Steven Damman

On the afternoon of October 31, 1955—Halloween—Marilyn Damman left her two-year-old son Steven and seven-month-old daughter Pamela in a stroller outside a bakery on Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow, Long Island, New York while she went inside to make a purchase. When she returned minutes later, Steven was gone. Pamela was still in the stroller, unharmed.

The abduction made national headlines and prompted an intensive search. The FBI joined the investigation due to the possibility of kidnapping. Hundreds of tips poured in, and sightings were reported across the country, but none led to Steven. The case became one of the most publicized child abductions of the 1950s.

In 2012, the FBI reopened the case after a man in Michigan believed he might be Steven Damman based on similarities in age, appearance, and lack of knowledge about his early childhood. DNA testing, however, conclusively ruled him out. The investigation continued to pursue other leads without success.

Steven Damman's disappearance occurred during an era of relative innocence when leaving children unattended briefly was common. The case helped change attitudes about child safety and contributed to growing awareness of the danger of child abduction. Marilyn Damman spent the rest of her life hoping for Steven's return and died in 2019 without ever learning his fate.