Kriti Mehrotra
When 15-year-old Robert Jerome Piest suddenly disappeared after his part-time shift at Nisson Pharmacy in Des Plaines, Illinois, on December 11, 1978, it left the entire community baffled. After all, as explored in’ he was an honors student and just two badges away from becoming an Eagle Scout, making it clear he had a good head on his shoulders. Therefore, his family almost immediately knew something was terribly wrong, but by the time they contacted the local police to officially report the teenager missing, it was already too late.
Robert Piest Was Last Seen on His Mother’s Birthday
It was on March 16, 1963, that Robert Jerome Piest was born in Cook County, Illinois, to Elizabeth Josephine Bonugli Piest and Harold Bernhardt Piest, as the youngest of their three children. He grew up in a caring and supportive environment, surrounded by his elder siblings — brother, Kenneth “Ken” Piest, and sister, Kerry Piest. Nevertheless, he was also taught some significant lessons at an early age, so when he decided he wanted a car after earning his license at 16, he was told he would have to pay for it himself.
Robert thus got a part-time job at Nisson Pharmacy at $2 an hour, which is where his ears perked up when he heard contractor John Gacy mention he was looking for new hires at $5 an hour. The 15-year-old decided to talk to him about the potential job that same evening, on December 11, 1978, informing his mother of the same after she arrived at the pharmacy to pick him up from his shift. According to the records, he told Elizabeth he was going to talk to “some contractor… about a job,” promising to return shortly, as it was her 46th birthday and they had plans to celebrate at home.
Robert Piest’s Family Left No Stones Unturned to Find Him
Robert reportedly left at 9 pm, and when he didn’t return on time despite knowing his mother was waiting for him in her car in the cold because she had iterated so, Elizabeth grew worried. Therefore, she went back into the pharmacy and reaffirmed that her son was last seen leaving to talk to a contractor before rushing home to organize a search party because she had a bad feeling. While she stayed put in case the teenager returned and coordinated efforts, Harold, Ken, and Kerry all took their respective cars, along with a family dog, and spent the night patrolling nearby areas looking for him.
It was after the sun had come out and no one had found any traces of Robert that the Piests contacted the police to file an official missing person’s report, vehemently asserting he was not a runaway. Their statements, backed by canvas reports, subsequently led detectives to take the matter seriously and soon identify John Wayne Gacy as the primary suspect owing to the available evidence. However, while officials were gradually going through their processes, Ken and Kerry were reportedly stalking them to ensure they were not lagging in their efforts to find their younger brother.
As if that’s not enough, once John was arrested on December 21, 1978, and 29 remains of young men were exhumed from under his home, Elizabeth gave several interviews to keep her son’s name alive. She, Harold, Ken, and Kerry even tried to attend all possible court hearings related to the matter so as to inadvertently tell the serial killer that his victims may be gone, but they will never be forgotten. Thus, as a result of all formal efforts, the emotional accounts by family members, and testimonies by some survivors, John was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection in 1980.
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While Kerry Piest Currently Leads a Quiet Life, Other Family Members Have Sadly Passed Away
In the aftermath of John’s arrest, Robert’s beloved family established the Robert Piest Foundation (1979) in the hopes of ensuring no one would have to go through what they did. In other words, their endeavor’s aim was to not only honor the teenager whose remains were recovered from the Des Plaines River on April 9, 1979, but also help other families of missing children. Unfortunately, though, it appears as if this foundation is now defunct due to Kerry being the only surviving immediate family member left and her preference to deal with her grief and the past privately. All we know is that she still resides in Des Plaines, where she remains involved with her elder brother’s non-profit, Ken Piest Bone Marrow Drives.
According to records, upon graduating from Maine West High School, Ken attended the University of Illinois, College of Medicine in Chicago to be a proud ophthalmologist (eye doctor). He reportedly completed his internship in Chicago, his residency in San Antonio, Texas, and then spent an additional three years in training under a fellowship in Utah as well as Pennsylvania. By this point, though, his interests had also expanded to oncology (cancer specialty), so he garnered additional experience, began teaching, and eventually established a private practice in 1995.
From what we can tell, Ken even did volunteer work that not only earned him recognition among various communities across the nation but also made him the recipient of numerous awards. He was also a certified member of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, the American Board of Ophthalmology, and a Diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners. Later on, he launched Ken Piest Bone Marrow Drives, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding bone marrow matches by raising awareness about the National Bone Marrow Registry and hosting Blood Drives to help as many cancer patients as possible. His legacy endures through this foundation.
After all, according to reports, Ken sadly passed away in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of 53 on October 5, 2007 – his cause of death has never been made public. We should mention that apart from his younger brother Robert, he was also preceded in death by his father, Harold, who died at his home in Michigan City, Indiana, at the age of 74 on November 2, 2006. As for Elizabeth, who had separated from Harold not long after losing Robert, she reportedly passed away peacefully in her Des Plaines, Illinois, home at the age of 89 on December 19, 2021.
