Mark Stebbins was a 12-year-old boy from Ferndale, Michigan, identified as the first victim in the series of murders attributed to the [[Oakland County Child Killer]]. His case drew significant attention due to the brutal nature of the crime and its connection to a broader pattern of child abductions in the region during the mid-1970s. Stebbins' murder was later linked to suspected pedophile [[Christopher Busch]], whose associate [[Gregory Greene]] confessed that Busch had killed him during a trip to a family cabin near Ess Lake. Evidence at Busch's residence included a handdrawn portrait of a boy in a parka coat screaming, resembling Stebbins, along with ropes cut to lengths matching binding marks on his body.[^1] ### Abduction and Discovery Mark Stebbins went missing on February 15, 1976, after leaving a local bowling alley in Ferndale. His body was discovered four days later on February 19, 1976, dumped in the corner of a parking lot behind an Embers restaurant in Southfield, Michigan. The body showed signs of being bound with rope around the neck, arms, and legs, with ligature marks consistent with restraint during the assault. Stebbins had been sexually abused with a foreign object, and his cause of death was determined to be suffocation.[^1] ### Investigation and Connections The investigation into Stebbins' murder became part of the broader [[Oakland County Child Killer]] case, which included victims such as 12-year-old [[Jill Robinson]], abducted December 22, 1976, and found shot in a highway ditch; 10-year-old [[Kristine Mihelich]], missing January 2, 1977, and found suffocated roadside; and 11-year-old [[Timothy King]], abducted March 16, 1977, and discovered sexually assaulted and suffocated in a ditch. Pedophile [[Gregory Greene]], arrested in January 1977 for assaulting boys, implicated [[Christopher Busch]] in Stebbins' murder, stating Busch had killed a boy on a cabin trip and identifying Stebbins as the victim. Busch, son of a General Motors executive, was arrested shortly after and found with child pornography films depicting bound boys in wooded areas, but he was cleared via polygraph despite later evidence suggesting otherwise.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.