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Unsolved case · 1991
Also known as Charles Arlin Leon Henderson
The short answer
Charles Arlin Henderson, 11, vanished after leaving his home in Fountain N' Lakes, Missouri, on a bicycle on July 25, 1991. His bike was found months later in a nearby field, but he has never been located and the case remains unsolved.
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Suggest coverage for Disappearance of Charles Arlin HendersonThe case file
Charles Arlin Leon Henderson was born on March 16, 1980, in Moscow Mills, Missouri, to Debbie Henderson-Griffith. In a 2025 interview, his mother said he enjoyed swimming and shooting BB guns. On July 25, 1991, at around 5 p.m., Henderson left his home in Fountain N' Lakes, Missouri, on his bicycle and was never seen again. He was 11 years old at the time. He was last known to be wearing a camouflage tee shirt and pants, gray socks, and black tennis shoes. On October 10, 1991, his bicycle was recovered in a bean field approximately five miles north of his home, but no further trace of Henderson was found.
The case has produced several related developments in the years since his disappearance. In 2001, a man named Joshua Spangler, who had been 13 years old at the time Henderson disappeared, confessed to abducting and killing Henderson, claiming he had been forced to do so by two other men. Spangler later admitted the confession was fabricated and was charged with perjury.
Separately, months before Henderson disappeared, his uncle, James McWilliams, reported witnessing a tall, skinny man photographing Henderson outside his school. This man is believed to have been Michael J. Devlin, and multiple relatives of Henderson were shown photographs of a person claiming to know Devlin, with several relatives saying they recognized him. No charges related to Henderson's disappearance have been reported in connection with this individual.
The Henderson family also experienced a separate tragedy years later: on March 10, 2000, Henderson's sister, Joy Henderson-Leonard, was murdered by her husband, Bob Leonard, who then died by suicide. This event is distinct from Charles Henderson's disappearance but is part of the family's documented history as reported in connection with the case.
Henderson's case remains one of two active missing-person cases in Lincoln County, Missouri, the other being that of Bianca Piper, who disappeared from Foley, Missouri, on March 10, 2005, at age 13. As of the most recent reporting, Charles Arlin Henderson's whereabouts remain unknown and no one has been charged in connection with his disappearance.
7 dated entries · 1980–2025
Charles Arlin Leon Henderson is born in Moscow Mills, Missouri.
Henderson is last seen at approximately 5 p.m. leaving his home in Fountain N' Lakes, Missouri, on his bicycle; he is never seen again.
Henderson's bicycle is found in a bean field approximately five miles north of his home.
Henderson's sister, Joy Henderson-Leonard, is murdered by her husband, Bob Leonard, who subsequently dies by suicide.
Joshua Spangler confesses to abducting and killing Henderson, then admits the confession was fabricated and is charged with perjury.
Bianca Piper, 13, disappears from Foley, Missouri, in a separate case also active in Lincoln County.
Henderson's mother, Debbie Henderson-Griffith, gives an interview discussing her son.
3 named in this file
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Missing person; disappeared at age 11 in Fountain N' Lakes, Missouri, on July 25, 1991[3]
Henderson's sister; murdered by her husband, Bob Leonard, on March 10, 2000[3]
Charged with perjury after admitting he fabricated a 2001 confession to abducting and killing Henderson[3]
3 cited
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Official / agencylincolncomo.govAccessed Jul 10, 2026
Pressksdk.comAccessed Jul 10, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 10, 2026
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Near this case
ONGOINGListenTroy, Missouri · 2010s
Betsy Faria was killed in her Troy, Missouri, home on December 27, 2011; her husband was later acquitted, and Pam Hupp remains charged and not guilty in a pending murder prosecution.
COLDListenFoley, Missouri · 2000s
Bianca Piper, 13, vanished on the evening of March 10, 2005, after her mother dropped her off about a mile from their home in Foley, Missouri, at her own request as part of a therapist-recommended exercise. She has never been found and the case remains an open cold case.
OVERTURNEDListenO'Fallon, Missouri, United States · 2000s
Megan Meier, a 13-year-old from O'Fallon, Missouri, died by suicide in October 2006 after being targeted through a fake MySpace persona created by a neighbor, Lori Drew. A federal jury later convicted Drew under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, but the conviction was vacated by a judge and not appealed.
Image record·Editorial use·SourceSOLVEDListenCalifornia Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo, California · 1996
Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student, disappeared in the early hours of May 25, 1996, after leaving an off-campus party with fellow student Paul Flores, the last person known to have seen her. Flores was convicted of her murder in 2022 and his conviction was upheld on appeal; Smart's remains have never been recovered.
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Amy Lynn Bradley, a 23-year-old American woman, vanished from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas on March 24, 1998, while sailing toward Curaçao. Despite an international search, multiple unconfirmed sightings, and decades of investigation, her fate remains unknown and the case is unsolved.
Credit: FBI·Public domain·SourceUNSOLVEDListenSouth Campus Gateway complex, High Street, Columbus, Ohio · 2006
Brian Shaffer, a 27-year-old Ohio State medical student, vanished after a night of bar-hopping in Columbus, Ohio in the early hours of April 1, 2006. Security footage showed him talking to two women outside a bar just before 2 a.m., but no camera recorded him leaving the building, and he has never been found.
