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The Missing: Patrick Alford

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Missing Persons True Crime

          We’re back. We have 52 posts planned for you this year, and we’re excited to embark on a new year of highlighting and preserving cases that need attention and need to be preserved. The first case we’re going to examine is the disappearance of a seven year old boy who had recently been placed into foster care, and was understandably very unhappy about it. So what happened to Patrick Alford on the night of January 22, 2010? Let’s explore.

Who Is Patrick?

          Patrick Kennedy Alford was born on November 28, 2003 to parents Jennifer Rodruiguez and Patrick Alford Sr. While we do not have much information about Patrick’s short life before his disappearance, it appears to have been tumultuous. His parents separated at some point and were living apart at the time of Patrick’s disappearance, and he was living in the care of a foster mother alongside his four-year-old sister. And while he did act out as a result of this drastic and dramatic upheaval, he did not seem to be a deeply troubled child based on what I have read. If you know Patrick and want to share more about what he’s like, please feel free to reach out.

The Disappearance

          On the night of January 22, 2010, Patrick was assisting his new foster mother, Librada Moran, take out the trash. Moran has said that she only turned her head for a moment, and when she looked back towards where Patrick had been, he was gone. Other sources report that Moran took a short phone call, which distracted her. Either way, her eyes were briefly off of Patrick, and he vanished.
          Patrick and his four-year-old sister Jayleen had been removed from the custody of his biological mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, three weeks prior due to alleged neglect. Patrick was deeply unhappy with this arrangement, and threatened to run away on more than one occasion. His mother had allegedly threatened to kidnap Patrick at some point as well. 

A photo of Patrick taken shortly before his disappearance. (New York State Police)

The Investigation

          Moran alerted authorities about Patrick’s disappearance to authorities. Units with scent dogs tracked his scent to the intersection of Pennsylvania and Shroeder Avenues, which was about a third of a mile from the apartment complex he vanished from. They also interviewed over 10,000 people in the months after Patrick’s disappearance in an attempt to find an eyewitness – to no avail. 200 buildings in the vicinity of the disappearance. To date, no viable leads have been sourced from these searches. The investigating agency also searched Fresh Creek Basin and Spring Creek Park for signs of Patrick – also to no avail.
          Patrick’s biological mother appears to be the only suspect that was seriously considered in the investigation. In the days following Patrick’s disappearance, Jennifer Rodriguez was ordered to produce Patrick at a court proceeding. When she was unable to do so, she was held in contempt of court and placed in jail. She was questioned extensively and given a lie detector test, which she passed.
          Four years after Patrick’s disappearance, Rodriguez still had Patrick’s personal effects in her apartment – slippers, toys, and bedding. While some speculate that this was a sign of guilt or her involvement, I see this more as a grieving mother clinging to the hope that her son will someday come home.

Theories

          Many people seemed to believe, at the time of Patrick’s disappearance, that his biological mother was involved somehow. This does make sense on some level – after all, her children had recently been removed from her care, and if the opportunity to take Patrick back presented itself, she may have taken it…right? Sure. But to me, this seems very unlikely. First, it would take a lot of planning, and a lot of variables lining up for the opportunity to arise. Plus, she would be the most obvious suspect, and therefore the most observed and investigated person in this case. If she had taken him, I don’t see a way for her to have kept it a secret for this long. Someone would have seen something or slipped up by now.
          We know that Patrick had made threats to run away from his new foster home.We know that he was not happy being there and wanted to return to living with his biological mother. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to think that he saw that his foster mother was distracted and took the chance to make a run for it. He was only seven, so not having a plan beyond simply getting away makes total sense.
          It’s what would have happened to him after he ran that is the real mystery.
          Here’s what I believed happened, based on what we know about Patrick, the situation he was in, and crime statistics.
          I believe that Patrick saw his opportunity to get away from his new foster home and ran away from his foster mother while they were taking the trash out that night. He made it far enough away to not be seen by his foster mother. In the time between his foster mother calling the police and the search for Patrick beginning, I believe that he either got into a car with someone offering him a ride, or he made it to the Fish Creek Nature Preserve and succumbed to the elements there. The Nature Preserve was only about half a mile from the apartment building, and the low on January 22, 2010 was 28oF. 

Investigating Agencies

          If you or anyone you know has information regarding the disappearance of Patrick Alford, please reach out to the New York City Police Department – Missing Persons Squad at 646-739-0144 in reference to case number KNMP00632. This month marks 14 years since Patrick was last seen. It is beyond time to bring him home.

Sources

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Join me every Friday as I research and present topics ranging from cold case true crime to folklore from all over the world, in an effort to preserve and uplift underrepresented stories.

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