Griener left his home on the north side of Pekin, Illinois at approximately 4:00 p.m. He was intending to go to the snow sledding hill at the local park, four blocks away. Griener's friends last saw him at the hill at 5:30 p.m. He was carrying a blue plastic roll-up toboggan-style sled at the time of his disappearance. He has never been heard from again.

An extensive search of the local area turned up no sign of Griener. A skull found in Michigan was originally thought to be his, but it turned out not to be. Authorities believe Griener is deceased. One suspect in his case is William "Freight Train" Guatney, a mentally ill homeless man, who confessed to the murders of several children, including a nine-year-old boy who was abducted only 200 yards from where Griener was last seen. However, Griener disappeared during the winter, and Guatney's other suspected victims were all attacked during the warmer months. Guatney was committed to a mental institution after being found incompetent to stand trial for murder. He died in 1997. He was never charged in Griener's case. The child remains missing and his case is unsolved.