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in: Colorado, 1993, Disappearances,
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Craig Williamson

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Craig and christine williamson

Craig Williamson

Real Name: Craig Dwight Williamson
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Date: August 30, 1993

Bio[]

Occupation: Fisherman, Farmer
Date of Birth: 1944
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 190 pounds
Marital Status: Married
Characteristics: Caucasian male with gray hair, blue eyes, and a full beard.

Christine reinhard1

Case[]

Details: Craig Williamson was forty-six when he married forty-one-year-old Christine Reinhard at Lake Tahoe on October 7, 1990. They had known each other for only a month, but they knew from the start that they loved each other. They hoped to get into the lucrative business of fish-farming. They bought a farm in Christine's home state of Wisconsin. They soon began raising tilapia, planning to sell it across the country. On August 28, 1993, he went out on a trip to Colorado Springs to sell fish. Christine was worried about him driving because he had suffered a concussion a few weeks earlier. After arriving there, he rented a car for business appointments. At 9pm on August 30, he spoke to Christine on the phone while at a hotel; this was the last time she heard from him.
Craig was supposed to return home the next day, but he never arrived. That day, his credit cards were discovered in El Paso, Texas, 675 miles south of Colorado Springs. Two weeks later and just across the border in Juarez, Mexico, his rental car was found abandoned. There were no signs of foul play. Detective Robert Johnson headed the Colorado investigation.
Christine began her own investigation into Craig's disappearance. On September 14, she arrived in Colorado Springs and visited the hotel that he stayed at. She learned that he had left his baggage and possessions behind. There was no evidence of a struggle. She believed that he may have been attacked the day he vanished. She believes that, due to his injuries, he wandered off to an unknown location.
Television stations in Colorado and Wisconsin reported about Craig's disappearance and Christine's search. Within days, a retired nurse from Montana named Judy Inman came forward. Two weeks after Craig vanished, she was traveling from Montana to Washington on a train when she saw a disheveled-looking man on board. She believed he was Craig and remembered that he was talking about fish tanks. He also said that the fish was from outside of the United States. Being a nurse, she was certain that he had a head injury.
Christine believes that the man was Craig, especially because of his ramblings about fish from out of state. She also believes he was headed to Washington because they had initially met there. She traveled there and continued her search. For six weeks, she went to various locations along the train route that Judy and the man were on.
On December 26, 1993, Christine met with Judy and showed her photographs of each of the train stations along the route. Judy believed that the man resembling Craig had gotten off at Wishram, Washington, near the Oregon border. Christine believes that Craig might have mistaken "Wishram" from "Washougal" a town that he had lived in during the 1980s. His son went there and placed missing persons posters. However, no trace of him was found.
Christine believes that Craig is still alive, and that he will be found one day.
Suspects: Christine believes that Craig was attacked by unknown assailant(s) who stole his rental car and credit cards. Investigators believe that he was murdered, and his killer(s) abandoned his cards and car.
Investigators have also suspected that Craig may have staged his disappearance, based on how his credit cards were left in plain sight. They also noted that his rental car had his beard clippings in it; lab technicians determined that they had been cut with scissors, suggesting that he was changing his appearance. He had $2,500 cash with him when he vanished. He and Christine also had put all of their money in the farm and borrowed another $400,000. Finally, his bus seemed ill-equipped to bring fish back from Colorado; it had no tanks, fish food, or coolers.

Extra Notes: This case first aired on the May 25, 1994 episode.

Craig and chritine reunion

Craig and Christine after their reunion

Results: Solved. In July 1995, Craig saw a re-airing of the broadcast and recognized himself. He was living in Key West, Florida. He claimed that he was mugged in Colorado Springs and developed amnesia, which was worsened due to the concussion that he suffered the month before he disappeared. He could not remember much else from the attack, claiming that he woke up in a hospital with the name "Ron". He also claimed that he wandered aimlessly throughout the United States before arriving in Key West, where he found a job as a diver.
Craig soon contacted Christine, along with his ex-wife. Unfortunately, he did not remember Christine or his family. Nevertheless, he and Christine were reunited a few days later. Theu later traveled to Colorado Springs, hoping that something would jog his memory. However, the trip was unsuccessful. They decided to divorce, but remain friends. Craig moved to California to stay with friends, while Christine moved to Wyoming to start life anew.
Despite Craig's claims, investigators are still suspicious of his amnesia and believe that he staged his disappearance. They believe that he ran away to escape debts and the responsibilities of running his new business.
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