Missing
Christoph R. Zahn
Zahn, approximately 1992; Harry Hale, approximately 1992; Hale, approximately 2010
Date and time person was reported missing : 04/28/1992
Missing location (approx) :
Atlanta, Georgia
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
Age at the time of disappearance: 21 years old
Height / Weight : 6'0, 160 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A turquoise cap and blue jeans.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Light brown hair, brown eyes. Zahn has a scar on his chin. He is a Swiss national and has dual Swiss/American citizenship. Zahn speaks English with a slight German accent. His nickname is Chris. He does not drink alcohol.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Zahn traveled from his native Switzerland to the United States in 1992. He planned to make a tour of the country's major cities and national parks. After arriving in Florida, took an overnight bus ride from Jacksonville, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia on April 28. He checked into the American Hotel across the street from the bus station in Atlanta.
Zahn placed a phone call to his travel Age at the time of disappearance: nt in Orange County, Florida at approximately 4:15 p.m. later in the day. He called from a pay phone in Tucker, Georgia at a Denny's restaurant on Mountain Industrial Boulevard, and confirmed a May 19 reservation in Las Vegas, Nevada. Zahn has never been heard from again.
Zahn's credit card was used 31 times between April 30 and May 11, 1992 in Cobb and Carroll Counties in Georgia. The card paid for $2,800 worth of liquor, motel rooms, cologne, jewelry and other items. Harry Eugene Hale was arrested in February 1993 and convicted of credit card fraud in Zahn's case in October of that year.
Photos of Hale are posted with this case summary. He admitted to using the card, but says Zahn allowed him to do it in order to repay a debt. Hale was a resident of Austell, Georgia at the time of Zahn's 1992 disappearance. He also owned homes in Kentucky and Florida. Hale drove a red 1993 Ford Probe with Georgia license plates in April 1992.
Authorities suspect that Hale may have murdered Zahn in order to utilize his credit cards, but have never discovered enough evidence to charge him in connection with the case. However, Zahn's cameras, camera bag and an Amish quilt he purchased as a gift for his mother were discovered in Hale's Kentucky home.
Investigators said that Hale had a reputation for stalking bus stations and highways searching for young male transients in 1992. He is suspected of drugging and Gender : ually assaulting young men in several states. There is speculation that he was connected to the 1990 disappearance of Mitchell Manns in Kentucky, but he has never been charged in that case.
Zahn's case remains unsolved, but foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved in his disappearance.
Other information and links : ncy
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
800-597-8477
September 2021 updates and sources
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Floyd County Times
The Lexington Herald-Leader
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Georgia Department of Corrections
October 12, 2004. July 27, 2010; Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
