When someone disappears, the police typically have a certain window of time to retrieve them before the odds of them being found alive drop dramatically. In the case of a missing child, this waiting game can feel especially torturous: Parents stay up nights, wondering where there little one has gone, and terrified that they’ll never see them again. Statistically, many missing and kidnapped children are found with relatives, the outcome of some family drama or resentment — but sometimes, the unthinkable happens and the child disappears for good, never to be seen again. This was the case for a young girl named Alexis Patterson, who disappeared in broad daylight outside of her school over 10 years ago. The story that’s unfolding now sounds like something out of a movie, and depending on the results of new DNA evidence, this young woman may have been found. Read more about how it happened — and what it might mean for the girl in question — below.She was dropped off at school by her stepfather, who said that he last saw her standing in the crosswalk.
The photo was taken 14 years ago, and she hasn’t been seen since.
“She was upset that day because today is her snack day but she hadn’t been too good with her homework, so we didn’t let her take her snacks,” Patterson’s stepfather, LaRon Bourgeois said.
It’s hard to believe that someone could have taken her in front of her own school in broad daylight.
The community has done everything to keep her memory alive.
The tip came from a man and his fiancée in Ohio. It stated that they believed that the man’s ex-wife could possibly be Alexis Patterson.
The ex-husband and his fiancée became increasingly curious about this woman’s past.
She has no photographs or school mementos, and none of the usual reminders of a typical childhood. Once they saw old photos of Alexis on the Internet, they became convinced it was the woman they knew.
After its received, DNA will be transmitted to the Wisconsin Crime Lab for testing.
If it were a match, there’s no denying that it’s the same person.
Ayanna Patterson has spent ten years holding out hope for her daughter, but she’s skeptical about this recent development.
Lots of other evidence simply doesn’t add up, but there is a small part of Ayanna’s mind that’s allowed herself to imagine it’s true. “I’ve never said this before, but that could be my child,” Patterson’s mother stated. Only time will tell.
