Missing
Kathern G. Fetzer
Fetzer, approximately 1991; Christopher Below
Date and time person was reported missing : 11/26/1991
Missing location (approx) :
Medina, Ohio
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 08/26/1965 (55)
Age at the time of disappearance: 26 years old
Height / Weight : 5'0 - 5'1, 100 - 120 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A white knee-length cotton coat.
Medical conditions : Fetzer suffers from migraine headaches and asthma and takes medication for both conditions. She left her medicine behind.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Sandy brown hair, blue/green eyes. Fetzer's nicknames are Kathy and Kit.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Fetzer was last seen in her home on Lafayette Road in Medina, Ohio on November 26, 1991. She left a note behind for her husband of five years, saying she was restless and was going to a local mall to window shop. She never returned.
Fetzer's husband reported her missing. She took her purse and overcoat with her when she disappeared, but did left behind her clothes, medicine, checkbook and all her credit cards. She also left a load of laundry in the washing machine.
Police found Fetzer's car, a blue 1985 Ford Tempo, locked and abandoned 25 miles from her home on the day after she was reported missing. It was parked on a gravel truck turnaround along an abandoned railroad line off State Route 83, just south of Lodi, Ohio, near the Wayne County line. There was no sign of Fetzer at the scene, and no fingerprints, bloodstains or other clues inside the vehicle, which contained some of her belongings.
Fetzer was having an extramarital affair with a married coworker, Christopher J. Below, at the time of her disappearance. A photograph of him is posted with this case summary. He lived not far from where Fetzer's car was located.
Below initially maintained his innocence in Fetzer's disappearance and stated he was at work when she was missing, but his alibi turned out to be false. He later confessed to shooting her with a .380 caliber pistol in his apartment in Medina. He said he disposed of her remains in a trash bin.
Below pleaded guilty to attempted involuntary manslaughter in connection with Fetzer's case and was sentenced to 11 to 18 years in prison. Investigators believe he killed her because she wanted to end their relationship.
He is considered a possible suspect in several murders and disappearances of young dark-haired women, including Heather Teague, Mary Kushto, Kristina Porco and Shaylene Farrell. He has not been charged in connection with any other cases, however, and it should be emphasized that only conjecture links him to these disappearances.
Fetzer's remains have never been found.
Other information and links : ncy
Medina Police Department
330-725-7777
September 2021 updates and sources
The Doe Network
14 WFIE
Officer.com: the Source for Law Enforcement
The Akron Beacon Journal
Where is Heather Teague?
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
