"Some people come into our lives and quietly go; others stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same." - Anonymous

If you were a vibrant, accomplished college senior who mysteriously disappeared, would your family trust that the police would launch a full-scale investigation? On November 1, 2002, Steve, Sara, and Jan Jenkins discovered that their son and brother, Chris, had not been seen since the previous night. They also learned that the Minneapolis police would not initiate a search until seventy-two hours had passed because Chris was over eighteen years old.

Written with exceptional candor and shocking detail, Footprints of Courage is the first look inside the tragic and untold saga of the Chris Jenkins murder investigation undertaken by the family who loved him. Chris’s parents and sister took extraordinary measures to force the truth into the light, including securing the assistance of global leaders in water rescue and recovery, appearing dozens of times on local and national newscasts describing how Chris may have died, even analyzing autopsy and recovery photos for clues – the list of steps they were forced to take on their own initiative is endless.

Chris’s disappearance captivated a city, and then a nation, when the public learned that dozens of young men in the preceding twelve years had met a similar fate. While pushing to unravel the mystery of his murder, Chris’s courageous family paved the way for federal involvement in the possible serial homicides of more than seventy victims.

STORIES NOT IN FINAL MANUSCRIPT

Brian's Story

MENTIONED IN BOOK

McTigue's Song

Sara's Letter to Politicians

Extended List of Acknowledgements