Fritz, Robert

Missing: May 14, 1983

Location: Campbellsport, Fond Du Lac County

Age: Six

DOB: Aug 5, 1977

Race: White

Hair: Blond

Eyes: Blue

Marks: strawberry birthmark on outer left thigh just above knee

Exclusions: 9

Details of Disappearance

Robert was last seen playing in an empty lot in his family's Campbellsport neighborhood on May 14, 1983. The lot was beside the Mill Pond/Milwaukee River in the area where the Campbellsport Firehouse now stands. He was with his sister and friends approximately one-half block from the family's residence when he was last seen. He told his sister he was hungry and was going to walk home between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. He never arrived home. An extensive search was made of the Milwaukee River, but no trace of him was ever found.

From Charley Project: Sex offender Michael Scott Menzer was identified as a suspect in Robert's case a year after the child vanished. A photo of Menzer is posted with this case summary. In 1980, he was convicted of sexually abusing a ten-year-old boy. He lived alone at the Waldo Mill, a historic building fifteen miles outside Sheboygan, and less than twenty miles from Campbellsport. Police excavated his property and found boxes of child sexual abuse images, news clippings about Robert's abduction, decayed remnants of children's clothes and some small bones, but it could not be determined whether the bones were human. In 1990, Menzer burned down the Waldo Mill, killing his two young stepsons in the process. He had previously been charged with sexually assaulting the boys, but was acquitted. He wasn't indicted for the arson and murders until 1992, but he was ultimately convicted and sentenced to forty years in prison. Menzer died in custody in 2008, at the age of 59.