Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Police Release Age-Enhanced Photo of Missing Brooklyn Boy Patrick Alford

By Camille Bautista | January 22, 2015 2:28pm
  The NYPD is asking for the public's help on the five-year anniversary of foster child Patrick Alford's disappearance. 
Police Search for Missing Child Patrick Alford
View Full Caption

STARRETT CITY — Five years after the disappearance of 7-year-old foster child Patrick Alford, NYPD detectives released an age-enhanced photo of the boy in an effort to find new clues about his whereabouts.

Alford was last seen at his 130 Vandalia Ave. foster home on Jan. 22, 2010, authorities said. 

The child had been living in the Brooklyn apartment for about three to four weeks when he ran away, according to Lt. Christopher Zimmerman, Commanding Officer of the NYPD’s Missing Person’s Squad.

Standing outside the East New York building on Thursday, Zimmerman called for the public’s assistance in finding Alford and made a plea directly to the missing boy.

“Patrick, please call 911 wherever you are. I will have people come and get you and bring you back,” Zimmerman said.

“This case will remain an active missing persons case until we find Patrick,” he added. “This will never be a closed case. We will continue to give immense efforts in trying to locate him.”

Alford was taking out the trash at the time of his disappearance and was last seen wearing a red T-shirt, blue jeans and black and blue Nike Jordan shoes, officials said.

He was 4-foot-8 and 65 pounds, with a scar on his left eyebrow at the time he went missing.

Soon after Alford went missing, there were a few reported sightings, but detectives dispelled the accounts. The last known lead in the case was in 2014, Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said he believed the 7-year-old ran away because he wanted to see his biological mother.

Alford’s biological parents, who live in New York, have cooperated with the investigation and are conducting their own efforts to find the child, officials said.

Detectives placed new missing persons signs around the neighborhood Thursday as a Crime Stoppers van circled the block announcing details of Alford’s case.

“I think it’s a little more heartbreaking that it’s been difficult to locate Patrick, but I’ve never given up and I’ve always strongly believed that Patrick is alive and out there,” Zimmerman said.

A $12,000 reward is offered for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved in Alford’s disappearance.

Anyone with information should call 1-800-577-TIPS,WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or text their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.