After spending an early Friday evening hunting in the woods behind his home in Vermont,

Wilfred Butch King III left his home on two crutches, driving off into the fall night never to be seen alive again.

Despite years and years of investigation, what happened on the night of October 24, 1980,

remains a mystery. There are many people, from investigators to family, who say they have

strong theories about who is behind Butch's disappearance. Yet decades later, police have

never even been close to proving those theories

right. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is the case of October 24, 1980 for Wilfred

Butch King III before he went missing, except for the fact that he was waiting for a phone

call.

According to reporting by Leslie Corrin for the

Burlington Free Press, Butch's parents, who lived next door to him, did not know who their

son was expecting a call from. All they knew was that this call was important enough that

Butch said he could not leave home until he received it.

Butch stayed nearby and hunted in the acres of woods behind his family property.

Butch especially enjoyed hunting for squirrels, which are extra challenging to catch with a rifle.

He was out there, following the fast-moving rodents in 40-something-degree windy fall weather for much of the afternoon. By the time he came inside and cleaned up, the call he'd been waiting for came through.

He didn't leave the house immediately.

Butch finished dinner, and then about two hours after the call, which came in around 5 p.m., he told his parents he was

going out to meet up with some friends. He left the house alone, around 7 p.m., and got into his

four-wheel drive, 1979 blue and white Chevrolet Blazer, an old-school truck decked out with a yellow

plow and trailer hitch, plus a yellow light on the roof.

He drove away from the home that he'd built at 114 Jericho Road in Essex Junction, Vermont, for the last time.

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