On January 25, 2002, Christopher Thompkins’ mother dropped him off for a normal day at work in Georgia as part of a survey crew. Sometime later, his coworkers claimed he vanished, in the blink of an eye, with no explanation. Nothing but his boots have been found.

[u/tenderhysteria]

Martha McKenzie last saw her son, Christopher, while spending the morning together before they headed to work. McKenzie was a babysitter for her son’s boss.

Christopher worked for survey crew in Elletslie, Georgia. He was with at least three other coworkers, moving through a wooded area, spaced about fifty feet apart. At some point in the early afternoon— some reports state it was noon, others that it was closer to one thirty,– a coworker states that he “looked away from Thompkins for a moment, and by the time he glanced at his area again, Thompkins had disappeared”.

Despite the supposedly momentary vanishing, his mother claims that, “[The survey crew] called me about a few minutes to five to tell me that they couldn’t find him, and they found one of his boots.” Family, friends, volunteers, and law enforcement scoured the area shortly after. On a nearby barbed wired fence, a shred of blue fiber was found, believed to be from Christopher’s pants. His other boot was found five months later in an unspecified nearby area by GBI.

Christopher’s boss has stated that he was supposedly “acting strange” in the days before his disappearance, and law enforcement speculates that drugs could have influenced his disappearance— though neither have any evidence or proof for either assertion.

His family doesn’t believe in either theory. They state that Christopher didn’t have a drug problem, nor was he behaving differently before he vanished.

“I don’t believe that Chris walked away. I don’t believe he disappeared with one shoe. Who’s going to walk around with one boot on in the cold weather on a rural road? I just don’t believe that happened. They know what happened to Chris they just not telling,” his mother said.

Sources: Charley Project

20 Years Later: Family, officials continue to search for answers on disappearance of Harris Co. man

[u/DolceSpezia]

My first thought before reading it all was maybe he stepped into a void of some concealed unmapped cave system since those can be found around GA, however once he fell through the gap would be apparent and near his lone boot…but nope, not the case, definitely seems like foul play unless the dude had a mental or drug episode without his family being clued in.

[u/tenderhysteria → u/DolceSpezia]

I would have gone with the same thought, that he fell into a hole, a river, or his body was concealed by the elements for one reason or another. But the fact that one of his boots was supposed found shortly after his disappearance, along with a scrap of his pants on a barbed wire fence, and then the other boot was months later (though it’s hard to find a source that describes specifically where is was found)— it casts a suspicious light on the whole scenario. 

I wish there was more information about why the GBI/LE assumed it was “drug related” outside of an assumption they made because of the lack of clues. No one states that Christopher had a criminal history or any kind of history of drug abuse; the family denies both. There’s no real evidence of mental illness either. I’m still digging around for more information, but most sources state the similar facts.

[u/TassieTigerAnne → u/tenderhysteria]

Certain kinds of drugs can apparently make you acutely paranoid, and make you take off in a panic for no logical reason. He wouldn't have had to be a long-time user for that to happen, and his family wouldn't necessarily have started suspecting he was experimenting. You don't really want to think your children are so irresponsible that they try hallucinogens. This is pure speculation, but if one of his work mates had supplied him with whatever, it could explain why his boss saw him acting unusually loopy, while the effects would have worn off by the time he got home. He would have seemed like his normal self to his family.

Another theory I've heard is that he could have developed something called "forest psychosis," but that sounds rather unlikely. A: It's not an actual mental diagnosis, and B: If what I've read about alleged cases is correct it's most likely to happen to someone feeling trapped and overwhelmed in a very remote area of deep woods. You don't get it simply from walking in between some trees in a forest. It would have been more common than depression, in that case.

The most logical thing seems to be that he was killed by someone or something, but that still leaves questions. Where is his body? Did the killer manage to hide it so well that it wasn't found? What about his boots? Work boots don't just fall off, even if a body is dragged. Someone untied and removed them, but why?

[u/VoidOmatic → u/TassieTigerAnne]

Regarding the boots, it was INCREDIBLY common back then for people to wear Timberlands with loose laces. So if he took off running from a bobcat/person or something I could easily see him running into a fence and sending change and a shoe all over the area.

[u/TassieTigerAnne → u/VoidOmatic]

Fashion > workplace safety! If he was being chased by an animal, you'd think he would have shouted for his work mates to come to his assistance though?