Christian went missing during a trip from Madison, Wisconsin to Baraboo, Wisconsin on September 16, 1977. He had dinner with his parents and then left their home at 5:30 p.m. driving his AMC Hornet station wagon. He planned to meet a friend and go deer hunting at Baraboo Bluffs. At 9:30 p.m., Christian's friend's mother called his parents to say Christian had not arrived in Baraboo. His parents called the Madison Police Department. A witness reported seeing Christian at a retreat in Durward’s Glen, where he mentioned searching for his friend before driving away. Christian's father and brother found the Hornet parked in a driveway near the State Patrol relay antenna on Tower Road, the day after Christian disappeared. It’s wheels, tires and battery were gone. Acting on a tip, the police found the Hornet's hubcaps and four old tires in a quarry south of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant and north of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. Apparently, someone had switched the new tires from the Hornet with the old tires on their vehicle, then dumped the old tires and the hubcaps.