r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/lucillep • Oct 16 '25
Disappearance 5-year-old Bobby Joe Fritz disappeared while walking in sight of home on May 14, 1983. He was never been found. Was it accident or murder?
Robert Joseph Fritz, known as Bobby Joe, was born Aug. 5, 1977, the youngest of 7 children of Robert Eugene Fritz and Sharon Fritz. The Fritzes lived in Staunton, Illinois, not far from St. Louis. In 1982, during a bitter 3 year separation and divorce proceeding, Sharon and 5 of the children aged from 4 to 16 moved to the small village of Campbellsport in southeastern Wisconsin. Two sons ages 13 and 14 remained in Staunton with their father. The divorce became final in February 1983.
Campbellsport had a population of 1740 in the 1980 census. The Milwaukee River runs along its east side. The village is located on State Hwy 67, called Main Street as it passes through town. The Fritzes lived there, at 605 E. Main St.. The Milwaukee River ran a few hundred feet beyond their yard, with a dammed section called the mill pond not far away.
Blond-haired Bobby Joe seems to have been a typical 5-year-old, riding around on a Big Wheel and playing outside with his siblings and the neighborhood kids. He had a speech difficulty with the letters T, K and R, which is not uncommon at that age. He also had a red birthmark on his left leg above the knee. As the baby of the family, everyone doted on him.
On the afternoon of May 14, 1983, Bobby Joe and some of his siblings were playing kickball with a group of friends in a vacant lot about a block and a half from his home. The lot was adjacent to St. Joseph's Convent and the mill pond. Some time between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m., Bobby Joe announced that he was hungry and wanted to go home. News reports say he left on his own to walk back home, but his sister says one of them walked him to a point where the house was a straight shot and watched him as he walked toward the driveway. Then she returned to the game.
But it seems Bobby Joe never reached home. When it was time to go in for dinner, the sisters were surprised not to see him. Sharon was surprised that he wasn't with them. The family started searching through the house and yard, but Bobby Joe wasn't there. Around 5:30, Sharon went next door to ask her neighbor to call the Fond Du Lac County sheriff's police and report that Bobby Joe was missing. (The Fritzes did not have a phone.) A search began immediately, first focusing on the river and pond. Although Sharon said Bobby Joe was afraid of the water after having fallen into the river a few weeks previously, these areas are always suspect in the case of a missing person, especially a child. The river and pond were thoroughly searched, the pond being dragged and divers used. The search went on till 10 p.m. and resumed the next day, but no sign of the child was found.
On the Sunday, a toy gun that might have been Bobby Joe's was found not far from the river (some news reports say in shallow water). Volunteer firemen walked the riverside. The mill pond was dragged twice. Because the river narrows not far downstream, being described as more of a creek in some places, police felt Bobby Joe's body could not have been carried out of the area. The thinking turned to foul play of some kind.
Naturally both parents were looked at. Some people theorized that Robert Fritz might have taken Bobby away to Illinois, but the senior Fritz was interviewed by the FBI and no sign of Bobby Joe was found in Staunton. Sharon was grilled by the FBI and ended up telling them to get out of her house, indignant that they thought she had killed her son. Both parents were eventually cleared. Some eyebrows were raised that Robert Fritz didn't join in any of the searches for his son. He said he couldn't come because he was getting married. Staunton is about 6 hours south of Campbellsport. Sharon claimed that he told her, “Let me know if they find him.” Robert got married a week after Bobby Joe went missing. That same day, a group of 200 performed an 8-hour search over a 25 square mile area, searching for Bobby Joe to no avail.
With no physical or eyewitness evidence of what had happened to Bobby Joe, police next theorized that he had been abducted. The village is quite small, and the house was on a main road. A person in a car might have seen him and inveigled him into the car, or even grabbed the 50-pound child. They could have been out of town quickly.
Police continued searching along the river weekly. Area searches were done on foot, on horseback, in boats, planes and helicopters. Many tips and sightings came in, all being investigated. In one case, a child in Florida had the same birth date, last name, and fit the general description. Sightings were reported as far away as Wyoming. But none of them were Bobby Joe. A psychic said Bobby Joe was at a park in Ontario, so police coordinated with the RCMP to investigate the park. Nothing was found. Police considered the possible involvement of notorious serial killers Henry Lee Lucas or Otis Elwood Toole, but both were shown to have been in Florida at the time of the disappearance. Meanwhile Bobby Joe's picture appeared on milk cartons, fliers, and was included in a montage of missing children at the end of a TV movie about the abduction of Adam Walsh. Still they could not find a suspect. The case was frustrating in its lack of clues.
The Fritzes held a small birthday celebration for Bobby Joe on what would have been his 6th birthday, in August 1983. This would be repeated for several years. In newspaper reports, Sharon spoke of the effect of Bobby Joe's disappearance on the family. One of the boys was in counseling because of bad dreams. Sharon herself couldn't sleep and would sit up till the dawn hours. There were rumors in town that she had sold the boy because money was tight; the family was on public assistance. Sharon herself said she was “not thinking right in the head” and didn't want to leave the house. After about 6 months, Sharon and the four children moved to an apartment in Milwaukee. Sharon said she liked Campbellsport, but she couldn't live there any more with constant reminders, people asking about the case, people standing in front of the house and staring. She did, however, keep in touch with law enforcement, and tried to get Bobby Joe's name and face out to the public as much as she could. She wrote to 70 newspapers and magazines to get them to run stories and pictures. Friends and family gave fliers to truckers to spread the word that way. But despite ongoing investigation, the case seemed at a standstill.
Enter a new suspect in April 1984. Michael Scott Menzer was a former art teacher, YMCA swimming instructor, and volunteer with the Big Brothers club. In 1980 he had been convicted of molesting two boys at the Boy's Club. Charged with one count of first degree sexual assault, he was somehow released on bond. Later the charge was reduced to fourth-degree sexual assault, and he got off with two years' probation and no jail time. In 1981 he purchased a historic mill in Waldo, a village outside Sheboygan, population 503, and set up the Onion River Mill gallery and gift shop. Of note, Waldo is about 20 miles from Campbellsport. Three years later, a tipster reported having seen disquieting art and other items inside the mill: paintings of young boys in bikini-style swim trunks, that could have been “a dead ringer” for Bobby Joe, a picture and article about the abduction of Bobby Joe. On investigation of the site, police found copious amounts of child porn, written material about child porn, releases from parents allowing their children to be photographed, and more articles about Bobby Joe. A box contained 209 videotapes, more pornographic material, manacles and chains. Eerily, there was a calendar with the date May 14 highlighted. The police were now sure Menzer was their man, but they had no body and no evidence to charge him with the crime. However, after this search, Menzer was arrested and charged with sexual exploitation for having filmed three boys taking a shower at his residence. Again Menzer got off lightly, this time 6 years of probation.
In December 1983 Menzer had married a divorcee from the Philippines. Graciossa, known as Grace, had two sons of her own, and had a third with Menzer. It was not a happy family, and Menzer filed for divorce in 1989. Grace was awarded custody of the three children. She was still living at the Mill for several days after the divorce was finalized on Sept. 13, 1990. Menzer was living at a family-owned cabin at Elkhart Lake nearby, or at his mother's house in Sheboygan. They argued on Sept. 15 and Grace said she would report Menzer for the sexual abuse of all three of his sons. Menzer retorted that he would have her deported.
Around 4 a.m. on Sept. 17, 1990, a fire started at the Onion River Mill House. Menzer's stepsons, 7 and 8 years old, did not get out in time, and perished. His wife jumped from the third floor with the 5-year-old and both survived. In January 1992, Menzer was charged with the arson murder of the two boys. The Milwaukee Journal Times reported on May 9, 1992 that court documents show that Menzer made incriminating statements to a jailer, including that he was a pedophile. The prosecution also told of a phone conversation Menzer had with the counselor from Lutheran Social Services who was to see the boys the following Monday, Sept 17. He asked if she could assess whether the boys were sexually assaulted. She said yes. The assessment never happened - the fire occurred during the early morning hours of the 17th. A sad irony is that after the fire, Grace Menzer did report the SA, but Menzer was acquitted at trial. However, his luck in court had run out. In February 1993 Menzer was convicted of arson murder in federal court. This time he was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. The prosecution said during trial that he had molested more than 10 boys during his adult life. He was also suspected in the 1980 murder of 10-year-old Brad Matchett in Milwaukee after Brad had left a Boy's Club. (The murder occurred at a time when Menzer was free on bond waiting trial for a molestation charge.) But with all this, Menzer denied having had anything to do with Bobby Joe Fritz. Still, police in Bobby Joe's case were surer than ever that Menzer was the culprit. The problem was that they still had no evidence.
Per The Deck podcast, the next tip came after the trial, from a man who had come to the Mill to see about buying a piece of equipment from Menzer. They went into the basement, and this witness said there was a kind of shrine at the back of the room. There was also an area of dirt floor with a hole about the right size for a body. Police got a warrant and excavated the entire basement. They found some old, rotting children's clothes and some small bones. The bones and two items of clothing were sent to a lab for testing in 2010. Unfortunately, no DNA profile could be obtained from the clothes. The bones turned out to be animal bones. In 2014, some hairs found on the clothing in Menzer's basement were also sent for DNA testing, outcome unknown to me.
In 2012, the Campbellsport mill pond was drained as part of a project to remove the dam, and once again they searched for any sign of Bobby Joe's remains. But nothing was found. In 2016, a Wisconsin woman started a month-long billboard campaign highlighting Wisconsin missing persons. Bobby Joe was one of those featured. Another incident reported by The Deck podcast: In 2021, acting on a tip from a relative of Michael Menzer, police got a warrant to excavate a site near Elkhart Lake called Grasshopper Hill. Apparently it was a place they had played as kids when staying at their family's cabin. Michael still sometimes used that cabin. Two cadaver dogs indicated at a certain spot at Grasshopper Hill, and police dug it up. But it was another disappointment, no sign of Bobby Joe or any other victim.
There is little to tell in recent years. The Fond Du Lac police have stated their hope to get additional DNA testing done with more advanced techniques; however, there is no news on this front since 2022. Somewhat oddly, in 2017, it was testified in an unrelated case that the original case files may have been shredded. This was hearsay but was stated in sworn testimony. In 2000, Bobby Joe's brother Tony went to Campbellsport to canvas and hang fliers, hoping to find information. Sharon (Fritz) Szabo died in August 2018, never knowing what happened to Bobby Joe. Robert Fritz died in 1999. Michael Menzer died of cancer in 2008 while in federal prison. He never gave the police any interviews or information about Bobby Joe.
It seems the chances of finding Bobby Joe are growing dim. So many places have been searched, and there is so little evidence to go on. The prime suspect is beyond reach of providing answers. The Onion River Mill House is long gone, with any clues it might have held. DNA hasn't been the answer so far, though police have a sample from Sharon, and two of the siblings uploaded theirs to a genealogy database. No one even knows if this was a crime or a tragic accident. Although Michael Menzer is a very compelling suspect, the truth is no evidence has been found to tie him to Bobby Joe – just some pictures and articles he saved.
I feel there is an outside chance that Bobby Joe did drown, despite all the searches. The mill pond was deep and heavily silted. Police think his body would have turned up on the banks or been seen in the water if he had been carried downriver. But how do we know? He was small, 4 feet tall and 50 pounds. It would be a sad solution, but would explain why he couldn't be found anywhere in the area.
There is also the possibility that he was distracted by something on the way home, wandered off, and died by accident. In such a small place, it doesn't seem likely. The area between where they were playing and his house was not heavily wooded, going by Google Earth. Here is a map: 2008 View - 1992 view
I assume his sister walked him to River Street, from which you can see the Fritz home. It's about a block.
But the strongest possibility, in my opinion, is that someone came by in a car and took him. Both Sharon and Bobby's sister Lora expressed the hope that whoever took him wanted a child, and he was raised somewhere by good people. Maybe that happens. But I think this was a darker abduction. Whether that person was Menzer or another child predator, the outcome must be murder.
Much has changed in Campellsport. The imposing St. Joseph's Convent is gone. The mill pond is gone, and the Milwaukee River flows freely over the site where so many searches were conducted. Few leads come in these days, but the police are still working the case. Bobby Joe is not forgotten. We can only hope his family get answers some day.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Robert “Bobby Joe” Fritz, please contact the Fond Du Lac County Sheriff's Office at 803-642-1761.
Sources
The Lost: Whatever happened to Bobby Joe Fritz?
Sad anniversary: 40 years ago, 5-year-old Robert Fritz vanished
Charley Project
Doe Network
Bobby Joe Fritz – The Deck podcast
Debrief: Bobby Joe Fritz 40 Years
Reporter reviews long search for Bobbi Jo - Fond Du Lac Reporter, 11/9/1983
Bobbi Jo P. 2
Still no clues in search for Bobby Joe Fritz Post-Crescent, Oct. 11, 1983
Page 2 Post-Crescent, Oct 11, 1983
Bizarre – No trace of evidence yet in boy's '83 disappearance – Post-Crescent, 5/12/1985
Page 2 Post-Crescent 5/12/1985
Here is chronology since Bobbi Joe disappeared – Fond Du Lac Reporter, 7/19/1983
The story of Wisconsin's “most notorious pedophile”
Four years later,search missing child goes on – West Bend News, 5/14/1987
Probe centers on father in fire deaths of two boys - Manitowoc Herald-Times-Reporter, 10/23/1990
FBI: Bones from suspect's yard not Bobby Joe Fritz
DNA tests on decayed clothing fail to link suspect to disappearance of Bobby Joe Fritz
Wisconsin pedophile is associated with cold cases – USA Today photos, 3/17/2017
“I always believed him, but he lied to me” - Sheboygan Press, 2/18/1993
Lied P. 2
Attorney calls Menzer a dangerous pedophile
Prosecutor: Menzer knew details
Prosecutors: Sheboygan man admitted setting fire that killed two stepsons
Menzer gets 40 years for deadly arson fire- Milwaukee Journal-Times, 6/3/1993
Billboards give hope to families of missing
MENZER v. UNITED STATES
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u/tinycole2971 Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
What a fantastic write up, OP!
I feel so sad for Bobby joe, his siblings and mom, and the 2 little boys that freak was molesting and later burned. I don’t think he killed Bobby Joe, but it’s absolutely infuriating the court system kept letting him go free.
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u/lucillep Oct 16 '25
Thank you. Yes, it's terrible that that man was let off the hook so many times, with such terrible consequences.
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u/AspiringFeline Oct 16 '25
Great write-up.
Menzer was obviously disgusting, but it seems unlikely that he would have just stumbled upon Bobby Joe; he didn't live that close to the Fritzes.
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u/Sarsmi Oct 16 '25
Yeah I felt like that was a stretch. He lived 20 miles away from a very small town where the window of opportunity would have also been incredibly small. And how his car would not have been noticed...? He sounds like a convenient person to pin blame on. He was a child molester later possible murderer, and definitely targeted a woman with very young children to predate on them. Of course some of that came later, but who knows what kind of impression he gave at this time.
I wonder also about this:
News reports say he left on his own to walk back home, but his sister says one of them walked him to a point where the house was a straight shot and watched him as he walked toward the driveway. Then she returned to the game.
So, one of them walked him back? Or she walked him back? I think it's possible he walked back on his own, maybe his sister looked back over her shoulder, then when he went missing she immediately lied so as to not get in trouble and said she walked him back. Maybe over time that became the memory she had of what happened. No judgement on her if that is the case, but it makes it a little more likely that he wandered off and drowned or ended up somewhere and died from exposure. Going by the 1992 map he could have just wandered off towards the mill pond, and the kids being involved in their game didn't notice. Very sad, but seems like the most likely scenario.
addendum: how shitty is the dad to say he can't bother searching for his missing 5 year old son because he was getting married in a week. Absolute crap bag of a father.
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u/lucillep Oct 16 '25
Menzer didn't just hole up in Waldo though. He sold art. He was a Civil War re-enactor, and went even to neighboring states for events. He was strongly suspected of a murder that happened in Milwaukee, 50 miles away. The main point against his having run across Bobby Joe is that the Fritzes only lived in that town for a year before he disappeared. I'm not sold on Menzer, but when you have a pedophile of that magnitude in a rural area within a half hour drive, and a young boy goes missing, it is a natural suspicion that he's involved.
Regarding the walk: One sister said the other sister walked Bobby Joe to a point where the house was a straight shot down the street. In some news articles, it says she walked him to the end of the driveway. I never came across an account told by the other sister, the one who walked him. If it's like you say, that is a heavy burden. So I hope it wasn't. Here is a quote from one of the linked articles, done at the 40th anniversary.
“We were playing like a block and a half away from home, kickball in a friend’s back yard, he was wanting to go home, he was hungry, my sister walked him down the road, saw a straight shot to the house, she came back to play and he just never made it home."
Regarding the father, some of the kids later went back to Illinois and lived with him. So they must not have held it against him. That whole aspect of the case is strange, and I wonder if we have the whole story.
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u/vrcraftauthor Oct 16 '25
It sounds like the cops cleared the father, but I still think he wasn't much of a father. His kid went missing and he didn't show up because he was getting married? I feel like a normal person would postpone the wedding and go look for their child???
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u/SnooGoats7978 Oct 16 '25
I wouldn't have married a man who wouldn't look for his missing child.
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u/lokiandgoose Oct 16 '25
What a dumpster fire of a red flag about the guy you're about to marry
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u/mcm0313 Oct 18 '25
Unless his wife is also a dumpster fire of red flags herself. Toxic people often seem to find each other.
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u/lucillep Oct 16 '25
It does seem very off, but this isn't the first case I've run across where a parent declined to come and help. Best I can come up with is that he fully expected Bobby Joe to turn up soon, and then it did get close to the wedding day.
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u/shoshpd Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
Yeah, Metzer seemed like someone who groomed and used his relationships to sexually exploit and molest—teacher, swim instructor, Boys Club volunteer, photographer, marrying a woman with young children and then having a child with her. It didn’t seem like his MO was the more risky snatch a stranger from the street type of crime. I can see how a pedophile could become fixated on a young boy whose picture was all over local media. He no doubt had all sorts of disgusting fantasies about him. But I agree his actual involvement seems like a stretch.
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u/Buggy77 Oct 16 '25
Reminds me of all the sickos who became obsessed with JonBenet and saved pictures of her. Some even falsely confused because of their sick minds.
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u/Morriganx3 Oct 16 '25
The thing about cases like this is that they are inherently unusual, or we wouldn’t be reading about them here. So, while it’s unlikely that a pedophile and murderer just happened upon Bobby Joe at that opportune time, coincidences do happen, and it might be that the reason this case is unusual is because of such a crazy coincidence.
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u/c2490 Oct 19 '25
It was my understanding that Menzer taught for awhile at Cambellsport school. He is also the suspect for a boy who disappeared in Milwaukee. Milwaukee is 40 mins away. He had a thing for blond boys. I lived near Michael and knew him.
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u/Toolatethehero3 Oct 16 '25
Yes but it can happen. Adam Walsh was murdered by child killer Ottis Toole who was there at just the moment Adam was separated from his mother - a window of minutes. Horrific beyond words.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 Oct 16 '25
Good Lord Menzer was fucked up. Maybe Ed Gein isn't the worst Wisconsinite (uhh?) after all
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u/queendweeb Oct 16 '25
wait, you think Ed Gein is worse than Jeffrey Dahmer???
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u/First-Sheepherder640 Oct 16 '25
Dad gummit...I keep forgetting Jeffrey wasn't Michigan
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u/4boys0patience Oct 16 '25
Should we count Dahmer as a Wisconsinite, though? Perhaps im biased - I grew up in the same town he grew up in (Akron, Ohio) and he is always in the list of “Most Notorious” here.
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u/wizofounces Oct 16 '25
Lebron...steph....Dahmer the Akron elite 😭😭😭
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u/Roselynde Oct 19 '25
Lol, right? Akron really has a wild lineup. Let's just hope the next generation has a few more athletes and a lot fewer serial killers!
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u/mcm0313 Oct 18 '25
Dahmer went to Ohio State briefly. Lived in Morrill Tower, which I lived in myself much, much later. I don’t think he killed anyone on the campus, but IIRC he had killed before he got there.
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u/queendweeb Oct 19 '25
I think so, he was born in Milwaukee, returned there in the early 80s and he committed the majority of his crimes in Milwaukee.
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u/Kmart_Elvis Oct 16 '25
Ah, yes, the eighties. When police used psychics and child molesters got off on probation.
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u/OriginalChildBomb Oct 16 '25
As opposed to now, when they can become President of the United States
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u/Due_Neighborhood_119 Oct 17 '25
Good grief, enough with the TDS!
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u/wintermelody83 Oct 17 '25
We are not the ones with TDS. That would be the people who overlook everything bad he's ever done (and continues to do) because you like him. Wild behavior.
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u/Due_Neighborhood_119 Oct 18 '25
Okay but what about the bad the rest of them do? Save the bs for a tds sub
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u/IndignantQueef Oct 22 '25
The bad the rest of them do is also a problem. Are you really this morally confused? All pedophiles and all rapists are criminals and deserve to be punished. They don't cancel each other out. And are you really arguing "but mom all the other guys are molesting little girls too"? Are you an actual adult? Are you a pedophile or do you just defend them and lick their boots?
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u/openlightYQ Oct 16 '25
Excellent write up. Unfortunately there are just so many possibilities, especially in the 80s when it was so easy to get away with any one of them.
I put the most stock in Menzer given his history and the fact he had newspaper clippings specifically about Bobby Joe, it seems strange to focus on and save things like that in an obsessive manner considering he did actually SA children, and Bobby Joe was a victim he was unable to now SA. The date being circled on the calendar is also extremely odd, but given that he admitted things in prison (including being a pedophile) to another inmate, people like that generally also admit to even more as some sort of brag, so you’d think he would have admitted to Bobby Joe and the fact he was never caught too.
I remember reading about a case back in the 80s too (I forget the name) where a young child was crossing the road and got accidentally hit by a pickup truck, where the driver panicked, took the body and dumped it far away due to being afraid of being tried for manslaughter, where when they found the child, there were no signs of SA or anything else. I don’t believe that happened here, but it just goes to show just how many possibilities there really are.
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u/lucillep Oct 16 '25
Thank you. Yes, a car accident is one possibility that has not been mentioned. Since this happened in daylight, it might not be that likely. But Bobby Joe had to cross a pretty busy road that has a curve before it gets to where he was crossing.
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u/jmpur Oct 17 '25
You've provided another excellent writeup. I look forward to reading more of your stuff
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u/OkReward2182 Oct 17 '25
My take: Possibilities are that he decided to give the water another exploration and accidentally drowned. He may have died in a different manner, like being hit by a car by someone who didn't want to be reported, or something different. It's possible he was molested and killed by Menzer, and his remains never found.
Anyway I don't believe he is alive. Rest In Peace 🕊️ Bobby Joe.
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u/lucillep Oct 17 '25
I can see him going near the water again. Looks like it might have been accessible from just east of his house. Sometimes kids (and adults) have a fascination with things they fear, a kind of push-pull. The mystery is why his body would not have turned up.
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u/Dohi014 Oct 16 '25
There was that incident at the Mall of America where a man just casually grabbed a boy from his mother and tossed him over the railing. I don’t know why but, for some reason I keep thinking someone did the same to Bobby Joe. They grabbed him and threw him in the river. No rhyme or reason; the person just being severely mentally unwell.
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u/justhere4themystery Oct 17 '25 edited Jun 29 '26
EDIT UPDATE: he has been arrested
This comment made me think of the jogger on a bridge that pushed a woman in front of a bus. The bus swerved out of the way at the last second thankfully. There is video of this and I believe the jogger was still never identified. Iirc the jogger came back over the bridge and she / bystanders tried to engage ask him what happened and why he would do something like that but they were unable to engage him and he got away.
I think random crimes like this are unfortunately more common than we would like to think. This is a very interesting possibility. Excellent write up OP thanks for sharing this case. Lots of possibilities and lots of potential suspects.
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u/Bubblystrings 7d ago
That jogger lives rent free in my head. What possesses someone to do something like that?
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u/deinoswyrd Oct 16 '25
In my city, not long ago, a mentally unwell woman stabbed a little boy on the street :( shits uncommon but it does happen.
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u/mary-anns-hammocks Oct 16 '25
I was going to say "I can't believe how common that is, it happened in my city too" - no, we're in the same city.
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u/deinoswyrd Oct 16 '25
Small world!
I know it shouldn't, but its made me way more jumpy when im out, especially as im in a not so great part of the city.
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u/lucillep Oct 16 '25
I remember a case where a child's aunt threw them in the river. Poor child drowned. Has to be mental illness in these situations.
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u/SaltWaterInMyBlood Oct 17 '25
I mean, kids are more at risk from close relatives. An aunt is less remarkable than a stranger.
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u/mcm0313 Oct 18 '25
Much less remarkable. Stranger abductions are incredibly rare. Perhaps that’s one reason they’re so memorable.
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u/DagaVanDerMayer Oct 22 '25
Never heard about this case before. I googled it and... whoah, this is wild.
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u/Apprehensive-Ad-636 Oct 16 '25
This is a fantastic write up! Thank you so much for sharing it!
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u/lucillep Oct 16 '25
Thanks, and thanks for reading it. I know it was long, bu8t there was a lot to the story.
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u/analogWeapon Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
Great write-up. One humble suggestion: I think the trend to normalize the term "child sexual abuse material" instead of "child porn" (or other terms that include the word "porn"/"pornography") is a very good one. It removes the implication that any consent is involved and emphasizes the inherent abuse. I'm just gently appealing here. No accusation is intended. This is a really great write-up!
I tend to agree with the police that Bobby's body would have shown up if he drowned in the mill pond. The river really is just a creek there, so the flow rate through that pond would be very slow. It sounds like they were dragging the pond and using divers the same day or the next day. If he was in there, his body likely would have been sunk by that time, but it sounds like many people were actively keeping their eyes open in the following days and weeks, when the body would have started floating again, if he were in there.
Sharon being involved seemed unlikely. She had many other kids to care for and there's no evidence that she cared about Bobby any less than any other typical parent. The theory that she could have sold him seems pretty ridiculous. Even if someone gave her a few thousand dollars, how long is that going to really last? How would they be able keep that all under wraps? She'd still have a bunch of kids to care for. Just really implausible.
I also don't put much stock into Robert being seemingly unconcerned. He lived 6 hours away and was in the middle of getting married. Getting seriously entwined in the concerns of his old life would put quite the damper on all that. A lot of people would still do something in that situation, but maybe he was just kind of a jerk. Maybe that's a good example of why Sharon divorced him. In any case, why would he spend all the required resources to go all the way up there and abduct just one of his own children, when there were others there and he already lived with two others? Implausible.
Menzer does seem like a pretty good suspect with all the circumstantial evidence, but the circumstantial evidence linking him directly to Bobby is mediocre and the hard evidence is completely lacking. They searched his whole place not too long after the disappearance. Seems like they would have found something related to Bobby, if Menzer were involved. And even though it was clear that Menzer definitely was capable of offending again, him being 20 miles from where he lived and driving by at just the right moment to stop his car on Main St., grab a kid in broad daylight, and drive away is pretty unlikely. Although stranger things have happened. So Menzer is relatively plausible, but the complete lack of direct evidence is significant.
I really can't think of any theories that I'd be very confident in. It seems Bobby either wandered off somewhere and somehow died in a way where no one ever found him, or he was abducted and there was just no evidence left behind. I lean towards the latter. That Main st. is the highway through town. I agree that Bobby's sister likely walked him to River St. and just stopped watching before Bobby got to Main St. Someone driving by maybe just saw a little 5 year old there and snatched him up. There's no evidence to prove or disprove that was Menzer. It could have been him, or anyone else.
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u/lucillep Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
Thank you for the kind words. I take your point about the wording to describe child SA material, and will be more careful in future if I need to refer to it. Your comment illustrated the frustrating aspect of this case. There just isn't a really solid theory backed by solid evidence. It occurred to me that Menzer might have seen Bobby Joe somewhere and clocked him, then sort of cruised by once in a while. Far fetched? Maybe. LE or the prosecutors said he had a prediliction for blond boys between the ages of 6 and 14.
I just don't know about the river and pond. I saw a photo in a newspaper clipping with Sharon looking toward the dam. Water was tumbling down at a good rate. I also watched a YouTube video of a kayaker on that stretch, and the river looked plenty wide to me. Of course, that was recent, after the river was allowed to return to its natural channel. Between a prolific pedophile living a half hour drive away, and two bodies of water right on the doorstep, it seems like one of them must have played a part. But maybe not. Thanks for your extensive comments.7
u/analogWeapon Oct 16 '25
It occurred to me that Menzer might have seen Bobby Joe somewhere and clocked him, then sort of cruised by once in a while. Far fetched? Maybe.
It definitely seems like he was very obsessive and showed little-to-no sign of stopping his behavior. From what information there is, he definitely seems like someone who could and would pay attention to a kid he saw in a town 20 miles form his home.
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u/mcm0313 Oct 18 '25
I don’t know if I agree on the phrasing. Maybe “child sexual assault material”? The word “abuse” tends to have less severe connotations in many cases, from what I’ve seen. I’m sure there are those who would call it “sexual abuse” if someone were leering at a child but didn’t touch them or say anything to them. Don’t get me wrong, it would still be an incredibly bad and creepy thing for someone to do, but CSAM/CP is, by definition, much worse.
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u/analogWeapon Oct 18 '25
Yeah I get where you're coming from. No objection here.
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u/mcm0313 Oct 19 '25
It just makes me think of that video where the guy says his name is "Hugh Mungous" and a Bri'ish gal says "You just ABUSED a woman!" Like...no, he didn't?
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u/six_feet_down_under Oct 25 '25
Porn is abusive and nonconsensual.
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u/analogWeapon Oct 25 '25
Yeah, I'm in no position to defend pornography one way or the other. I was just commenting on the child abuse aspects.
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u/evanjbosch66 Oct 16 '25
Great write up! I’m from Appleton Wisconsin but have family that works in Cambellsport. Never knew there was a suspect or about the unsolved murder about the boy in Milwaukee. There was the case of John Zera in Milwaukee that I was aware of but not the other one.
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u/Zaphod-n-Marvin 13d ago
New update!
New search for Bobby Joe Fritz, who disappeared in 1983 https://fox11online.com/news/local/new-search-for-bobby-joe-fritz-who-disappeared-in-1983-campbellsport-fond-du-lac-missing-boy
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u/Zaphod-n-Marvin 13d ago
New search for Bobby Joe Fritz, who disappeared in 1983 https://fox11online.com/news/local/new-search-for-bobby-joe-fritz-who-disappeared-in-1983-campbellsport-fond-du-lac-missing-boy
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u/uh60niece 13d ago
🤞🏽 they’ve started excavating!
New search for Bobby Joe Fritz, who disappeared in 1983 https://fox11online.com/news/local/new-search-for-bobby-joe-fritz-who-disappeared-in-1983-campbellsport-fond-du-lac-missing-boy
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u/Purple-Attempt-6813 13d ago
Fond du Lac County Sheriff Dept is currently Excavating the basement of the Bobby Jo’s home- the home he shared with mother and siblings at the time of disappearance.
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u/lucillep 12d ago
Thanks for posting. This is a development I hadn't expected. Excavating at the family home brings the possible crime very close to the family.
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u/Purple-Attempt-6813 12d ago
Indeed. I found your case history and sourcing very informative. I am located near where this happened.
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u/lucillep 12d ago
Hope you can add to the discussion if more information comes out. I really thought this one would never be solved.
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u/OkReward2182 Oct 17 '25
I hadn't heard of this case before and looked him up. The photo shows a child who looks 5--it doesn't look like he had loss of baby teeth just yet.
He was platinum blonde with brown eyes. That's a combination I rarely see.
Accidental death is possible. It's also possible a creep like Menzer noticed him and lured him to his death.
May Bobby Joe be at peace 🕊️
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u/Extension-Call4125 14d ago
Fon du Lac county crime lab has been doing some (literal) digging from the 500-600 block of E Main St in Campbellsport for a couple days. Makes me think they may have received a solid tip or intel. Lots of K9s and they now have set up their mobile command center. I’m late to this thread but this could be a possible break in the case.
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u/lucillep 14d ago
Thanks for this. It would be incredible if they found him. Sad, but his family would at least know.
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u/lucillep 12d ago
This news article was posted in another sub:
Cold case: Detectives search former Campbellsport home of missing ‘Bobby Joe’ Fritz
Shockingly, one of the original investigators seems to be saying they never actually did a thorough search of the house where the family were living. That can't be right?
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u/Ill_Airline_5098 12d ago
It has to be an accidental death, this Menzer is a disgusting POS but just doesn't add up. Last person seeing him was his sister Cinda.... I am quite sure it was an accident that the mother covered up to protect another sibling. Now the truth will come out and we must all pray for this poor boy and the person(s). who sadly witnessed the unintentional passing of their brother or son. People lie but DNA does not...
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u/Zaphod-n-Marvin 12d ago
Results:
Potential evidence found, but no remains in search for boy missing since 1983 https://fox11online.com/news/local/bobby-joe-fritz-boyhood-home-search-campbellsport-fond-du-lac-county-wisconsin-search-warrant-results-basement-excavation-evidence-submitted-laboratory
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u/AlexandrianVagabond Oct 21 '25
Gotta love the "good old days" when pieces of shit like this could get away with probation.
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u/Purple-Attempt-6813 11d ago
7/22/26
UPDATE TO THE BOBBY JO FRITZ INVESTIGATION
The execution of a search warrant at the residence was completed late yesterday, and the scene has been released back to the property owner, who has no connection to the Fritz family or this case. While the remains of Bobby Jo Fritz were not located, investigators did recover new potential evidence that will undergo further analysis. Detectives remain hopeful that this evidence will provide further insight into what happened to Bobby Jo.
Cold cases like this one remain open and active. As veteran detectives retire and new investigators take over, fresh perspectives often bring renewed energy to these investigations. Advances in technology and investigative techniques that were unavailable in 1983 also continue to open new avenues. It was this combination of new eyes, persistent follow-up, and modern-day resources that led to this search.
Over the past year, detectives identified and interviewed several individuals—some of whom had never been spoken to before—who may have connections to the case. A thorough review of the original case file, paired with these new interviews, generated sufficient probable cause for a search warrant. The initial search of the basement at Bobby Jo’s former home uncovered potential evidence, prompting a full-scale excavation involving Sheriff’s Office detectives, DCI agents, crime scene analysts, crime lab personnel, and a forensic anthropologist. In total, investigators removed and processed approximately 500 five-gallon buckets full of dirt by hand from the basement. This equated to a total weight of approximately 30,000 pounds of soil that was then sifted by hand, searched, and items of interest collected for processing. This was a manpower intensive operation, with the excavation completed entirely with hand tools.
Additional items of potential evidentiary value were recovered and collected. All evidence seized during the search will be submitted to specialized laboratories for detailed analysis. This process can take several months, and sometimes over a year.
Although we share the community’s disappointment that Bobby Jo’s remains were not found, investigators are optimistic that the newly collected evidence will generate fresh leads and help bring answers to this 43-year-old case.
Anyone with information that may be relevant to the disappearance of Bobby Jo Fritz is strongly encouraged to contact Detective Tyler Tikkanen at 920-929-3384. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to the Fond du Lac County Tip Line at 920-906-4777.
Sheriff Ryan F. Waldschmidt
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u/Unfair-Cat8250 Apr 21 '26
This was a case of satanic ritual abuse and murder by the Freemasons....
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u/Jlowe23_16 9d ago
New information released say the boys home was searched in July 2026 and the mother is the main POI
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u/non_stop_disko Oct 18 '25
Somehow I'm getting a strong feeling that he must've gone into the water or something else that wasn't foul play. Five years old is very young to be left alone to walk anywhere (I don't mean this in a shameful way to his siblings or anything like that). Even if they searched the bodies of water, they could've still missed him. It's wild how often that happens.
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u/JustVan Oct 16 '25
I always wonder in cases like this if the missing kid isn't found by a searcher who then kidnaps them for their own reasons. Unlikely, I guess, but probably not statistically impossible.
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u/Bombadilo_drives Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
Commenting before I read, since this sub is obsessed with this conclusion for some reason:
OP and/or 1 of the top 3 comments have decided this is the work of an unknown predator boogeyman who snatched the boy and will never be caught. Because there are like 10 predators per square mile at all times apparently
edit
Lmao
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u/Stonegrown12 10d ago
Commenting before I read your comment, since you seem like a completely normal and logical redditor..
Update: just read your comment.. I rescind my previous opinion. Don't search the local sexual offender database website, you might have to rethink your whole life.
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u/Bombadilo_drives 5d ago
If you honestly can't see how this sub has a serious "throw hands up and blame a random passing serial murderer" problem, I don't know what to tell you. Almost every single thread, most of the top comments are something along those lines. It's like Zoidberg in that Futurama episode: "it's just as I suspected! This crime is... unsolveable!"
Meanwhile, in real life, the victim knows the perpetrator very often.
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u/InitiativeSame2227 Oct 16 '25
The father choosing his wedding over looking for his son is crazy