Alexis Patterson

Case background and investigation

Alexis Patterson was seven years old when she disappeared in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the morning of May 3, 2002. She attended Hi-Mount Community School, near 49th Street and Garfield Avenue, a short walk from her family's home.

That morning her stepfather, LaRon Bourgeois, walked her toward the school. According to his account, as reported by WTMJ and WITI, he watched her cross the street, where a crossing guard was on duty. Some students later said they had seen her outside the building, but teachers said she never came into class. Her mother, Ayanna Patterson, reported her missing that afternoon when she did not come home.

She was last seen wearing a red hooded jacket with gray stripes, a purple shirt, blue jeans and white Nike shoes. According to WITI, identifying features include a scar under her right eye and a bump on her left little finger.

Milwaukee police set up a mobile command post within a day, and neighbors joined in the search, according to local reports. The Journal Sentinel reported that within days the police chief at the time raised the possibility that she had run away after a disagreement at home over homework, a theory her family rejected. Detectives went on to follow hundreds of tips, some of which took them to other states. Police have said they have not ruled anyone out, and no one has ever been charged in connection with her disappearance.

Her case has often been discussed alongside that of Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted in Utah about a month later, in June 2002, and whose disappearance drew far more immediate national coverage. Commentators have cited the contrast in discussions of how race affects attention to missing children. Wisconsin had not yet adopted an Amber Alert system when Alexis vanished.

In 2016 a tip pointed to a woman living in Ohio who resembled an age-progressed image of Alexis. Milwaukee police arranged a DNA test and announced that the woman was not Alexis; her mother has publicly questioned that result. Bourgeois died in January 2021 of a suspected drug overdose, according to WTMJ. Alexis's relatives mark the anniversary each year, and in May 2026 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released a new image showing how she might look at 31. The Milwaukee Police Department continues to ask for information.