January 16, 1973. A Tuesday.
It was a normal, rainy afternoon in a rural pocket of San Mateo County, California. Five-year-old Anna Christian Waters was out in her backyard. She was wearing a blue and white T-shirt, blue jeans, and black rubber boots—perfect for a kid wanting to stomp around in the mud. Her mother, Michele Waters, was inside their home in Purisima Canyon, just a few miles from Half Moon Bay.
Michele was listening. She could hear Anna playing. She could hear the cats. Then, suddenly, the backyard went quiet.
When Michele stepped outside, Anna was gone. No scream. No struggle. Just an empty yard and the sound of the rain.
The Faith of Anna Waters: Fact vs. Hollywood Fiction
If you search for "the faith of Anna Waters" today, you're going to get hit with a wall of movie posters. In 2016, a horror film was released with that exact title (also known as The Offering). It’s a supernatural thriller set in Singapore involving demonic entities, the Tower of Babel, and a journalist investigating her sister's suicide.
Honestly? It has basically nothing to do with the real Anna Waters.
The movie marketing leaned hard into the "based on true events" trope, which confused a lot of people. While the film’s director, Kelvin Tong, mentioned researching real exorcisms and religious lore, the plot is a total invention. The real story isn't about demons or haunted bungalows in Singapore. It's a heartbreaking, unsolved cold case from Northern California that has haunted investigators for over fifty years.
What Happened in Purisima Canyon?
Back in '73, the immediate theory was the creek. Purisima Creek runs right by the Waters' property. It had been raining hard, and the water was high and fast. Police and volunteers spent days combing the banks. They figured the little girl had just slipped and been swept away.
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But they never found a boot. They never found a shred of clothing.
As the days turned into weeks, the "accidental drowning" theory started to feel wrong. If she’d fallen in, something usually washes up. When nothing did, the investigation shifted toward something much darker: abduction.
The Strange Case of George Waters and George Brody
The family dynamic was, frankly, complicated. Anna's father, George H. Waters, was a doctor, but his life had taken a bizarre turn before the disappearance. He had fallen under the influence of a man named George Brody.
Brody was a strange character. People described him as a sort of "guru" or "mystic" figure who moved in with George Waters. The two men developed an intense, seemingly codependent relationship that eventually blew up the Waters' marriage.
Here is where it gets weird.
- Brody claimed to have psychic abilities.
- He reportedly had an obsession with Anna.
- Two men—one older, one younger—were seen driving a white Chevrolet in the neighborhood on the day Anna vanished.
Police wondered: Did the "two Georges" take her? Was this some kind of twisted "rescue" mission or a way to keep Anna within their strange social circle? The problem was evidence. There wasn't any. No fingerprints, no witnesses to a kidnapping, just a lot of bad vibes and suspicious behavior.
The End of the Lead
By 1981, both George Waters and George Brody were dead.
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Brody died first, and Waters followed shortly after, reportedly by suicide. They took whatever secrets they had to the grave. Before George Waters died, he allegedly burned a lot of personal papers and photos. To this day, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t officially cleared them, but they haven't been able to prove a thing either.
The case went cold. Ice cold.
Why We Still Talk About Anna Waters
You’ve probably seen the age-progression photos. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) updates them every few years. They show what Anna might look like as a woman in her 50s.
There's this lingering hope—this "faith," if you want to call it that—that Anna didn't die in that creek. If she was abducted by people known to the family, there’s a non-zero chance she was raised under a different name, never knowing she was a missing child from Half Moon Bay.
It happens. We’ve seen cases like Carlina White or Jaycee Dugard where the "impossible" turn out to be true.
The Real "Faith" in the Case
When people talk about the faith of Anna Waters in a real-world sense, they’re usually talking about the persistence of her mother and the community. Michele Waters never stopped looking. She dealt with the police, the psychics, the false leads, and the crushing weight of the unknown for decades.
The case is a masterclass in the limitations of 1970s forensics. There was no DNA testing. No CCTV. No Amber Alerts. Just a deputy with a notebook and a search party in the mud.
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Actionable Steps for Cold Case Enthusiasts
If you’re someone who follows these stories or wants to help, there are actual things you can do. It’s not just about reading Wikipedia.
1. Share the Age-Progression Images
The NCMEC keeps the most updated profile for Anna Christian Waters. Sometimes a person sees a face that looks like their reflection or a neighbor’s, and that’s the spark that solves a fifty-year-old mystery.
2. Support DNA Doe Projects
Many cold cases from the 70s are being solved now through Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG). Supporting organizations that fund DNA sequencing for unidentified remains is the most effective way to close these folders.
3. Check Official Sources
Don't get your facts from horror movie trailers. If you want the real details on Anna's case, look at the California Department of Justice missing persons database or the Doe Network.
4. Report Tips (Even Old Ones)
If you lived in Half Moon Bay in 1973 and remember that white Chevy, or if you heard a "crazy" story from a relative that now seems to fit, call it in. The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office still maintains a line for cold cases.
The real story of Anna Waters isn't a ghost story. It's a human one. It’s about a five-year-old girl in black boots who walked into a backyard and never walked out. While the movie uses her name for cheap jumpscares, the reality is a quiet, haunting void that a family is still trying to fill.
To help find Anna, you can view her current profile and age-progression at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children website using case number NCMC601935.