Abandoned Prayers

On Christmas Eve, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska, the center of America's Heartland. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father. 


Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning. . . 


"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