Found this while looking for it...
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I love the urban legend (?) that Casper is really the ghost of Richie Rich. Personally, I'm pretty confident that he's the Lindbergh Baby. There's just so many depressing aspects about Casper when you think too hard about it, though, that make it tough to be happy for the tot.
How exactly did he die? The movie version made up that he got sick, but you never really knew for sure in the comic books.
http://www.retrocrush.com/100monsters/43.html