He Vanished In The Middle Of Surveying A Wooded Property, And His Boots Were Some Of The Only Clues Left Behind
Christopher Carlton Thompkins of Ellerslie, Georgia, was a hardworking and happy young man who lived with his mother, Martha McKenzie, in 2002. He worked for a surveying company.
“He was just an outgoing, good guy,” his aunt, Rosalyn Mathis, recalled.
Yet, on January 25, 2002, Christopher went missing at only 20-years-old during what was supposed to be a routine workday, and his disappearance has remained unsolved for 23 years as of 2025.
That Friday morning, he reportedly kissed his mother goodbye at about 8:10 a.m. before leaving home. Then, in Harris County, he was working as part of a four-man survey crew in a lightly wooded area located off County Line Road when he vanished.
Christopher and his three colleagues were all walking in the same direction, approximately 50 feet away from each other.
But, after one colleague turned away for a moment and looked back in Christopher’s direction, he was gone. He’d left all of his tools behind on the ground.
Despite Martha being a babysitter for Christopher’s boss, she didn’t find out about her son’s disappearance until much later in the day.
One of the surveyors reportedly called their wife at 1:00 p.m. to say that Christopher was missing, but Martha wasn’t told until nearly 5:00 p.m.
“They called me about a few minutes to 5:00 p.m. to tell me that they couldn’t find him, and they found one of his boots,” Martha explained.
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“I was shocked that it had happened that morning, and they hadn’t said anything to me. So, I think it happened around lunchtime.”
Christopher’s colleagues apparently had few answers regarding the strange incident. That’s what pushed his loved ones to conduct their own search that same evening, as well as the following morning.
His family and friends began combing the woods where Christopher was last seen, between Warm Springs Road and Georgia 85 near County Line Road. He wasn’t found, but his belongings were uncovered.
There was some change, specifically 12 cents, located on the ground at a barbwire fence and a snag of fiber from Christopher’s navy blue pants in the fence. Additionally, one of his Timberland boots was discovered.
According to Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley, investigators took Christopher’s disappearance seriously. They used cadaver dogs and scoured nearby ponds, but due to limited resources, the case was taken over by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Months after he went missing, Christopher’s other Timberland boot was also located miles away on a property off of I-85.
At first, Sheriff Jolley assumed Christopher had walked away from the job site, which was reportedly consistent with his colleague’s report, went toward the interstate, got into a vehicle, and left the area. As time passed by, though, this theory changed.
“My biggest fear is that when he came up missing in 2002, he went to a large city. Right after he came up missing, he might have overdosed or something else might have happened to him [and] because he had no identification on him, that city went ahead and disposed of him,” Sheriff Jolley detailed.
However, Christopher’s family stated he didn’t have a drug problem, and his aunt didn’t think he just left.
“I don’t believe that Chris walked away. I don’t believe he disappeared with one shoe. Who’s going to walk around with one boot on in the cold weather on a rural road?” Rosalyn asked.
“I just don’t believe that happened. They know what happened to Chris; they’re just not telling.”
Christopher’s employer reportedly claimed that he’d been “acting strangely” leading up to the day he vanished. His mother says otherwise.
“Chris lived with me, and I saw him every day. There was neither strange behavior on his part nor any distress,” she noted.
In 2023, WTVM reported that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation created a cold case unit, and Christopher’s family hopes some answers will finally come to light.
“I am not a citizen with great influence. I am simply a grieving mother who wants to keep this case in the public light in hopes that one day someone will come forward with some information about what happened to my son,” Martha said.
Christopher was between five foot seven and five foot nine, weighed 130 pounds, and had brown eyes and black hair. He would be 43-years-old today.
Anyone with information regarding his case is urged to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 628-4211.
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