Whatever Happened to the Crimson Justice?

There was a time when the Red Alert shone in the sky, and Empire City's greatest hero, the Crimson Justice, would answer the call. But now it's been years and neither he - nor his sidekick Reddy nor their psychotic arch foe, Dr Mayhem - have been seen since the Great Empire City Hospital Fire decades ago. What happened that fateful night? Did they all die? But if that's the case, who or what is this Dr Mayhem who's reappeared in the modern day, brutally murdering Commissioner Thomas Kent and challenging the Justice to return? Is that possible? Does the Crimson Justice still live? And if so, what could have made him disappear and abandon his crimson hood in the first place?