On a summer evening in Moscow Mills, Missouri, 11-year-old Charles 'Arlin' Leon Henderson disappeared while riding his bicycle near his home on July 25, 1991. He was last seen between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. wearing a camouflage-print t-shirt and pants, gray socks with red stripes, and black sneakers. Arlin, a boy described by his mother as fun-loving and who enjoyed storytelling, swimming, and bike riding, has not been seen or heard from since that day.
His father had passed away from emphysema the year prior, and he was living with his mother at the time of his disappearance. Months before he vanished, his uncle reported seeing a tall, thin man taking pictures of Arlin outside his school.
The investigation into Arlin's disappearance has spanned decades and has been marked by a series of complex and often frustrating turns. Three months after he went missing, his white and yellow bicycle was discovered in a bean field off North Ethlyn Road, about five miles from his home. This discovery yielded few clues at the time, though investigators hoped to identify a set of fingerprints found on the bike's frame. A significant and tragic development in the case came years later, in 2000, when Arlin's sister, Joy Henderson-Leonard, was murdered by her husband, Bob Leonard, who then took his own life. Investigators have long believed that Joy and Bob may have possessed critical information regarding Arlin's disappearance.
A decade after Arlin vanished, a man named Joshua Spangler, who was 13 at the time of the disappearance, confessed to his murder. Spangler claimed he was paid to kill Arlin as a warning to a member of the boy's family who allegedly owed a drug-related debt. He provided a detailed account of the abduction and murder, leading investigators to search for Arlin's remains along the Mississippi River, but nothing was ever found. Spangler later recanted his confession, and authorities, citing numerous inconsistencies in his story, charged him with perjury. Over the years, other potential leads have been explored, including a possible connection to Michael J. Devlin, but no evidence has ever definitively linked him to the case. The disappearance of Charles Arlin Henderson remains an open and unsolved case, leaving his family and community with unanswered questions.Last Seen: Jul 25, 1991
