The Disappearance of Christopher Bird, Part Two
Chris Bird, photo edited by Murder, She Told
This is part 2 of 2. Click here for Part 1.
25-year-old Chris Bird was missing. According to his friend, Richard Brunt, he was last seen at DQ Stables after the pair returned from a camping trip in July of 1984. Days later, Chris's car was found abandoned at a nearby mall. Chris was nowhere to be found.
But Richard Brunt was hiding a violent past.
Years earlier, he had been convicted of murdering his partner in Florida before relocating to New Hampshire, where he attempted to build a new life. As Chris's disappearance deepened, attention turned to the last person known to have seen him, and investigators soon began to question whether the same dangerous patterns that marked Richard Brunt’s past had followed him north.
Continue Chris’s story on Murder, She Told podcast.
Did you know George P. Long of Plantation, FL or Camden, NJ?
George Long’s case doesn’t exist anywhere online. The only record of him on the internet is on FindaGrave, which just provides basic biographic details—when he was born, when he died, and an image of the tomb where he was interred. He deserves to be more than a footnote in Chris Bird’s story.
We worked hard to try and unearth details about his life—to more photos of George. If you knew him or were part of the community at Riverland Atheltic Club in Plantation, FL around 1974, I would love to hear from you. Please email me at hello@murdershetold.com.
If you have any information on the disappearance of Chris Bird, please contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at (603) 271-3658 or email coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov.
Continue Chris and George’s stories: Listen to the podcast episode. This text has been adapted from the Murder, She Told podcast episode, The Disappearance of Christopher Bird, Part Two. To hear their full stories, find Murder, She Told on your favorite podcast platform or listen on the player at the top of the page.
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George Long, 1965 yearbook, graduation photo, edited by Murder, She Told
Chris Bird, ~8 years old (facebook.com)
Chris Bird, ~3 years old (facebook.com)
Chris Bird, ~15 years old (facebook.com)
Chris Bird, ~1976, Haverhill HS graduation photo (facebook.com)
Chris Bird, ~1976, Haverhill HS yearbook photo (ancestry.com)
Chris Bird, ~1980, top left, Fitchburg State College yearbook photo, Russian club (ancestry.com)
Chris Bird, ~1980, top row, fifth from right, Fitchburg State yearbook photo, Sigma Upsilon Fraternity
Chris Bird, ~1980, at Fitchburg State graduation, with Donna (Leslye Z.)
Chris Bird - high school graduation (Leslye Z.)
Chris Bird, ~1984, teaching picture at Haverhill Alternative School (ancestry.com)
Chris Bird (Haverhill Gazette)
Chris Bird, ~1984, with family, Chris, Albert, Greg, Leslye, Dolores (Leslye Z.)
Richard Brunt, ~1968 Plymouth State yearbook (Boston Globe)
Richard Brunt, ~1968, first year teaching (ancestry.com)
Chris Bird’s car was a 1973 Mercury Comet, this is an example (cargurus.com)
Crime scene, Chris's Mercury Comet (Haverhill Gazette)
DQ Stables, Windham, NH ~1984
DQ Stables, Windham, NH ~1984
7 Castle Hill Road, Windham, NH, Dick and Hannelore Brunt's home (Google Maps)
New Life Christian Academy, Haverhill, MA (Haverhill Gazette)
New Life Christian Assembly, 980 Main St., Haverhill, MA (Google Maps)
Richard Brunt, 2018, extradition hearing
Sources For This Episode
Newspaper articles
Various articles from Boston Globe, Concord Monitor, Courier Post, Derry News, Fort Lauderdale News, Haverhill Gazette, Ledger, Manchester Ink, Miami Herald, Nashua Telegraph, News and Advance, News Chief, Palm Beach Post, Patriot Ledger, Tampa Bay Times, and the Union Leader, here.
Written by various authors including Andrew Bagnato, Bill Sanderson, Carol Robidoux, Dave Heeren, Donna Doherty, Dorothy Gaiter, Ed Levine, Emily Sweeney, Jim Lenane, Joe Crankshaw, John Chambliss, John Impemba, John Porter, Ken Gould, Mark Hayward, and Tony Marrero.
Online written sources
'NH authorities say Tampa Bay man…' (Tampa Bay Times), 8/15/2017, by Tony Marrero
'Suspect in 1984 cold case camping murder…' (Union Leader), 7/14/2018, by Todd Feathers
'Richard Brunt' (Websleuths), 7/16/2018
'Christopher Bird' (Facebook, NH State Police), 7/19/2018
'Christopher Bird' (Websleuths), 7/20/2018, by u/rats
'Christopher Bird' (Charley Project), 7/31/2018, by Meaghan Good
'Elsie Conver' (Find a Grave), 3/27/2020, by u/D
'Christopher Bird' (Find a Grave), 3/7/2021, by u/malita
'Christopher Bird' (Doe Network), 2/8/2022, by u/hb
'Massachusetts teacher last seen in Windham 39 years ago' (WMUR), 7/29/2022, by Jessica Kisluk
'William Brunt' (Find a Grave), 8/21/2022, by u/Beverly
'Harry Joseph Long' (Find a Grave), 12/21/2022, by u/GarySJ
'George P Long' (Find a Grave), 6/2/2024, by u/noenthusiast
'Christopher Bird' (Facebook), 10/22/2025, by u/chanrahan
'The strange disappearance of Christopher Bird…' (Boston Globe), 10/24/2025, by Emily Sweeney
'Christopher Bird' (NH DOJ), 10/25/2025
Photos
Photos as credited above
Thank you to Camden NJ Historical Society for helping with George’s yearbook
Official documents
Various records from Plantation Police Dept in Plantation, FL
Various records from New Hampshire courts
Original interviews
Chris’s friend, Kara, and his sister, Leslye.
Credits
Vocal performance, and audio editing by Kristen Seavey
Research, photo editing, and writing by Byron Willis
Research by Chelsea Hanrahan
Murder, She Told is created by Kristen Seavey.