Hi, Cold Case listeners. I'm Marissa Pinson. And if you're enjoying this show, I just want to remind you that episodes of Cold Case files as well as the A&E Classic Podcasts, I Survived, American Justice, and City Confidential are all available ad-free on the new A&E Crime and Investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple Plus for just $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. And now onto the show.

The following episode contains intensely disturbing accounts of violence. Listener discretion is advised.

Christopher was very goofy. He would always do things to try to make somebody laugh.

I had no idea that anybody had any ill will against my brother.

It was a shock, the level of anger and rage that was involved in this particular death.

He was ambushed and attacked.

The attack was vicious.

It was violent.

It was quick.

He was just left in the ditch to die like a piece of trash.

Investigators began to see a lot of potential suspects who lived in the area.

As time goes on, nobody's being charged. Are we going to not ever know what happened?

You want answers and you want answers now. There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only about 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories.

It's December 9, 2002, in Bangor area, Michigan.

Michael McKay is a former trooper with the Michigan State Police.

It was a typical Michigan winter day, you know,

ground was covered with snow, a very cold day,

being as close as we are to Lake Michigan.

There is that lake effect snow.

At the time, I'd been a state trooper assigned to the 5th District for about five years.

We had just started an afternoon shift about 3 p.m.

And we were just a couple of minutes in when we got the call from Central Dispatch.

...