Christopher Wilder Victims

Case background and investigation

Christopher Bernard Wilder was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1945 and moved to the United States in 1969, settling in Boynton Beach, Florida, where he worked in construction and real estate and raced sports cars. According to Wikipedia's account of his background, he had faced sexual offence charges in both countries before 1984. He was never tried for the killings described here, because he died before he could be arrested; the attribution of these crimes to him comes from investigators and from the accounts of survivors.

The series began on February 26, 1984, when 20-year-old Rosario Gonzalez disappeared from the Miami Grand Prix, where she had been working. Elizabeth Kenyon, 23, of Coral Gables, vanished in early March; sources give the date as March 5 or March 8. Neither woman has been found. ABC News reported that Wilder often approached young women at shopping centres with offers of modelling work.

As described by Wikipedia, Theresa Ferguson, 21, disappeared from Merritt Island, Florida, on March 18 and was found dead days later. Linda Grober, 19, was abducted in Tallahassee on March 20 and escaped from a motel. Terry Walden, 23, was abducted in Beaumont, Texas, on March 23 and found dead on March 26. Suzanne Logan, 21, disappeared in Oklahoma City on March 25 and her body was found in Kansas. Sheryl Bonaventura, 18, was taken from Grand Junction, Colorado, on March 29, and Michelle Korfman, 17, from Las Vegas on April 1; the bodies of both were found in May.

On April 4, 16-year-old Tina Marie Risico was abducted from a shopping centre in Torrance, California, and held for nine days, according to ABC News. UPI reported at the time that authorities regarded her as a victim rather than an accomplice. Dawnette Wilt, 16, was abducted in Indiana on April 10, stabbed and left in New York State, where she survived. Beth Dodge, 33, was shot dead near Victor, New York. Risico was released alive.

UPI reported that Wilder had been added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list the week before his death. On April 13, 1984, two New Hampshire state troopers acting on an FBI alert confronted him at a service station in Colebrook, about 12 miles from the Canadian border. According to state police statements carried by UPI, two shots were fired from Wilder's gun during the struggle; one wounded a trooper, who survived, and the other killed Wilder.

Because Wilder died, no court ever ruled on the cases. Wikipedia notes that police in Australia and the United States have considered him a possible suspect in several other unsolved cases, none of which has been proven. The families of Gonzalez and Kenyon have never recovered their remains.