Everett Thompson Jr. was 11 when he and his family disappeared from their South Side Chicago home in July 1996. The family lived in the 8100 block of South Rhodes Avenue; his father, Everett Thompson Sr., ran E.A.T. And Company Restaurant in Park Manor. The household had grown tense after Lydia Thompson’s brother, Kenneth White, moved in following a prison release.

On July 3, 1996, Lydia called 911 saying Kenneth had threatened her with an ax; police found the situation calm and made no arrest. On July 5 the family was last seen after Everett Sr. received a frantic call from Lydia saying Kenneth was chasing her with an ax. Two hours later White arrived at Everett Sr.’s restaurant driving the family van and told staff Everett Sr. had been arrested—a claim that was false. Relatives who later checked the house on July 17 found only White, who said the family had gone to Philadelphia. White gave conflicting accounts, forged Lydia’s signature to sell the van and house, and died by suicide in jail in December 1997. No trace of the Thompsons was found in searches of the home or a trailer where White had lived.

What new information might finally explain what happened to Everett and his family?