All About Christopher Richard Meyer...

as written by his Mother, Mika Moulton

Christopher arrived in this world a whopping 10 ½ pounds. He was a happy baby and even happier toddler. As he grew, he developed a compassion and understanding of others and an even deeper caring for animals. He could often be found climbing a tree to put a baby bird back in a nest. He would make me stop if he saw an injured animal on the side of the road. He could make friends with anyone or anything. Many people would say that he was an old soul. That he had been around before.

In 1995, Christopher was 10 ½ years old. We lived in the small village of Aroma Park, Illinois, just outside of the town of Kankakee. Like any young boy with adventuresome blood, he loved the riverfront. There were intriguing things along the river that could set a young boy's heart pounding and his mind soaring. Around noon on August 7, 1995, Christopher asked me if he could ride his bicycle two blocks down to the river with the other neighborhood children. I told him that he could go, but to be back by 5:00 p.m. Christopher said he would be home on time and rode off. 

When he hadn't returned home on time, I went to the park by the river and searched for him. Finding no sign of him, I contacted the county sheriff to report him missing. After speaking with other adults and children in the park and along the riverfront, it was discovered that they had seen Christopher talking to a strange man before leaving the area to ride home. An immediate search began by the county law enforcement, local fire departments as well as the search and rescue dogs.

Some searchers thought he might have fallen into the river and had been swept downstream in the fast moving current and drowned. As each day passed, the searchers found different items.

Two days after his disappearance I was called down to the fire department. There was a glimmer of hope that raced through my body as I imagined his toothy grin and pale blonde towhead sitting there waiting to see me and then my nightmare would be over.

However, my need to be summoned to the fire department was because a bike was found, hidden among some trees and brush across the river. They asked me to identify it as Christopher’s. I sank to my knees, realizing that the bike was his…with its muddy tires and broken speedometer.

Then, moments later a diver brought in one of his shoes. It was found floating in the river about a mile down stream. The following day his other shoe was found 4 miles down stream. Pieces of his shirt and his underwear were found in a wooded area about 20 miles away.

The police had constructed a composite sketch of information gathered from the witnesses that saw Chris talking to the man at the riverfront. They also had a description of the car that they had seen this man drive out of the parking area after Christopher left on his bike.

Within two days of Christopher’s disappearance, the county sheriff received information that a recently released murderer was living in a nearby city and that he had been in our community to attend his sister’s wedding. His name is Timothy Buss. He had grown up in the area. He had been in prison for murdering five-year old Tara Sue Huffman in our community in 1981. Buss was 13 years old at the time but was tried as an adult. He had been found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was paroled after serving 12 years of the 25-year sentence. He was living in Florida but had moved back to our area in May of 1995. He had been back for three months.

The Police staked out a motel after a clerk called in a tip, when she realized that a man that just checked into her motel looked like the composite sketch. The following day they watched as Buss placed his boots in a dumpster and followed him as he drove to another area of the river and began talking to yet another boy. The police asked to talk to him at the station and he agreed, following the police car back into town. He allowed a search of his car and the police found that the carpet in the trunk was soaked with blood. He was arraigned the following day. By now Chris had been missing for 4 days.

As each second ticked by it seemed like an eternity. I vaguely remember staring out my windows, watching the neighborhood children on their bikes.. Knowing that Christopher would appear at any moment. Then the next minute I wanted to run after them, screaming for them to get back in their houses, not to be out in their yards playing. Didn’t they realize how dangerous it was? And why were they happy? How could anybody laugh or joke or smile? My entire being was consumed by making the pain go away. I kept thinking, “When was I going to wake up?”

On August 15, 1995, eight days after riding his bike away from home, Christopher’s badly decomposed body was found, buried in a shallow grave. He had been stabbed over 50 times and his genitals brutally cut from his small body.  Buss was found guilty of killing my son and this time sentenced to death. However, in 2002, former Illinois governor George Ryan placed a moratorium on the death penalty and commuted all sentences to life including Buss.

Once the terror and all consuming grief had begun to subside, I knew that I couldn’t just sit and wallow in self pity. I was angry that my son had been taken in such a violent manner. I was angry that the justice system had let a monster like that out of prison. I was angry that I didn’t at least get to say good-bye. I realized though, that anger is a powerful energy. I decided to re-direct that energy into something positive. I knew that I couldn’t even think about anybody else having to suffer the tremendous grief and pain that I had suffered. I wanted to make a difference and find a way to turn these tragic events into a constructive outcome.

Since the death of my beautiful son, I began a quest and demand for educational life skills to be taught to children.  When I moved to the Coachella Valley I realized that there were no safety education programs to properly train children.  This is why I developed Christopher's Clubhouse. 

I am a member of Team Hope, providing peer support to other families of missing children, an outspoken activist and lobbyist for children’s rights, a member of the Surviving Parents Coalition and a frequent speaker for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. I have appeared on national and local television shows including Leeza Gibbons, Tom Snyder, Geraldo Rivera, Montel Williams, Rosanne, and many others, all with the desire that Christopher’s death will serve as a catalyst to prevent further crime against children and ensure child predators are punished accordingly. I dedicate my time to the community service of lobbying for change and in hope of bringing the community together to provide a safe and secure environment for all children.

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