Benjamin Shane Ridley was 15 when he vanished from Burien, Washington, in July 1982. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall, about 130 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. Known as Benjie, he had been placed with a foster family just one day before he was last seen.

Benjamin was not officially reported missing until 2017, a delay that investigators say has complicated the inquiry. For years his siblings believed he had run away to California; his sisters began searching in the early 2000s and later filed a missing persons report. Authorities initially considered that he may have returned to his biological parents, but it is thought he may have stayed in the Seattle area. The King County Sheriff’s Office treats the case as a cold case, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has issued an age-progressed image to aid the search.

Anyone who knew Benjamin, his foster placement, or his movements in the Seattle area around 1982 is asked to come forward with information.