Alexis Patterson
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In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened to all of them, except one. A woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events.

Hear the story on Where's Dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder.

This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice. Today I am discussing the case of Alexis Patterson from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

On the morning of May 3rd, 2002, seven-year-old Alexis Patterson was very excited about going to school. Alexis was already a good student and prided herself on her perfect attendance record. But this day was going to be very special. The night before, she and her mother, Ayanna Patterson, purchased cupcakes for her to bring to her first grade class.

But when her mother realized Alexis had not finished her homework, she told her she was no longer allowed to bring the treats to school.

Frustrated, Alexis packed up and got ready to make the short walk to Highmount Community School. The school was just 242 steps from her front door, but her mother or stepfather usually walked with her anyway. That morning, her stepfather, Laurent Bourgeois, walked with her. When they got to the end of their street, they met a crossing guard who walked Alexis to the other side of the street to the school.

What happened next, and even parts of what I already told you, is highly debated among Laurent Bourgeois, witnesses at the school, and law enforcement. What we know for sure is that Alexis went missing that day.

To complicate matters further, in 2016, 14 years after Alexis went missing, a man came forward claiming his ex-wife was Alexis. Since then, Ayanna Patterson has believed her daughter is not missing, but alive and well, unable to believe the truth of her identity. But some detectives are certain that the answers about what happened to Alexis will be found closer to home.

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Alexis Patterson was born on April 4th, 1995, to her parents Ayanna Patterson and Kenya Campbell. Her parents' relationship didn't last long after she was born. Eventually, Ayanna Patterson met and married a man named Laurent Bourgeois.

Alexis lived with her mother and stepfather full-time at their home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Alexis turned seven shortly before she went missing. At that time, she was in the first grade at Highmount Community School just down the street from her home. Specifically, just 242 steps from her front door.

She was a straight-A student and prided herself on having perfect attendance. Her Head Start teacher has described Alexis as having a beautiful smile, noting that everyone in the class always wanted to sit next to her. She also loved skating and the color purple. On the night of Thursday, May 2, 2002, Alexis and her mother Ayanna went to the Jewel Osco Supermarket.

Alexis asked her mother to buy cupcakes for her to bring to class the next day as it was her turn to bring snacks, and Ayana agreed. The next morning, on now Friday, May 3rd, 2002, Ayana discovered that Alexis had not finished her homework from the night before. So, as a consequence, she told her she could no longer bring the cupcakes they purchased for her class to school. Alexis was obviously not happy, but she continued to get ready for the school day.

According to Laurent Bourgeois, just before 8 a.m., he walked Alexis the short distance from their front door to the end of the street where they were met by a crossing guard for the school. The crossing guard then guided Alexis across the street to the school. But Alexis never made it to her classroom that day, and the school never called her home to report her unexcused absence.

Alexis was due home at about 2.50 that day. By 2.55 p.m., Ayanna Patterson says she began to worry. By 3 p.m., she was at the school. This is when they informed her that Alexis was marked absent. After a quick trip to Alexis' grandmother's house to see if maybe she went there, Ayanna called the Milwaukee Police Department to report her daughter missing.

Now, before we go any further, I want to talk about the many conflicting reports here. Some reports say Laurent Bourgeois watched Alexis enter the school. Others say he saw her walk to the playground outside of the school where the kids always played before the bell rang. One member of law enforcement, who you will hear from later in this episode, says he doesn't think Alexis ever made it to school that day at all.

So, I don't really know what the truth is. There were no cameras outside of the school to confirm anything. However, multiple children on the playground did report seeing Alexis outside of the school that morning.

Some even say they saw her after school on the playground between 3 and 5 p.m. No one reported seeing her in her classroom or inside of the school at all. Students at the school also reported seeing a late model red GMC SUV with tinted windows hanging around the school that morning. Others say they saw a dark blue SUV speeding away from the school.

But as far as I could find, these vehicles were never a large focus in the investigation. So, unfortunately, exactly what happened that day is kind of fuzzy.

But the Milwaukee PD responded quickly. The search for Alexis would become one of the largest in the city's history. Law enforcement, the community, and friends and family of Alexis showed up in droves to look for her. Unfortunately, Alexis went missing almost one year to the day before Wisconsin adopted the Amber Alert system. So there was no alert for Alexis.

Within a day, the Milwaukee PD established a mobile command post near her home. 30 patrol officers, 23 detectives, and multiple supervisors worked day and night from this post. There were helicopters, huge search teams, and eventually multiple dive teams searching nearby bodies of water, including the Washington Park Pond just a few blocks from the school and the Milwaukee River.

They searched boarded-up homes, alleyways. They followed tips leading them to abandoned buildings. They interviewed and re-interviewed her family and classmates. Her parents were interrogated for over 10 hours and given polygraph tests. This was a huge news story in Milwaukee. Many people criticized the schools for not calling to report Alexis absent.

However, Superintendent Spence-Corte defended their policy of calling caregivers by the end of the second misday, saying that there were enough absences in the schools each day that they simply could not call caregivers when there was one unexcused absence. In the end, the district simply said it was an unfortunate incident, but they felt no reason to change their policy.

Three days after Alexis went missing, Milwaukee Chief of Police said that he believed Alexis ran away due to the argument she had with her mother that morning. But he reiterated that they were taking her disappearance very seriously.

Iona Patterson fought back against this, saying Alexis would never leave on her own, adding that she had no way of feeding or sheltering herself for the three days that she had now been missing. On May 7th, four days after Alexis went missing, Milwaukee Police Captain Paul Stummer of the Criminal Investigation Bureau was asked by local media if they had any suspects, to which he responded, quote,

However, less than a week later, by May 13th, Alexis' case was upgraded from a missing person to a criminal investigation by the Milwaukee PD. And it seemed clear that they and the media were focusing on LaRon Bourgeois.

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Ten days after seven-year-old Alexis Patterson went missing, her case was upgraded from a missing person investigation to a criminal investigation. And the focus was narrowing in on her mother, Ayanna Patterson, and her stepfather, Laurent Bourgeois. Of course, in any missing persons investigation, you have to start with those closest to the missing person and work your way out as you eliminate people.

According to Laurent Bourgeois, he was at home all day when Alexis went missing, presumably with Iona Patterson, doing nothing particularly interesting. Soon reports that Laurent failed certain parts of his polygraph test emerged. He fought back against these allegations, telling reporters near his home, quote, if I would not have passed the test, then I wouldn't be standing here, end quote. Now, you might be wondering about Alexis's biological father, Kenya Campbell.

Well, on the day Alexis went missing, he was in jail on charges of driving on a suspended license. So he was ruled out rather quickly. But I do think it's worth mentioning that in 2013, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for abusing his 8-month-old daughter so badly she nearly died. Ultimately, detectives have been unable to connect him to Alexis' disappearance in any way.

So, as far as I could find, he has never been considered a person of interest, and has seemingly been cleared by the Milwaukee PD. As for Leron, well, that's a different story. Authorities have never really shied away from their suspicions about him.

He does have a criminal history. Most notably, in 1994, LaRon was the getaway driver in a burglary that resulted in Glendale Police Officer Ronald Headbanny being shot and killed, but he was granted immunity for his testimony. The Milwaukee Police Department hasn't released much about why they think LaRon might have been involved in Alexis' disappearance, but I have to imagine this incident plays a role.

Later in the episode, you will hear directly from a member of law enforcement about why he believes all roads lead to La Ronne, and he's not very nice about it. You will also hear from La Ronne about what happened and how he feels about these accusations. Despite the focus on La Ronne, he and Ayanna still appealed to the media for help. On May 14th, reporter Crocker Stevenson from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel visited the family home.

Laron expressed his frustration with the constant media presence at their home, and the allegations that he may have been involved, but stated he continued to speak with the press in order to help Alexis' case. That day, Stevenson sat down with Ayanna and Laron as they dictated a letter to whomever took Alexis. It reads, quote, To whom it may concern, to whomever it is that has our child,

or to anybody who knows where she is. Please look into your heart and feel how your mother and father would feel if something like this happened to you. We know you have a mother and father who loves you like we love our child. Just think about how she feels not being able to come home to her mother and father where she belongs. We have visions of our daughter being dead, nightmares. We know she wants to be home with her brothers and sisters and her family.

We don't care who you are, what problems you may have had that would make you do something like this. We just want our baby home.

If you could find it in your heart to drop her off at the nearest safe place, or just let her go out the door, somebody will recognize her. It feels like we have a hole in our hearts. Our lives will not be complete without our baby. Nobody can take care of her like we can. If you have our daughter, just let us know she is safe and alive and happy.

God forgives, and we forgive. Give us back our child, please. Outside of suspicions that Laurent Bourgeois might be involved, there was another notable person of interest the police looked into. A few weeks after Alexis went missing, workers from America's Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee discovered a very disturbing note glued to the front door as they went to open the museum that day.

It featured Alexis and basically asked why white people should care about her. It also said if black people think white people care, quote, you are dreadfully mistaken, end quote.

I want to note here that Alexis' family also reported receiving anonymous, sexually explicit, and racist phone calls after putting their number on a flyer for Alexis. These calls began as early as the day after she went missing, and they went on for some time. It's just an extra, unneeded layer of hate not only for Alexis' loved ones, but Alexis herself.

I can't imagine if she was being held somewhere, possibly with access to the news, how she would feel about reading about these calls and flyers. We know that captors will sometimes show the people they've kidnapped media coverage of their case. I can imagine an evil person would use this type of media coverage to discourage Alexis from believing anyone cared about her just because she was black.

Of course, I'm just speculating at this point, so let's get back to the facts. Luckily, the man who created these horrible flyers was caught the next day. This man was 22-year-old Brian T. Werner. Milwaukee Police Chief Arthur Jones stated that Werner was, quote, well-known among his associates for his hatred of African Americans, end quote.

Werner also has one tattoo that reads white power on the inside of his lip and another tattoo on his arm that reads hate.

It was actually these tattoos that led police to Werner. Jones stated, quote, We received phone calls that told us, for instance, that we should look at tattoo parlors and other information, end quote. He says it eventually led them to Brian Werner's cell phone number. Werner turned himself in to police at 4.45 a.m. the morning after the first flyer was found.

When he was taken into custody, police found the flyers and a Nazi flag in his vehicle. Although law enforcement recommended a charge of disorderly conduct and pushed for the DA to add a hate crimes enhancer, the charges were ultimately dropped. The DA commented that although the flyers were obnoxious and offensive, his right to create and distribute them is protected by the First Amendment or the right to free speech.

Of course, with Werner being so malicious towards Alexis, they explored the possibility that he was responsible for her disappearance. But no connection was ever made. Searches for Alexis continued as tips came in, and the Milwaukee PD served subpoenas to four local news stations for their coverage of Alexis' case, possibly to review statements made by those in the area.

After five weeks, the mobile command unit for Alexis moved to the 3rd District Station, about a block away from Alexis' home. Officials stated that by this time, Alexis' case file was already thousands of pages long, filled with interviews, following up on tips, and failed leads.

To raise awareness for Alexis, the Milwaukee PD released a 15-second surveillance video of Alexis and her mother Ayanna at the Jewel Osco grocery store on the night before she went missing.

This is when they went to buy the cupcakes for her class. Officials told local news outlets that they hoped by showing Alexis on video versus just her picture, someone might recognize her. Though, based on some statements they make later in the case, I have a feeling they also wanted people to see Ayanna as well. Alexis' case did get a fair amount of attention when she first went missing.

She was in the local paper, on America's Most Wanted, CNN, and more. But then, on June 5th, about a month after Alexis went missing, a 14-year-old girl from Utah named Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her home. Her case dominated headlines across the country.

Now, I feel like I have to stop and say, all cases deserve the attention Elizabeth Smart's received. Each and every one of them. Black, white, poor, rich, educated, not educated, seven years old, seventy-seven years old, I don't care. Missing people deserve the best investigation possible, and, when appropriate, the most media coverage possible, until they are found.

Elizabeth received the coverage that all missing persons cases should receive. The Milwaukee Journal did a nexus search of all major newspapers about two weeks after Elizabeth went missing, so about six weeks after Alexis went missing. There were 67 stories about Alexis, and over 400 about Elizabeth.

In my research, I found countless articles comparing the cases. Some people say Alexis didn't get the same attention because she was black and from a lower-income family than Elizabeth Smart. Others say it was the circumstances of Elizabeth's abduction that were just more fascinating to people. Many say it was a combination of a lot of factors.

Either way, this was extremely disheartening to Alexis' family. I can't speak for other families, but I know I compare my sister's case to other cases in terms of the media attention it received. I can't help but think about what could have happened if my sister received basically any media attention when she first went missing. It's an impossible and mostly depressing game to play in your mind, but again, I can't help but wonder…

and i have to imagine alexis's loved ones have played the same game in their minds a million times just like i have local news outlets reported that ayana went into a deep depression after alexis was gone

She could barely eat or sleep, and she almost never left the house. In one article, they say she listened to a song by Yolanda Adams on repeat that said, quote, There is no pain Jesus can't feel, no hurt he cannot heal, for all things work according to his perfect will. No matter what you're going through, remember God is using you, for the battle is not yours, it's the Lord's, end quote.

Friends would end up staying with Ayanna to help her care for her infant child born just six months before Alexis went missing. By November, Alexis' family moved from the home Alexis once lived in, and they stopped talking to reporters. It was around this same time that they began losing support from some of the community as well.

A volunteer group established to help look for Alexis disbanded not long after a rummage sale to raise funds for their efforts only attracted four people. Founder Keith Martin told the Milwaukee Journal, quote, We won't have money to pay our telephone bills next week. But anything else out there, the community can support. I guess the attitude out there is, it didn't happen to me. So I'm going to leave it alone. It's just sad. End quote.

Now, I need to take a moment to recognize Keith Martin for the absolute rock star and hero that he is. He'd never met Alexis in his life. When he heard about her going missing, he brought together the community to search for her. He worked third shift as a security guard at Master Lock and spent the rest of his time gathering donations.

including bicycle locks from his employers for the bike team he put together to look for Alexis. He got t-shirts printed and work gloves from Walmart. He also bought all of the volunteers' flashlights. This man cared so much and went above and beyond to help Alexis. So I just wanted to give him a little shout out and explain how hard this group worked to raise awareness and look for Alexis.

I have to imagine running out of funding and disbanding was pretty heartbreaking for them. Alexis' family also lost the support of a private investigator hired to help find her. P.I. John Robbins-Wells donated money to help start that volunteer group and helped Martin oversee a hotline they'd established.

But after Alexis' family moved and changed their phone number, they pretty much cut off all communication with Wells. He believes this is because of statements he made to the media about the case. While Wells still continued to help find Alexis, he simply continued to do so without the help of her family, and said he would stop discussing the case with the media to avoid causing any more harm.

In April 2003, Laurent Bourgeois was arrested for battery and disorderly conduct for allegedly abusing Ayanna. At this time, she accused him of selling drugs, quote, pimping out several other women, end quote, and made a statement that he wasn't comforting her after Alexis went missing. Eventually, Laurent and Ayanna did get a divorce, and it was finalized in February 2005.

By May 2003, just a month after LaRon was arrested for battery and disorderly conduct, detectives told the Milwaukee Journal that despite only receiving about one new lead a month in Alexis' case, they still had five detectives assigned to it. However, it was reported that eventually, every conversation between Alexis' family and the Milwaukee PD ended in a screaming match.

at this point the leads are drying up and very slow to come in the police have not announced any persons of interest there are no major calls to action to look for a certain vehicle or witness there's basically nothing

And the relationship between detectives and Alexis' family is virtually non-existent. The case would see basically no movement, or at least they weren't telling the public about any movement, until 13 years later in 2016. This is when a man calls the Milwaukee Police Department and says, this might sound crazy, but I believe my ex-wife is Alexis Patterson.

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Fourteen years after Alexis Patterson went missing, the investigation into her disappearance appears to be at a standstill. Despite conducting one of the largest searches in Milwaukee history for Alexis, they just couldn't really find anything to tell them what might have happened to her. No one saw her enter a vehicle. None of her clothing was found. And the police and her family were not getting along. It just wasn't a great situation.

Then, out of the blue, the Milwaukee Police Department gets a call that changes the case forever. A man named Josh from Ohio calls them and says he believes his ex-wife is Alexis Patterson.

The police and Alexis' family are all over this. One independent test is done by Josh and Ayanna, and the police have a local unit in the area gather another DNA sample for their official testing. Although this woman denied being Alexis Patterson, when Ayanna Patterson saw a picture of the woman, she told USA Today, quote,

The DNA gathered by police in Ohio was shipped via FedEx to the Wisconsin Regional Crime Lab. It would take about 10 days to process. In that time, Josh was so sure that his ex-wife was Alexis Patterson that he took their six-year-old son all the way to Wisconsin to meet Ayanna Patterson.

And he said he just knew that this woman was his child's grandmother.

Even Senator Lena Taylor backed Josh and Ayanna, saying that when she saw the photos, she believed the woman was Alexis as well. Josh explained to reporters that not only did his ex-wife look just like Alexis and her age-progressed photo, but both women had the same bump on their left pinky fingers, both had a scar under their right eye, and they had matching birthmarks.

Here is Josh talking to TMJ4 News in 2016. I didn't even speak to the mother until there were three things that not just what everyone else could have. Anybody can have a scar under their eye and anybody can have a bump on their hand. But those two and the birthmark, and then you put pictures together, the resemblance, I don't know. This was my chance to find out the truth and figure out who my ex-wife and her family really was that...

I had to take this chance. I've wanted to know for years. But then the Milwaukee PD announced that their test determined this woman was not Alexis Patterson.

In addition to the DNA not being a match, she provided a passport, visa, and court documents to verify her identity as well. She was born in Belize and stressed that if her ex-husband Josh was correct about his suspicions that she was Alexis, she would have only been 14 years old when they got married in 2009.

Now, I couldn't find any information about the results of the independent test that was allegedly run by Ayanna and Josh, but I have to imagine the results were the same since I haven't seen Ayanna mention it. Ayanna believes that the results of the test run by the Milwaukee PD are false. She says they used older DNA from her that could have degraded over time, and believes the test may have been tampered with.

So she demanded another test to be done, this time by the Milwaukee Police Department in person instead of an outside agency. Now here's where things really get heated.

Ayanna says that after asking for this new test, a detective on the case said that they would happily run another test, that he would travel to Ohio himself to administer it, but under one condition. If the test came back negative, that the woman was not Alexis, Ayanna Patterson had to tell him what she really knew about her daughter's disappearance.

So, Ayanna says she went to the FBI for help, who had a similar response. They asked her to take another polygraph test in exchange for them retesting the Ohio woman. According to Ayanna, she agrees to take another polygraph test if they will show her the results of her first one. She says they refused, so she refused.

Obviously, this whole thing got very nasty very fast. The chief of police told the media he realized it probably wasn't the best way to gain Ayanna's trust. But the damage was done.

Their already fractured relationship was in shambles at this point. Ayanna took to the media, stating, quote, I feel like it's because of me being African American. I didn't finish high school. I'm from the hood. They probably did my background. You know, my mom was on drugs. My daddy wasn't around. They would have never treated me this way if I was white. End quote.

Now, because we're on the subject of the family possibly being involved in Alexis' case, I want to play some interesting audio clips I found in my research. This comes from a radio station in Wisconsin called 620 WTMJ. In 2017, they spoke with Laurent Bourgeois when he was in prison for drug-related charges.

They also spoke with David Clark from the Wisconsin PD. They each explained their position in Alexis' case, so I found this audio to be extremely valuable. First, you will hear from Laurent Bourgeois, then from David Clark. On May 30th, it was a

It was her snack day to go to school. Her mother took her the night before to get cupcakes so she can go to school and take her snacks to school. But she hadn't done her homework where it said, like, you can't take them. So she was, you know, a little upset, crying, you know what I mean? So I got her and my son dressed. I usually didn't walk her, you know what I'm saying, to school, but this time I did. I took her to the corner. I told her, well, I'll bring your snacks a little later on, you know what I'm saying, to school.

Be cool though, you know, don't let it bother you but she was really upset and then I gave a hand a lesson to the cross guard across guard worked across street and walk her to the side with school and I watched her run to the playground. Then I went home, you know what I'm saying? I was at home for most part of the day. By the time it was time for the ladies to come home, she hadn't came home. So I was like, my baby ain't came home. I was like, well, they probably just kept her at the school. You know what I'm saying? Cause she did something. Probably didn't care about school so she won't go over there.

A few minutes, about 15 minutes, 10, 15 minutes later, she came and busted through the door. She was like, "Man, my baby ain't been to school all day." I'm like, "You kidding?" You know what I'm saying? She ain't been there. She just broke down. I was like, "What?" And then it's, that was history. You know what I'm saying? Then we called the police. They came. You know what I'm saying? They came. They went to Stern Park. They looked around for her and never found her. And you know what I'm saying? So they didn't know how to really investigate it. They didn't have Amber Alert. They didn't have nothing. School ain't got no cameras on the outside to protect the kids. And they still don't. You know what I'm saying? Well, they should.

It was, the investigation just like turned towards us, you know what I'm saying? And it's been like that. And to me, it's sad because it's like Lexington really had a fighting chance because these people, well, they never got off of that, you know what I'm saying? He said he watched her walk into the school, but the school officials never saw her that day. So to me, that's a red flag, okay? Apparently there was some

issue with was her birthday or something like that her birthday was coming some occasion was coming up and usually the tradition was kids bring a treat to school whatever and she didn't have a treat to bring to school and she put up a fuss that morning I remember some of the details you know something about that she had been disciplined for her behavior and you know those things to me didn't pass the smell test

She was never at school. I don't care what the boyfriend's saying. She was never at school. He said he watched her walk into school. Does he think, or does anybody think the 7-year-old is sly enough to, well, I'll walk in the door and I'll watch him and I'll leave and then I'll leave. You know, come on, give me a break. Based on what you know, Sheriff, do you believe that LaRon Bourgeois, the boyfriend, may have been involved in what happened to Alexis Patterson? Sure. Can I prove it? No.

But look, you're talking to a veteran homicide investigator. That's what I'm basing it on, my experience, my gut instinct. We get to use all those in investigations, but I still get to maintain as an investigator, this is what we do. We come up with a theory, what may have happened here, and these ones that don't have a lot of things to go on.

I know how these things work. I know what I'm talking about here. So what's your theory on what may have happened to Alexis Patterson? Well, I indicated she wasn't chopped off at school. But what can I prove beyond that? Nothing. I still get to operate from that premise as an investigator. Honestly, I don't know what to believe.

News articles state that multiple children saw Alexis on the playground before and after school that day. There were also the reports of the red and blue SUVs being nearby. And what about the crossing guard?

David Clark says he doesn't believe Alexis ever made it to school that day. But where is this witness statement from the crossing guard that I presume was an adult? I don't know. But here is what Leron Bourgeois said when he heard David Clark's allegations against him. What did I do to her? What did I do? Am I some type of...

predicated killer where I know how to do just saying he's a Negative individual who really young me I feel he ignorant too You know saying because it's people like him that keep it from with the truth of really coming out He can say what he want to say. I don't respect him No, I'm saying all the way even when he really did not to help the situation itself. I

You know, what do you mean? What did I do then? If you felt like I did it, what did I do? You know what I mean? But walk her to the corner to be her father, to nurture her. And that's crazy. You know what I'm saying? I lost a child, man. You know what I'm saying? I said, what do you think? You know what I mean? I got to live with this every day because of these rumors and what people say.

It's fictitious and it's fake, but it's not about me. It's about her. So they can say what they want to say. You know what I'm saying? Because I know the truth. As long as I know, I can tell the same story over and over again because you can, the truth will never change. What did she do to me that made me want to harm her? What did she do? She didn't do nothing. She was an innocent child.

For that type of thinking, for me, I expect that from somebody like him. So it don't bother me. You know what I'm saying? It don't bother me. It do, but it don't. It do, but it don't. I mean, because it's hurting her chances. You know what I'm saying? It's not bothering me because, you know what I'm saying, that's the only reason why it bothers me because that type of stuff don't help the situation. It hurt it.

So Sheriff Clark also says she never made it to that school playground. Well, I don't know what he said. I don't care what he said. But he can ask this Crockley guy, the little kids who was there that said that she was on the playground. I don't care what he say. He went, where was she at then? And she never played. It is what it is, man. He can say what he wants. So what did I do? Kill her and hide her body somewhere where I put her? You know what I'm saying? I didn't go nowhere. I was at home, man. You know what I'm saying? What did I do?

In 2021, Laurent Bourgeois was found dead with another woman not associated with Alexis. It's alleged he died of a drug overdose. Ayanna Patterson says if he was involved in Alexis' disappearance, he never told her.

Unfortunately, this is where Alexis' case is today. Ayanna Patterson still believes the woman from Ohio is her daughter Alexis. She's continued to be active in the media ever since.

In 2022, Ayanna held a 20-year awakening celebration for Alexis. About 100 people attended. At this event, Alexis' Head Start and first grade teachers spoke about their memories of Alexis and the joy she brought to their classrooms. Ayanna also distributed awards to people who have helped her over the years.

The community as a whole continues to remember Alexis as well. Every year since 2012, longtime Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has recognized May 3rd as Alexis Patterson Forget-Me-Not Day. Before he left his office to become the U.S. ambassador for Luxembourg, he signed the 2022 proclamation for Alexis.

Now, this brings me right to our call to action. Please share Alexis' story on social media, and with one of your favorite podcast hosts. You might be thinking, who needs a stupid podcast when Alexis is being featured on major media outlets?

But I have to say, I think the audiences are quite different. I believe the majority of you guys that listen to these true crime podcasts want to learn more about these cases than you can get by reading a few articles. I also think a lot more of you are passionate about these cases because you know more. So I would love it if you asked one of your favorite true crime podcasts to cover Alexis' story to help spread awareness in this community.

Also, I have a very special call to action just for my listeners that are members of law enforcement out there. In my research for this episode, I came across a pretty shocking figure. According to the Milwaukee Journal, in new research that has not been published yet, quote,

Syracuse University professor Carol Liebler found that law enforcement officers are the most prominent sources in 87% of news stories about missing children. So, if you are a member of law enforcement who wants to speak up about a missing persons case, please fight for it. Please share this statistic with your department and the entire study once it's published.

I know a lot of officers have their hands tied when it comes to being able to speak to the media, but this is huge. With more sources of factual information, journalists and creators like me can help spread the word about these cases, and hopefully bring more of the missing home. Alexis Patterson was 7 years old when she went missing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 3rd, 2002.

At the time, she was 3 feet 8 inches tall and weighed approximately 42 pounds. She was last seen wearing a red hooded jacket with a gray stripe on the sleeves, a purple shirt,

light-colored blue jeans, and white Nike tennis shoes. She wore her hair in two braids pulled back into one ponytail and was carrying a pink Barbie book bag. She has black hair and brown eyes. She also has a scar under her right eye and a bump on her left pinky finger. There is a $10,000 reward being offered for information that leads investigators to Alexis.

Anyone with information is urged to contact their local FBI office. You can also submit a tip anonymously online at tips.fbi.gov. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.

Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney. For more information about the podcast, to suggest a case, to see resources used for this episode, and to find out more about how to help the cases I discuss, visit VoicesForJusticePodcast.com. And if you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show in your podcast player.

It really does help more people find the podcast and these cases in need of justice. Welcome to the Voices for Justice Secret After Show.

Now, I have to say that I think Alexis' case could have been very different had the Amber Alert system been enacted in Wisconsin at that time. It really broke my heart that just one year could have made all the difference in this case. Also, just as a little side note because we are here in the after show, if you want to learn more about the Amber Alert system, the history, challenges, and impact, I covered it over on my Patreon.

I don't cover unsolved cases over there because I just don't think they should live behind a paywall. But I do explore relevant topics over there, such as the Amber Alert system, in hopes that I can learn all I can to better cover these cases. And so that hopefully you guys learn something too so you can better understand these cases.

Now, I have to say it or else nobody would know about it. Patreon membership starts at just $5 a month, and it gives you access to absolutely everything over there other than mailed goods, like stickers and a shirt for the higher tier. But you get access to all content for just $5 a month.

And right now, 100% of what I make from Patreon is invested back into the show and into these cases. Because of my Patreon, I'm able to do things like buy billboards, audio equipment, or even just help with living expenses in some cases. It also allowed me to do something pretty cool at CrimeCon this year.

If you weren't able to come to the event, my table basically had a little section for swag like stickers and pins, but the rest was dedicated to displaying cold case flyers I collected from basically loved ones across the world of the murdered and missing. So thank you to all my patrons for making that happen.

Now, I won't sit here and tell you that my Patreon is filled with the most amazing bonus content you'll ever find, because it's just really not. If I think the world needs to know something about an unsolved case or an issue, I don't want that to live behind a paywall. I want it to be accessible to everyone. But with that being said, I do cover educational topics, and you get some cool little extras, like hanging out with me if you're into that,

extended interviews that just didn't make the show, and even about an hour of me and Watchman talking about our engagement.

Basically, a lot of behind the scenes stuff with me. But going back to CrimeCon for just a second, I do want to say thank you to everyone who came to see me there. If you stopped by, you stopped me in the hallway, you just said hello, I want to say thank you so much. Going to events like CrimeCon, one of the biggest reasons is to meet you guys and say thank you for everything that you've done for me and for the show and for the cases. So again, thank you to everyone who saw me there.

Now, I do want to give a shout out to a very special nonprofit that's relevant to Alexis's case, but also that I had the chance to meet at CrimeCon. Now, months ago, you guys probably remember this name because I actually am sponsoring one of their events. This is the Black and Missing Foundation. But at CrimeCon, I had the chance to meet Derrica and Natalie Wilson.

They are the founders of the foundation and they were actually awarded an award, obviously, at CrimeCon. It was the Crime Fighter of the Year Award. I just wanted to give them another shout out. If you're ever looking for an organization to support, whether that's volunteering, just following them on social media and sharing cases or donating, definitely check out the Black and Missing Foundation. They do amazing work. Like I said, they have advocated for Alexis and I have to be honest, they're

I was at the Clue Award ceremony at CrimeCon and they played this video. I'm like getting chills right now. They played this video featuring their work and their cases. And I am getting emotional now. I cried my eyes out like a baby. So yeah, go check out the Black and Missing Foundation. They are absolutely amazing.

But as always, thank you for tolerating me. I almost forgot. I love you and I'll talk to you next time.