WI WI - Alexis Patterson, 7, Milwaukee, 3 May 2002

Another year has passed............really wish there would be some movement on Alexis' case. Someone, more likely more than just one person, knows what happened. Hopefully, one day soon someone either slips up, or a brave soul speaks up about what they know. People tend not to be very good keeping secrets this long.
 
Alexis age progression to age 17 looks similar to this DOE reconstruction
 

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Have you seen this child? Alexis Patterson

NCMC934881e1.jpg


Updated Age Progression for Alexis to Age 24
 
Alexis age progression to age 17 looks similar to this DOE reconstruction

Agreed. I actually sent this in to NAMUS back in 2015 and received an email back but then nothing further and it's not shown as an exclusion on Alexis' page so I'm thinking it was never compared.
 
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The man who last saw her, her stepfather LaRon Bourgeois, 52, was found dead Tuesday afternoon from a suspected drug overdose.

"That investigation was unparalleled as far as the number of people, the amount of people, the man-hours that went into it," retired Milwaukee police Det. Steve Spingola said. "In fact, it's still going on."

Though never charged in Alexis' disappearance, many suspected Bourgeois knew what really happened to her.

Now those secrets may never be known.

Bourgeois told police he walked Alexis to the corner of North 49th Street and West Garfield Avenue.
'What happened to Alexis?' Death of man who last saw her prompts new questions

That's where she attended Hi-Mount Community School.

But Alexis never arrived and she was never seen again.

"That was the narrative since she went missing in 2002 and it's completely false," Spingola said. "He never walked her to school that day, in fact, he never walked her to school period."

Milwaukee police and the sheriff's office worked tirelessly on the case for years.

They searched across the city and followed tips from around the country.
 
The Patterson disappearance is likely one of the most complicated cases for the department's two-man Cold Case Unit to solve. It returned to the headlines Jan. 19, when WISN 12 News first reported the death of Patterson's then-stepfather LaRon Bourgeois.

"His name has been brought up in this because he was the last person that was with her. However, there's been a lot of names that have come up in this. There's no way to know, no way to prove he was withholding anything or he was involved in anything," said Detective Timothy Keller, the other investigator in the unit.

According to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner, Bourgeois' death is being investigated as a possible drug overdose.

"I don't know that his death really impacts this one way or the other," Keller said.

"Obviously because this case is unsolved, we probably have talked to some people who have knowledge of this who has not been forthcoming," Jacks said.

"A ton of people's names have come up' maybe they're a person of interest, maybe they're a person who can point us in the right direction. It's just a very wide web of people." Keller added.

If you would like to leave an anonymous tip, call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.

'[URL="https://www.wisn.com/article/patterson-case-a-wound-that-has-not-healed-cold-case-investigators-say/35284138"]Patterson case a 'wound that has not healed,' cold case investigators say[/URL]
 
"It's something that's always bothered me. I was a police officer when she first went missing," Jacks recalled Thursday. "I always feel that we are responsible for these families; to give them the justice they deserve."

The Patterson disappearance is likely one of the most complicated cases for the department's two-man Cold Case Unit to solve.

It returned to the headlines Jan. 19, when WISN 12 first reported the death of Patterson's then-stepfather LaRon Bourgeois.

"His name has been brought up in this because he was the last person that was with her. However, there's been a lot of names that have come up in this. There's no way to know, no way to prove he was withholding anything or he was involved in anything," said Detective Timothy Keller, the other investigator in the unit.

According to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner, Bourgeois' death is being investigated as a possible drug overdose.
Alexis Patterson case a 'wound that has not healed,' cold case investigators say
 
Bourgeois told police he walked Alexis to the corner of North 49th Street and West Garfield Avenue.

That's where she attended Hi-Mount Community School.

But Alexis never arrived and she was never seen again.

"That was the narrative since she went missing in 2002 and it's completely false," Spingola said. "He never walked her to school that day, in fact, he never walked her to school period."

Wait, I thought Alexis was seen crying at the playground at the school that day? Her Charley Project entry states: “Alexis never attended classes during the day, although students reported seeing her crying on the playground before and after school”. I’ve also seen this information repeated in other sources. Is Spingola asserting that this isn’t true, and that no one saw her at the school that day at all? Or that he believes the sightings by her peers aren’t reliable?

If Bourgeois is truly responsible for whatever happened to Alexis, perhaps his death will allow others with information or suspicions to come forward. It’d be nice if Spingola would expand on why exactly he’s so firm in his belief that Bourgeois is the guilty party in this case. If no one actually saw Alexis that day, then I’d agree with him. If children did see her upset and crying at the playground, however, then I think it’s possible Alexis’s disappearance was a crime of opportunity by an unknown offender. Since Bourgeois is now deceased, and LE seems confident that he was their prime suspect, why not share more information with the public?
 
The lead detective from the Alexis Patterson case says he is confident she was murdered and that she never left her house that morning:

Find News/Talk 1130 WISN's Sunday Live On-Air Schedule | News/Talk 1130 WISN

He also added in the interview that a cadaver dog alerted to the basement as well as the trunk of the car and that there was a call placed from the Patterson home to a hospital at 6:00am the morning Alexis disappeared. The call was 14 seconds long before someone hung up.

Does anyone know if this article or a transcript of it is available anywhere? I have been searching for this information about the cadaver dogs and the early morning phone call, but I can’t find it anywhere else. Again, this information definitely leads credence to Spingola’s firm suspicions about Bourgeois, but I can’t find another source for it besides this post. Interestingly, Spingola does mention Alexis on a blog post of his in 2009:

To date, the body of Alexis Patterson remains missing. I have no doubt foul play was involved and that this young girl's soul is no longer with us. As one of the primary investigators, I have my own beliefs as to what transpired. There are, in my opinion, at least two people who know what led to Alexis' demise.

Fortunately, there is no statute of limitations for homicide. As was the case with the North Side Strangler, detectives, I am sure, will use every new technology available to obtain the evidence necessary to bring Alexis Patterson's killer to justice. That being said, during this investigation, I was present when the body of this young girl figuratively spoke on her behalf. Alexis, I believe, left investigators with a clue, if only a particular someone would have listened.

I’d love to know what this “clue” is, and who “a particular someone” is.
 

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett had recognized May 3 as “Alexis Patterson Forget Me Not Day.” Patterson’s mother, Ayanna, believes she will come home. “Alexis is alive. And I ain’t giving up,” she said.
 

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