Details of Steven Damman

• Missing Since:10/31/1955
• Missing From: East Meadow, New York
• Classification: Non-Family Abduction
• Sex: Male
• Race: White
• Date of Birth: 12/15/1952 (69)
• Age: 2 years old
• Height and Weight: 3’2, 32 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description: Blue polo shirt, red sweater with a blue and white ship print on the front, brown shoes, and blue overalls or dungarees.
• Medical Conditions: When Steven disappeared, he was receiving treatment for a growth on his kidney.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Blue eyes and blonde hair. On the back of his left calf and a small scar under his chin, Steven has birthmarks that resemble moles. His left arm’s fracture has healed. When he vanished in 1955, he walked with his toes pointed out. Stevie is Steven’s nick name, and according to some sources, his name is spelled Stephen.

Details of Disappearance

On October 31, 1955, Steven was last seen at a grocery store in East Meadow, Long Island, New York. He had gone there with his mother and sister, who was only seven months old; it was a block and a half from his house.

While she shopped for bread, Steven’s mother left him and his sister, who was in a carriage, outside the store for about ten minutes. Both of the kids had vanished when she emerged. A few blocks away, Steven’s sister was found still in her carriage, but her brother has never been seen or heard from again.

Late in November 1955, a Queens College student in New York City sent three letters to Steven’s parents requesting money in exchange for the toddler’s safe return. Each letter increased the amount requested: first $3,000, then $10,000, and finally $14,000. The student turned out to be an opportunist who had nothing to do with Steven’s alleged kidnapping, despite Steven’s parents’ best efforts to comply.

The “Boy in the Box” or “America’s Unknown Child,” a young boy who was discovered dead inside a cardboard box in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1957, has been suggested as Steven. They shared the same scars and were both blond and blue-eyed, but Steven did not have the same healed arm fracture as the unidentified boy, and the Philadelphia child’s footprints did not match Steven’s.

The police confirmed in 2003 that Steven was not the Boy in the Box by comparing the unidentified boy’s DNA with DNA from his sister. Despite extensive ongoing investigations, the child’s identity is still unknown.

Steven is from Iowa, and his father served in the Air Force in 1955, when the family was stationed on Long Island. After Steven’s kidnapping, his father left the Air Force and the family relocated to Iowa. His parents divorced in 1957 and both remarried later. His father is still in Iowa and has two sons from his second marriage; his mother is now in Missouri.

The case received additional media attention in 2009, when a Michigan man claimed to be Steven, but DNA tests ruled him out. There is little evidence to suggest Steven’s fate, and his case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency

• Nassau County Police Department 516-573-7000