Katharina Buczek
And, beforehand, he had also accepted a plea deal for an assault charge in the second degree.
The plea required Chris to partake in court-mandated drug treatment, which he violated on June 1, 2004.
Chris also never showed up to a court hearing on July 8, 2004– just two days after Ashley’s disappearance. This prompted the St. Louis court to execute a warrant for his arrest on July 22, 2004.
About a month and a half later, Chris was eventually arrested in Olympia, Washington, for stealing a woman’s purse.
At the time of his arrest, Chris was found without Ashley and without his car– a 1995 gray Pontiac Bonneville.
And following his return to Missouri, Chris was unhelpful to authorities in Ashley’s case and has only remained a person of interest in her disappearance.
Still, what happened on July 6, 2004, pushed many community members to believe that Chris was responsible for years. It was not until 2009– nearly five years after Ashley vanished– that another theory was revealed.
Apparently, a former vice principal at Ashley’s middle school– Denise Campbell– spotted Ashley in the fall of 2004.
Denise claimed she saw the teen standing on the corner of Frederick Avenue and Leonard with a Black man.
Denise also swore that Ashley waved to her before the teen walked away down Leonard Street.
The former principal retold the events in a sworn affidavit, but the document was never made public until 2009.
