Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Alexis S. Patterson
Alexis, date, approximate 2002; Age-progression to age 24 (date, approximate 2019)
Date Missing 05/03/2002
Missing From
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 04/04/1995 (27)
Age 7 years old
Height and Weight 3'8, 42 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A hooded red pullover nylon jacket with a gray stripe running down each sleeve, a light purple blouse or a blue shirt with horizontal stripes, light blue jeans, blue and white high-top Nike sneakers and cluster-type diamond sunflower-shaped earrings with yellow gold posts. Carrying a pink Barbie bookbag. Her hair was styled in two French braids which were pulled back into a ponytail.
Associated Vehicle(s) Red truck
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Alexis has a scar below her right eye. She has a bump on her left pinky finger. Alexis's primary and secondary teeth are crowded, and her gums are dark in color. Her ears are pierced. Alexis's nicknames are Lexi and Pie. She is right-handed.
Details of Disappearance Alexis resided with her mother and stepfather, Ayanna and LaRon Bourgeois, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. LaRon walked Alexis to Hi-Mount Boulevard School in the 4920 block of West Garfield Avenue near 49th Street at approximately 8:00 a.m. on May 3, 2002. Alexis was a first-grade student there. The school is less than one block from the family's home.
LaRon said that he watched Alexis walk towards the playground before he headed back to their residence. Alexis never attended classes during the day, although students reported seeing her crying on the playground before and after school. She has never been heard from again.
Ayanna and LaRon were not notified about Alexis's absence until after her school dismissed in the afternoon. They initially believed she refused to attend classes because of an argument she had with her mother. Ayanna said that Alexis failed to properly complete her homework during the previous evening. She was not allowed to bring cupcakes for her classmates the following day as a result.
Authorities agreed with the scenario and said that something may caused Alexis's disappearance after she was seen in the school's playground later in the day. She does not have a history as a runaway and had a perfect attendance record at school prior to her disappearance.
The surrounding areas were searched immediately after Alexis was reported missing. Investigators canvassed nearby Washington Park while divers searched its lagoon. Authorities focused on areas near Meinecke Avenue, Vine Street, 16th Street and 60th Street in the northwest section of the city. No evidence was discovered at any of the locations.
Investigators announced that Alexis disappeared under suspicious circumstances and reclassified her from a missing child to a criminal investigation by May 14.
Some of Alexis's classmates told police that they had seen a red truck parked near the school for most of the week before her disappearance. The truck never dropped anyone off or picked anyone up, and it disappeared after Alexis vanished, never to be seen again. It has not been identified and it is unknown if it is connected to her .
Alexis's father, Kenya Campbell, was imprisoned in Milwaukee at the time of her disappearance. He was released shortly afterwards and cooperated with authorities, as did Ayanna and LaRon. Alexis's stepfather has a criminal history as well, but investigators announced that they did not believe either LaRon or Campbell's pasts were connected to her .
LaRon failed a polygraph test after Alexis's disappearance and was charged in an unrelated crime in 2003, a year after Alexis vanished; he had a domestic dispute with Ayanna, who had been trying to leave him for some time, and was ordered to stay away from her. Ayanna described LaRon as abusive and threatening towards her. The criminal charges were later dropped, however.
Ayanna and LaRon divorced in 2005. LaRon died in 2021 at the age of 52, apparently of a drug overdose.
Foul play was suspected in Alexis's . Her disappearance remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Milwaukee Police Department
414-935-7401
414-935-7302
Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department
414-278-4788
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Child Protection Education of America
WISN 12
WISC-TV3
The Wisconsin State Journal
ABC News
Help Find Alexis Patterson
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
America's Most Wanted
Operation L. A. P. Recovery Center, Inc.
The Citizen Observer
The Child Seek Network
620 WTMJ NewsRadio
Find Our Missing
Fox 6 Now
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
