Known as "The Babysitter", this unidentified serial killer is known to have murdered at least four children, possibly more, between 1976 and 1977. Two boys and two girls went missing from their Oakland County communities, northwest of Detroit, Michigan, and all were found dead within 19 days. Their bodies were disposed of in similar ways and in clear public view. Strangulation and shotguns were used to kill the children, several of whom were sexually assaulted before they were murdered.
Most of the children disappeared on their way to a specific location. One victim, a 12-year-old girl, allegedly had plans to run away on her bike. The autopsy of another, an 11-year-old boy named Timothy King who disappeared one night after going to a drugstore to buy candy, provided perhaps the most disturbing detail of his final hours.
In a desperate plea to get their son back, the parents of King turned to the media. His mother wrote an op-ed expressing hope for his return and the promise of his favorite food: Kentucky Fried Chicken. After the boy's body was found in a ditch, a coroner determined the cause of death was strangulation, but also found that the young boy had eaten KFC before his death.
A task force was formed to find the killer, and several suspects were identified. They included a man who called himself "Allen," and who admitted in a letter sent to the task force's psychiatrist that he had scouted out children with his roommate, the killer he called "Frank." The psychiatrist was able to get the mysterious writer to agree to meet after confirming the alleged accomplice would get immunity, but "Allen" never showed up for their meeting. In 1978, the task force disbanded. The killer remains unidentified, although internet sleuths have a number of theories about the killings.
