GREAT FALLS — Today marks 30 years since 10-year-old Zachary Ramsay disappeared while walking to school in Great Falls, Montana - a case that continues to haunt his family, friends, and the community.
On the morning of February 6, 1996, at about 7:30 a.m., Zachary made his way from his apartment through an alley across the street near the 400 block of Fourth Avenue and Fourth Street North, headed for class at Whittier Elementary School.
Tim McGonigal reports - watch the video here:
He never made it to school and was never seen again.
In the days, months and years after his disappearance, speculation abounded as to what happened.
In 2000, there was a possible break in the case, with authorities charging Nathaniel Bar-Jonah for Ramsay's death. A trial in Butte failed to yield a conviction in Zachary's case, but Bar-Jonah was convicted in the kidnapping and sexual assault of three other boys. He died in the Montana State Prison in 2008 while serving a 130-year sentence.
Great Falls native and author Lauri Olsen wrote a book highlighting the case - click here for details.
Kyle Green was Zachary's best friend and classmate at Whittier Elementary School. The two were basically inseparable.
"He was a good drawer, one of the best drawers in our class. He was fast and he was a good runner," Green said about his missing friend when interviewed by MTN a year after the disappearance.
Now 40 years old and living in South Carolina where he owns a concrete business and coaches high school basketball, Green still carries the weight of that February morning.
The two would walk to school together and hang out after school, playing pool at Green's house or visiting Zachary's family.
"We would go to his house and see his mom and his grandma who lived with his mom, and then his little sister and the baby brother," Green said.
Like best friends do, they had arguments, including one the day before Zachary went missing.
"We got into a disagreement and we got into a little scuffle, actually, over a girl," Green said.
When Zachary didn't show up to school the next day, Green initially thought his friend was still holding a grudge.
"It was later that day that his mom came to school was like, 'Where's Zach?' And I was like he didn't show up this morning. And then that's kind of when everything just unfolded," Green said.
Whittier Elementary School counselor Lucretia Humphrey, now retired, remembers Zachary's positivity three decades later.
"He was just a sweet, little, wonderful kid. I know that kids really liked him," Humphrey said. "He did his own thing."
But she says it was a strange day when Zachary didn't show up, especially because the school was hosting a "bring your special person to breakfast" event.
"Zack had said he was bringing somebody," Humphrey said.
As the only school counselor at the time, Humphrey knew something was amiss when authorities got involved.
"It was just the most bizarre situation when someone got really sick or somebody's parent died or a child died, you had a way of dealing with it. When someone disappears, you don't know what to do with that," Humphrey said.
The school community struggled with how to respond to the unprecedented situation.
"I remember one teacher finally saying, maybe we could have a little memory garden so that we have done something that's significant because no one wanted to do a memorial garden, because that's for when people die," Humphrey said.
Green and his friends created a small memorial with a rock and tree that still stands today.
"We just thought it would be a good idea to do the rock in the tree. And it was just a tiny little bush when we planted it," Green said.
Green credits Humphrey and the Whittier staff with helping him and friends Matt White, Demas Cole, and other students cope with the difficult time.
In the aftermath of Zachary's disappearance, Green remembers the community banding together in hopes of finding him, but also the stress of being a 10-year-old dealing with such a difficult situation.
"I had a lot of interviews with police officers. I mean, they would show up to my house at like 2:00 in the morning to ask certain questions and, and the community always was very big about looking for Zach," Green said.
That support was especially evident on the lower North Side where everybody knew everybody.
To this day, Green still suffers from anxiety over Zachary going missing.
"My wife gets frustrated with me all the time because I don't let my kids go places without me knowing where they are," Green said.
Although 30 years have passed since he last saw his best friend, Zachary is never far from Green's mind.
"Over the years I dream about him," Green said. "And I've told my wife, as I've gotten older, when I have dreams, it'll be weird because we're still talking about girls in my in my dreams playing. But he's still a child, and I'm an adult."
Green also has a permanent reminder about Zachary inspired by his memory garden.
"I've even got the rock tattooed on my arm with Zach's name on it so I try to remember," Green said.
When Zachary disappeared, it wasn't just his family and school community that was impacted.
Melanie Murphy was Zachary's same age but attended a different school. They met at Gibson Park where they often hung out having snowball fights and confiding in each other.
Like many, she was drawn to his warm personality.
"He was funny. I think he was just, like a normal kid like every other kid around Great Falls and in this neighborhood," Murphy said. "I do remember his smile, and he just kind of was playful. He also was very pleasant."
Murphy said she was devastated to hear of Zachary's disappearance. When she saw fliers around town and his story on the news, she felt something horrible had happened and if it could happen to Zachary, it could happen to anyone.
The disappearance and search for Zachary Ramsay dominated the headlines.
Amy Lynn covered the case as a reporter for KRTV. She said at first, she thought it must have been a misunderstanding, but as time went by, she began to realize the gravity of the situation.
All the while, she was amazed at the calmness of Zachary's mother, Rachel Howard.
"Her faith that it's going to be okay. He's going to come home," Lynn said. "It was almost like she would reassure others."
Lynn says she was amazed at how the community banded together to search for Zachary, but for a young reporter it was a lesson that if a child abduction could happen in Great Falls, it could happen anywhere.
I reached out to the family of Zachary Ramsay for an interview request for this story. They respectfully declined but did provide the following statement:
"We, Zachary Ramsay's family, express our deep solidarity and support to the families who find themselves in similarly tragic situations. Zachary was a bright, funny, and artistic boy who is loved and missed to this very day. Our focus remains steadfast, and we maintain our unwavering belief and faith that we will be reunited with him."
Law enforcement officials say child abduction and missing child investigations have changed dramatically — with faster response, stronger coordination and new technology reshaping how cases are handled in the critical early hours.
Tom Wylie reports - watch the video here:
