Background

Christie Lynn Farni was born January 18, 1972, in Los Angeles, California.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Disappearance

Christie Lynn Farni, age six, testified before a grand jury against her father, Kenneth Farni, on December 14, 1978^[3] regarding abuse allegations brought against him.^[4] After testifying, Farni returned to her foster home^[5] where she had been residing for only three days, before departing on foot to Jackson Elementary School.^[4][6] Farni was reported missing that afternoon after she failed to return home from school, and it was revealed that she had been absent from school that day.^[4][1] An alternate report in 1979 stated that Farni was seen playing with another young girl at the YMCA in Medford.^[7]

Both Farni's father and stepmother reportedly cooperated with law enforcement, and polygraph examinations were given to both.^[1] Farni's biological mother had died the year before her disappearance in a motorcycling accident.^[1]

Alleged Henry Lee Lucas involvement

On December 16, 1983, it was reported that a remote area on the California-Oregon border was being searched, potentially for Farni's remains.^[8] Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, a drifter,^[9] alluded to having abducted and murdered Farni, but the locations indicated by Lucas where her remains could allegedly be found proved fruitless.^[8] At the time, Lucas had claimed to have murdered as many as 165 people in the United States, mainly women, beginning at the age of thirteen.^[9]

Subsequent developments

Farni's half-brother, who lived with her and her father during the time she disappeared, committed suicide at an undisclosed date.^[1] In 1994, Kenneth Farni died in a traffic collision.^[4] In 2008, the Medford Police reopened Farni's case, which is the oldest missing child case in Jackson County.^[4][10]