7 year old Patrick Alford was last seen in Brooklyn, New York on January 22, 2010. He disappeared while helping his foster mom take out the garbage.

Background of Patrick Alford

Alford Patrick was born on November 28th, 2002. While Patrick was missing, he and his younger sister were living in a foster home in the Spring Creek Towers (previously known as Starrett City) at 130 Vandalia Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.

Their biological mother had been arrested for larceny in late 2009, just three weeks before Patrick vanished, and the children had been removed from the home on Staten Island.

Patrick’s biological father was living on Staten Island at the time of his disappearance. During a heist in East New York, Patrick’s father was shot in the head and left partially crippled two years after Patrick vanished. As of 2014 he was living in a nursing home in the Bronx.

Disappearance

On the evening of January 22, 2010, at 9:00 p.m., Patrick Alford was assisting his foster mother in taking out the trash from their eleventh-floor Brooklyn apartment located at 130 Vandalia Avenue.

When she turned around to look for Patrick, she couldn’t find him. Since then, Patrick has been completely untraceable.

Investigation

It has been alleged that Patrick informed his foster mother of his intent to abandon her and return to his biological mother.

Before the trail ran cold, K-9 teams had tracked Patrick’s scent all the way to the corner of Pennsylvania and Shroeder Avenues. No leads were discovered after a search of Fresh Creek Basin and Spring Creek Park close to his foster home.

Patrick’s biological mother was a prime suspect in the disappearance at first, according to the police. A week after he disappeared, she was arrested, but after being questioned extensively and passing a lie detector test, she was freed from jail few days later.

Patrick’s birth mother claims that the two of them had trouble communicating because his foster mother did not know English and he did not speak Spanish. She claims he threatened to run away, attacked his foster siblings, and made suicide threats after being placed in care.

About 14,000 persons were interrogated, 200 buildings were examined, and 9,000 doors were knocked on in the first two months of the investigation near his foster home on Vandalia Avenue and his his mother’s home on Staten Island.

His biological mother filed a lawsuit in federal court in Brooklyn nine months after Patrick went missing, accusing the city, his foster mother, and the foster care agency of negligence.

After a protracted legal struggle, the city finally settled with Patrick in 2018 for $6 million. A corporation is acting as trustee for Patrick, and the funds will be available to him upon his safe return.

Officials said they are still looking into Patrick’s disappearance and that they would appreciate any tips the public might provide. Crime Stoppers is offering a $13,000 reward for information leading to the location of his disappearance.

Whereabouts

The location of Patrick Alford, as well as the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, remains unknown. His case is classified as endangered missing and remains unsolved.

Appearance

On November 28, 2002, a biracial black/hispanic male was born. Patrick has brown eyes and black hair. When he went missing in 2010, he stood 4’8 and weighed 65 pounds.

Patrick has a scar on the left side of his brow. He was last spotted wearing a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and Michael Jordan sneakers in blue and black.

Investigating Agency

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Patrick Alford please contact the New York Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

A $13,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information regarding his disappearance.