Abandoned Prayers

Edgar-nominated and #1 New York Times bestselling true crime journalist Gregg Olsen unravels one of the most disturbing cold cases of the 1980s—and the double life of the Amish bishop’s son at the heart of it.

Christmas Eve, 1985. On a Nebraska farm road just north of the Kansas state line, a hunter finds a small boy in a thin blanket sleeper, his hair neatly parted, his hand placed carefully over his heart. No name. No missing-persons report. No one, anywhere, looking for him. For nearly two years the child is buried in a Nebraska cemetery as Little Boy Blue—unclaimed, unidentified, and unmourned by anyone who knew him. Then a phone call from Ohio leads investigators to a man named Eli Stutzman, and the boy in the ditch finally has a name: his own son, Danny.

Eli Stutzman was the son of an Amish bishop, raised in one of the country’s strictest religious sects, a seemingly devoted farmer, husband, and father. But behind that quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs—and a wife whose suspicious death in a summer-night barn fire had gone unquestioned. After Ida was buried, Stutzman took his preschool-age son and hit the road—a trail that would lead investigators through Colorado and Texas and finally back to the horse-drawn, wood-stove world he had escaped. Who was the man behind the plain black coat? And what was he willing to do to keep his secrets buried in the frozen ground?

Perfect for readers who love:

· Definitive true crime classics from the genre’s foremost voices

· A rare, unflinching look inside the closed world of the Old Order Amish

· Cold cases and unidentified victims finally given their names

· Hidden histories, double lives, and the dark side of piety

Acclaim for Abandoned Prayers:

“A searingly tragic look behind the headlines that broke America’s heart. Brilliantly researched, wonderfully written.” ―Ann Rule

“A riveting and deeply disturbing chronicle of true crime. Olsen has done a superior job.” ―Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Among the top true crime books published. Once picked up, it’s hard to put down.” ―New Philadelphia Times Reporter

“A superior true crime account that should not be missed.” ―Jack Olsen, author of Doc and I: The Creation of a Serial Killer