On October 25, 2013, Chris was last seen after his mother drove him to his roofing job that morning. Finishing work early, he received a ride to the Kroger grocery store in Vinton, Virginia, where he cashed his paycheck at 3:30 p.m. Shortly after, a friend dropped him off at Chap's Tavern in the 800 block of Campbell Avenue in Roanoke at 4:30 p.m. Chris had plans to meet a female friend in the parking lot of the Food Lion grocery store at 5:00 p.m., but she stated he never arrived. Patrons at Chap's Tavern recalled that he left on foot around 8:00 p.m.

Before his disappearance, Chris had testified in a court case where the defendant was found guilty, and he’d since been assaulted by an associate of the convicted individual. Additionally, Chris was in the midst of a custody battle for his daughter and went missing just three days before a scheduled court hearing related to that case with his recent ex. At the time he was last seen, he was wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt with a Snap-On Tools logo, khaki pants, white shoes, and a brown hat.