Search in 43-year-old cold case involving missing Wisconsin child reveals new evidence

FOND DU LAC, Wis. — A 43-year-old cold case involving the disappearance of a 5-year-old boy was reopened, with a search warrant executed July 16 and finishing Tuesday.

“Bobby Jo” Fritz went missing on May 14, 1983. He was last seen playing outside his family’s home with his siblings.

The Union Star reported extensive searches were done, even going as far as having divers search a local pond and surrounding waterways, but Bobby Jo was never found.

In this most recent search, law enforcement officers excavated the basement of the Fritz family home, according to a news release from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office. Bobby Jo’s remains were not located, but the sheriff’s office is reporting they did recover new potential evidence.

“Detectives remain hopeful that this evidence will provide further insight into what happened to Bobby Jo,” the release states.

The sheriff’s office reports that over the past year, detectives identified and interviewed several individuals, some of whom had never been spoken to in the original investigation. The new interviews, in combination with evidence from the original case, gave law enforcement sufficient probable cause to execute the search warrant on the Fritz family home.

The release says the excavation of the Fritz family home required moving about 500 five-gallon buckets of soil, or roughly 30,000 pounds of dirt. The soil was then searched by hand for potential evidence. The excavation was done using only hand tools, investigators say.

New evidence was obtained, the release reports, but the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office has not revealed what the new evidence is.

The evidence has been sent to labs for analysis, which the release states could take several months or a year to complete.

“Although we share the community’s disappointment that Bobby Jo’s remains were not found, investigators are optimistic that the newly collected evidence will generate fresh leads and help bring answers to this 43-year-old case,” the release states.

Anyone with information related to the disappearance of Bobby Jo is strongly encouraged to contact detective Tyler Tikkanen at 920-929-3384.

Anonymous tips can be submitted to the Fond du Lac County Tip Line at 920-906-4777.