Honor Society. Additionally, he played clarinet and had been a part of the varsity swim team since his freshman year.
“He was a guy who, when he decided to do something, he would do it,” said Jim Kerze of his son. "What you need to know is, he’s always been a very great kid. He was a smart kid, a good sense of humor."
Christopher Leaves Home
On the morning of April 20th, 1990, 17-year-old Christopher complained that he was suffering from a headache and stated that he wanted to skip school. His father was away on a business trip and his mother, who worked at the local elementary school, needed to leave for work soon.
Loni offered to stay home with him, but Christopher declined, so she gave him pain medication and headed off to work.
When Loni arrived home later that afternoon, she was met with an unusual scene: the Kerze family van was missing and BW Bowser, their dog, was no longer on his leash and was now running around loose in the yard. A look around the house revealed that Christopher wasn't there either.
In the kitchen, Loni discovered a letter from her son:
“Mom, Something important came up + feeling somewhat better. Back by six. (Unless I get lost.) Love, Chris”
The word “lost” had been underlined twice, but Loni felt that she understood the reason behind this emphasis—Christopher hadn’t been driving long and sometimes got lost, so it had become a bit of a running joke.
Other aspects of the note’s content were more of a mystery, though. What had suddenly come up? And where had Christopher gone?
Missing
Loni called Jim to inform him of what was happening and he came back right away. The rest of the day came and went with no word from Christopher, so they attempted to report him missing at midnight. However, the police told them that Christopher hadn’t been gone for long enough and that they needed to wait at least 24 hours.
Jim and Loni were finally allowed to file a missing persons report after a day had passed.
The day after Christopher disappeared, his parents received a deeply troubling letter in the mail, ostensibly from him.
The letter, which had come from Duluth (approximately two hours away from Eagan), explained that Christopher had feigned sickness so that he could have access to the van and go “to not even I know where.” He went on to say that it was his intention to commit suicide and apologized for hurting his loved ones.
"Take heart," he said, "because if just one person is better off for having known me, my life will not have been wasted.”
The devastated Jim and Loni thought the handwriting resembled their son’s, but couldn’t understand what had driven him to this decision. Jim had sensed that Christopher was going through something recently, but there had been no overt signs that he was seriously struggling.
Whether Christopher’s depression was clinical or the result of external stressors is unknown.
They also learned that he had taken $200 out of his savings account the same day he vanished.
In another disturbing turn of events, Christopher’s brother Patrick discovered that Jim’s O.F. Mossberg & Sons 20-gauge shotgun was gone. However, the ammo, which Jim stored in another spot, was untouched.
Jim described the heartache of the situation.
“I tell you when people talk about their heart sinking, I used to think that was some metaphor. It is not. You can be so torn up that your heart actually feels like it is dropping. It weighs a lot. It’s a moment that I hope never to live through again.”
Two days after Christopher vanished, the authorities located the Kerzes’ van in Itasca County. It had been abandoned on a road near the George Washington State Forest, around 20 miles away from Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
It’s unclear why Christopher chose to leave it there, but his grandparents did live in Grand Rapids at the time. However, it doesn’t appear that they saw or heard anything from him during this time.
Inside the vehicle were the keys, as well as a note identifying who the van belonged to.
Investigators conducted extensive ground searches, with dogs, and hit on something interesting.
“The dogs did pick up a scent approximately one mile into the woods from Highway 38, but that ended abruptly,” explained police officer Aaron Machtemes. “Nothing was found.”
Bizarre Calls
Law enforcement received what seemed like a promising tip when an eyewitness came forward to say that they’d picked up a hitchhiker matching Christopher’s description and had taken him to Duluth. But the veracity of this story was never confirmed.
The week after he vanished, his family and one of their neighbors—Christopher’s best friend—began to receive strange phone calls. The caller never spoke, but there was often a lot of background noise, as if a party was in progress. Whenever they tried to speak to this person, the mysterious caller would hang up.
Christopher’s parents were certain that it was their son contacting them and that he was still alive. However, they were unable to trace the source of these calls, which suddenly stopped after six months.
Other Developments
An unspecified amount of time later, a hunter discovered a gun in rural Minnesota matching the description of the one missing from the Kerze home. The police believed that it was likely the same weapon, but this has never been proven.
Another tip surfaced when someone reported having interacted with Christopher in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, but this couldn’t be substantiated either.
In 2004, investigators received an anonymous letter about Christopher’s case. The author referred to the missing man as a “guardian angel” and said that the authorities should stop looking for him, because he’ll come home when he’s ready. The writer of this note has never been identified and police eventually considered it a hoax.
While law enforcement believes that suicide is the most likely explanation for what happened to Christopher, his family has never given up on finding him and still hold out hope that he’s alive out there somewhere.
“In the absence of evidence to the contrary, you have to,” said Jim. “He’s your son.”
Jim and Loni have since moved, but kept their old phone number in case Christopher ever wants to get in contact with them.
“We have never stopped loving you,” Loni said in a heartfelt video. “Never stopped missing you. Never stopped praying for you. Come on home.”
In a 2016 interview, Jim Kerze spoke of their efforts to keep their son's case in the public eye, in the hope of finding definitive answers.
“Resolution is a funny thing. We aren’t going to know anything about what happened to Christopher until one day when we’ll know everything that happened to Christopher. So the idea here is to generate enough noise so that we can begin to find resolution.”
Christopher’s disappearance was one of many missing persons cases highlighted in the various iterations of Soul Asylum’s music video for “Runaway Train.” Of the dozens of missing children featured, Christopher Kerze is one of only ten who have never been found.
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Sources
LordanARTS, YouTube
(This article was originally published on HubPages)