Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Abandoned Prayers: The Shocking True Story of Obsession, Murder, and 'Little Boy Blue'

Abandoned Prayers: The Shocking True Story of Obsession, Murder, and 'Little Boy Blue'
romeo avatar reviewed on + 334 more book reviews


On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body alongside an icy cornfield in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-until a phone call from Ohio 2 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 this quiet facade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Eli took his preeschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska's plains. It was just beginning...