The Disappearance of Christopher Brian Wells, December 1972

Sixteen-year-old Christopher Wells was last seen in December 1972 in Seattle, King County, Washington. Sources differ as to when he went missing: the date provided by NamUs — as well as the Charley Project and the Doe Network, which use NamUs as a source — is Saturday, December 16, 1972, while, according to NCMEC and the Washington Missing Persons Database, Christopher was instead last seen three days earlier, on Wednesday, December 13, 1972.

Photo of Christopher c.1972 from NamUs.

According to NamUs, Christopher was reported missing on Saturday, December 16, 1972: this is either the day he was last seen, or three days after, depending on the source. The most likely explanation is that Christopher was last seen on Wednesday the 13th before being reported missing on the 16th, and that the reported date was mistakenly entered as the missing date on NamUs, then taken as fact by the Charley Project and the Doe Network.

Along with the discrepancies regarding the date, there are very few details available in Christopher's case. I did not find any contemporary news articles reporting on his disappearance.

Christopher has never been seen or heard from again since his date of last contact. He is classified as Endangered Missing / Missing - Endangered on the Washington Missing Persons database, Doe Network, and Charley Project.

Christopher is a white male with blue eyes and light blonde hair. He had a stocky build, and according to the Washington Missing Persons database, he did have some sort of scar(s), mark(s), or tattoo(s); for further information, contact the submitting agency. At the time of his disappearance he was sixteen years old, 5'7, and 130 lbs, and his hair was shoulder-length. When he went missing, Christopher was wearing a blue t-shirt, blue jeans, a blue stocking cap, and a brown suede coat.

Age progression to 57, c.2013 created by NCMEC.

Christopher's date of birth is March 22, 1956. If alive today he would be 69 years old. His DNA is available for comparison, while his fingerprints and dentals are not. There are 67 UIDs present on the exclusion list on his NamUs page.

Anyone with information regarding Christopher's disappearance is urged to please contact Detective David Ogard of the Seattle Police Department by calling (206) 625-5011 or emailing spdmpu@seattle.gov. The agency case number is 72-57523.

Christopher's NamUs case, #MP7290, was created on May 24, 2010. It was last updated on December 24, 2024. His NCMEC case number is 1162629.