I was only an early teen when the news reported a man had escaped Bob’s home nude by jumping through a second floor window. But I remember this story vividly. Maybe because we didn’t have the internet yet, and we were unable to find out just what freaks are in the world so easily without it. This story was weird when it came out.

 

Bob ran a novelty shop called Bob’s Bizarre Bazaar in Westport that catered to “occult-type” tastes. I am guessing he sold sex toys and such. Now we call that Precilla’s Cerrilla’s and there’s one on every corner in KCMO and Independence. But back then, it had mystique.

 

Bob evidently would simply put the dismembered bodies in the trash, except for a few parts left behind that the police would find buried in his yard and in the walls of his house. The house was eventually razed and the lot still sits vacant. It would also become known that he kept extensive diaries and Poloroids documenting his activities.

 

Bob died in prison in 1992 of a heart attack.

 

 

 

 

Victims

Name	Age	Date of disappearance
Jerry Howell	20	July 5, 1984
Robert Sheldon	18	April 19, 1984
Mark Wallace	20	June 22, 1985
James Ferris	20	September 26, 1985
Todd Stoops	21	June 17, 1986
Larry Pearson	20	July 9, 1987