<P> Author Gordie Lachance reads in the newspaper that his childhood friend Chris Chambers has been stabbed to death . Gordie narrates a flashback (later revealed to be Gordie writing) to a childhood incident when he and three buddies undertook a journey to find the body of a missing boy near the town of Castle Rock, Oregon, over Labor Day weekend in 1959 . </P> <P> Young Gordie is a quiet, bookish boy who likes to tell stories . His parents, grieving the recent death of Gordie's older brother Denny, neglect their younger son . Gordie's friends are Chris, who comes from a family of drunks and criminals; Teddy Duchamp, a joker who was burned and physically scarred by his mentally ill father; and Vern Tessio, who is overweight and timid . </P> <P> Vern overhears his older brother Billy and Billy's friend Charlie Hogan discussing Ray Brower, a young boy who is missing and presumed dead . Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern decide to find Ray's body, hoping to become local heroes . Chris steals his father's M1911 pistol, and the boys set out, stopping at a nearby junkyard to drink from its water pump . The boys hang out in the junkyard for a while, while Gordie leaves to buy food for the journey . When Gordie returns, he sees his friends jumping the fence to escape Milo Pressman, the junkman, and his dog Chopper . Gordie escapes as well . Pressman, infuriated, threatens to call the boys' parents and calls Teddy's father a "loony"; an enraged Teddy attempts to attack Pressman, but the boys restrain him and they leave . </P> <P> At nighttime, Gordie tells the other boys a story of Davie "Lard - Ass" Hogan, an overweight boy who is constantly teased and bullied . Hogan enters a pie - eating contest, but his goal was not to win, but to exact revenge . Prior to the contest, Hogan consumed a full bottle of castor oil and a raw egg . After eating several pies and briefly dominating the contest, Hogan vomits, inducing the vomiting of the contestants and crowd members, humiliating and embarrassing his tormentors . </P>

Who is the dead boy in stand by me
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