Father charged with cold-case slaying of his toddler son 31 years ago

TACOMA -- A manslaughter charge was filed Tuesday against a former Tacoma resident for the 1983 death of his 3-year-old son who he had reported as missing and possibly kidnapped 31 years ago.

The Pierce County Prosecutor's Office filed the charge against Stanley Guidroz, 57, who is serving a murder sentence in Louisiana state prison for the death of his wife, and issued a warrant for Guidroz to return to Washington.

On Jan. 10, 1983, Guidroz called the Tacoma Police Department to report his 3-year-old son, Wallace Guidroz, missing.

The prosecutor's office said Guidroz told police he believed a family who he and his son had met at Point Defiance Park after a fishing trip had kidnapped the boy. Police were unable to find the family and couldn't tie Guidroz to the disappearance either.

Guidroz left Washington state in 1984 and did not return.

In 2011, detective Gene Miller of the Tacoma Police Department's Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation and went to Louisiana, where Guidroz was imprisoned, to interview him.

"After providing several more versions of his original story, Guidroz admitted to killing Wallace," the prosecutor's office said.

"Guidroz said that after they went fishing, he took Wallace home to feed him. Wallace was fussing in his high chair, and Guidroz 'just lost it.' He backhanded Wallace, which caused him to fall to the floor and hit his head.

"Since Wallace wasn’t moving, Guidroz said he 'knew he was dead.' Guidroz drove Wallace to the Tacoma waterfront and buried him in a shallow grave before calling police to report Wallace missing. Guidroz told Miller that he was afraid of being labeled a 'child killer' in prison," the prosecutor's office said.