Alexis Patterson
Seven-year-old Alexis Patterson disappeared near her Milwaukee school on the same day Elizabeth Smart was abducted in Utah. Alexis's disappearance received far less media coverage, sparking national conversation about racial disparities in missing children coverage. She has never been found.
Alexis Patterson is documented in the ColdCaseIndex database as a missing-person case connected to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The disappearance is dated to May 3, 2002. The victim is recorded as 7 years old and female. The last known information on record places the case at May 3, 2002, near Hi-Mount School, Milwaukee, WI.
Within the ColdCaseIndex taxonomy, Alexis Patterson is filed under Missing Person with a status of Unsolved. A missing-person entry documents someone who disappeared under circumstances that remain unresolved. The record is cross-referenced under the themes child, missing person, Wisconsin, media disparity, unsolved, which connect it to related cases across the database.
As of the most recent information compiled here, no arrest has been publicly recorded in the Alexis Patterson case, and it remains open and unsolved. Cases like this can be reactivated at any time — advances in DNA analysis, forensic genetic genealogy, and renewed public attention have resolved cases that lay dormant for decades.
Primary jurisdiction for the Alexis Patterson case rests with local law enforcement in Milwaukee, supported by Wisconsin state investigative authorities. The case sits within a wider national picture: the U.S. homicide clearance rate has fallen from roughly 90% in the 1960s to about 54% today, and more than 346,000 homicides recorded since 1965 remain unsolved. ColdCaseIndex documents individual cases like this one to keep them publicly visible and searchable.
Curated starting points for verifying and researching this case. Direct references are checked; search links are provided as further-reading aids. ColdCaseIndex is an index of public information — see a case correction? Email info@coldcaseindex.com.
Have Information About This Case?
Cold cases are solved when someone comes forward. Even a detail that seems minor can matter. If you have any information about this case, contact law enforcement through one of these channels:
- FBI Tips (tips.fbi.gov) — submit a tip online to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- FBI Tip Line: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324)
- NamUs (namus.nij.ojp.gov) — the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System accepts information on missing persons cases
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678)
- The local police department or sheriff's office in Wisconsin, or the state bureau of investigation
Tips can usually be submitted anonymously. To report an error on this page, email info@coldcaseindex.com.