Eric Richtofen had been reported missing by his older brother Conrad on Christmas Eve. Local Sugar Springs, Ohio authorities had called in the FBI as a precautionary measure. Following several days of the most intense search in the history of Sugar Springs, details of the unsuccessful search for Eric Richtofen had not as yet been revealed to the public.
"Area 62," also known as Chamberlain Heights, is a top-secret government facility, located nineteen miles west of Sugar Springs. The site was selected in the early 1960's for the development of rocket fuel to power the Redstone Rocket, which the United States used to launch man into space and to the moon. Now, over forty years later, the government was once again using "Area 62" for top-secret "black box" projects.