The newest season of Unsolved, a true-crime podcast for USA TODAY and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, examines the disappearance of 7-year-old Alexis Patterson. Alexis went lacking in Milwaukee in 2002. Fourteen years after she vanished, a person in Ohio got here ahead to recommend his ex-wife might be Alexis. The next excerpts from the Journal Sentinel archives, reported by Crocker Stephenson, had been first revealed in 2016. Unsolved is obtainable on all podcast platforms.
New hope in thriller of Alexis Patterson’s 2002 disappearance
Initially revealed within the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 6, 2016
Regulation enforcement officers needed to find out whether or not a girl dwelling in Ohio was Alexis Patterson, the Milwaukee lady who vanished 14 years in the past, a thriller that is still an open wound to these touched by her story.
Questions in regards to the Ohio lady arose when the lady’s ex-husband and his fiancée turned more and more interested in her murky previous.
The girl, they stated, has no reminiscence of her childhood earlier than the age of 10. She has no pictures or college mementos — certainly, no ordinary reminders of a traditional childhood.
That was sufficient to spur the ex-husband and fiancée to seek for clues on the web the place they occurred upon a computer-aged {photograph} of Alexis Patterson, and have become satisfied that Alexis is the lady they know.
The couple compiled a set of a couple of dozen photographs and, in late June, despatched it to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Division. Inside days, in addition they despatched it to the Journal Sentinel, hoping for motion. The newspaper shared the photographs with the Milwaukee Police Division’s chilly case unit, which has been accountable for Alexis’ case since 2009.
Alexis’ mom, Ayanna Patterson, has by no means wavered in her perception that her daughter is alive. However she has had her hopes constructed up by purported breaks in her daughter’s case, solely to have them crash when the breaks did not pan out. She has been besieged by hustlers claiming to know her daughter – and even to be her daughter.
When the Journal Sentinel confirmed her the photographs of the Ohio lady, Patterson’s preliminary skepticism gave method to cautious optimism.
“That might be my child,” she stated. “I’ve by no means stated this earlier than, however that might be my youngster.”
Her optimism deepened when reporters traveled to Ohio and interviewed the couple.
Extra:These lacking children want your assist. This is what to know.
The girl, they stated, has two options usually talked about in descriptions of Alexis by such organizations because the FBI and the Nationwide Middle for Lacking and Exploited Kids: a linear scar beneath her proper eye and an uncommon bump on her left pinkie finger.
Additionally they talked about a 3rd attribute, one which has not been launched to most of the people. Once they instructed Ayanna Patterson, she confirmed that Alexis additionally had that attribute. After which she wept.
The Ohio lady, nevertheless, has steadfastly denied that she is Alexis.
“I’m not that lady,” she instructed the Journal Sentinel. “That could be a ridiculous query.”
Learn the total story from the Journal Sentinel archives.
Unsolved podcast searches for the reality about Alexis Patterson
Seven years later, Alexis’ mom continues to imagine the Ohio lady is her daughter.
“I do know that’s my youngster,” Patterson instructed USA TODAY final yr. “I’m not afraid of nothing now that I do know my child’s protected, and I do know my child’s alive.”
In episode 5 of Unsolved, reporters journey once more to Ohio to attempt to determine the reality.
Study extra in regards to the Alexis Patterson case by listening to the true-crime podcast Unsolved.
