The Predator Under Their Noses
A young boy vanishes walking to school in Great Falls, Montana. When police finally searched a suspect's home years later, they discovered coded journals, disturbing photographs, and evidence of a dangerous predator who had repeatedly escaped consequences.
On December 15th 1999 Great Falls Police obtained a search warrant for a home that would change everything.
What they found in the kitchen made their blood run cold.
A journal filled with coded recipes.
Little Boy Pot Pie. French Fried Kid. Little Boy Stew.
Police couldn't tell if these were fantasy or something far worse.
Something had been happening right under their noses.
It started with a boy named Zachary Xerxes Ramsey.
Zach was ten years old.
Carefree. Sociable. Loved by teachers and friends alike.
On Tuesday February 6th 1996 that would all change.
It was 7 AM on a cold winter morning.
Zach wore a blue denim jacket with green sleeves and a blue football jersey.
Stone washed jeans. Black high top sneakers.
He set out for Whittier Elementary School as always.
The school was only six blocks away.
Zach took an alley as a shortcut.
He never arrived.
His friends thought he was sick.
His mother was called.
When Zach still didn't show Diane Ramsey reported him missing.
The news spread like wildfire through Great Falls.
A child vanished on the way to school.
Hundreds of volunteers rushed to search.
Police dogs. Law enforcement. Rescue teams.
They found his blue jeans in a dumpster.
His blue denim jacket lay in a nearby field.
Witnesses came forward with accounts that made investigators uneasy.
A family saw an off white four door sedan nearly run him over.
Another witness saw Zach crying with an obese man following close behind.
The time was 7 45 AM.
The man wore a dark navy blue police jacket.
One witness recognized him.
His name was Nathaniel Bar Jonah.
A man with a disturbing record involving children.
To understand what happened to Zach they needed to know about Nathaniel.
Born February 15th 1957 in Worcester Massachusetts.
His birth name was David Paul Brown.
As an infant he was insatiable. Always wanting more food.
At three weeks old he developed hydrocephalus.
Fluid filled his brain cavities.
It caused brain damage.
He survived. But something was already broken inside him.
His father Philip was a strict disciplinarian.
Nathaniel was not an easy child.
He stole from his siblings. From other children.
His father feared he would become gay.
So Philip disciplined him with a thick leather belt.
Violence. Brain damage. Disturbing quirks emerged.
He picked his skin until it scabbed and bled.
He ate his own scabs.