The church where Richard Chase dumped the body of David Ferreira

This is the location where the body of 22-month-old David Ferreira was found.

It is situated at 3532 Whitney Avenue in Sacramento, California.

During the seventies, it was known as the Arcade Wesleyan Church. These days, it is called the Faith Legacy Church.

Ferreira was the victim of a schizophrenic, blood-obsessed serial killer named Richard Chase.

On January 27th, 1978, Chase entered the home of Evelyn Miroth, who was babysitting David.

After shooting Evelyn, her son Jason, and a family friend named Dan Meredith, he turned his attention towards the one-year-old.

The crime scene suggested that Chase shot and killed David while he was in his crib, as the sheets were covered in a large quantity of blood and there was a bullet hole in the pillow.

David's brain matter was also found in the bathtub. The police believe that Chase was in the process of mutilating the body in the bathroom when he heard someone knocking at the front door. At that point, he decided to take the infant's body with him and flee in Dan Meredith's red station wagon.

Once he returned to his apartment on Watt Avenue, he resumed the mutilation process. He also ate some of the organs.

When detectives investigated the murders at Miroth's house, they quickly reasoned that David had been killed. Although they didn't have a body, they could tell by the sheer amount of blood that there was almost no hope of finding the young child alive.

Consequently, he was declared "missing, presumed dead."

Following his arrest, Chase claimed that he had thrown the infant's remains into a river. However, this proved to be false.

On March 24th, 1978, a janitor discovered David Ferreira's remains beside this church on Whitney Avenue. The boy's body had been placed in a McDonald's "Mac Fries" box and then thrown behind a locked gate.

The janitor called 911 after he saw the box and caught a whiff of the unmistakable smell of putrefaction.

Not before long, the church was swarming with investigators and members of the media, some of whom climbed onto nearby roofs in an attempt to take photographs of the discovery. Fortunately, the police were quick to cover the alley with a sheet and prevent them from doing so.

An autopsy of David's body confirmed that he had been shot in the head. The cardboard box also contained a set of keys, which belonged to the same vehicle that Chase had used to flee the scene of the crime.

Photos

Photos of the church and other related images.

Church

David Ferreira's remains were discovered on the western side of the church.

The cardboard box had been thrown behind a locked gate that led to a small alley that ran between the church (on the left) and an adjoining building (on the right).

Aerial image

This aerial image highlights the small alley where the toddler's remains were found.

Notably, this location is just a 10-minute walk away from Richard Chase's apartment on Watt Avenue.