Chris Vigil

* Living photo
* Age progressed

**Christopher William "Chris" Vigil** was a boy who disappeared while hiking in 1978. He may have been abducted or died from exposure after becoming lost in the woods.

## Case

Chris was last seen on April 30, 1978. He was hiking with his mother and younger brother on Grey Rock Mountain Trail in the Poudre Canyon in Poudre Park, Colorado, off Highway 14. He hiked ahead of his family and apparently lost the trail and disappeared. His mother reported his disappearance at 5:30 p.m., three hours after she last saw him.

There were several other hikers on the trail that day, both lone hikers and small groups. Most of them have never been identified but three of them came forward and gave statements to the police.

Two women hikers who had been hiking together claimed to have seen Chris. They also described seeing a man sitting on some rocks. The man was described as dark-haired with a dark complexion and wearing a straw cowboy type hat with a camera hanging from his neck. This man has never been identified. The two women were having lunch not far from the unidentified man when they heard two voices, one voice is that of a young boy, presumably Christopher's voice. They couldn't make out the content of the dialogue but at one point the boy started yelling. The women felt that something was wrong but were too afraid to investigate the situation. The yelling stopped after a short time and the women continued down the trail after finishing their meals. They passed the same spot where the unidentified man had been sitting but he was gone, only a Diet Pepsi can lying on the ground. One of the women picked up the can and later threw it in the trash.

Chris was carrying a can of Diet Pepsi at the time of his disappearance. It was his favorite drink but littering was uncharacteristic of his behavior.

The third identified hiker was a man named Allen Shoupan. It was ascertained that Shoupan could not have been the unidentified man as he was blond, did not look like him and had a different trajectory. Shoupan did not recall seeing the dark-haired man.

The night of Chris' disappearance was very cold, windy, with rain followed by snow. The overnight temperature dropped below freezing and Chris wouldn't have survived without shelter. Chris was also unfamiliar with the terrain as he had never hiked on that trail before.

An extensive search was conducted, involving 170 searchers on foot, 30 searchers on horses, three helicopters and some tracking dogs. The search turned up no signs.

In the following months, there were several unverified sightings of Chris in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. Witnesses described seeing a scared, confused and dirty boy resembling Chris selling newspapers in order to secure a trip to Disneyland.

At the time of his disappearance, Chris and his family were residents of Laporte, Colorado. He was a popular honor roll student at Cache la Poudre Elementary School. His hobbies included reading, swimming, roller skating, bike riding and running. He also attended the Meadowlark Church of Christ in Fort Collins, Colorado.

A childhood friend of Christopher's created a blog and Facebook page about the case. His friend believes he was abducted, probably by the dark-haired man. His disappearance remains unsolved.

## Characteristics

* Brown hair.
* Green eyes.
* Very tall for his age.

## Clothing and accessories

* Dark green knit shirt.
* Green plaid pants.
* White socks.
* Blue sneakers.
* Maroon or purple denim jacket.

## Sources

* Chris Vigil at *NamUs*
* Chris Vigil at *NCMEC*
* Chris Vigil at the *Charley Project*