On April 16, 1990, seven-year-old Jamal Abdul’Faruq and his eight-year-old brother, Basil, disappeared while playing outside their mother’s apartment on Clarkson Road in Richmond, Virginia. The boys were dropped off earlier that day by their stepmother and went outside to play about 2:30 p.m.; their mother, Tambra Ellis, awoke from a nap and found them gone, then reported them to police after a 45-minute search.

Basil’s body was found three days later in a Chesterfield County landfill, bound, gagged, stabbed twice in the back and placed in a plastic bag after apparently being left in a dumpster. Investigators searched the landfill for Jamal for four days but did not find him. Jamal was described at the time as having a scar on his right eyebrow, a mole on his temple above his left ear, and a small gap between his upper front teeth; he was last seen wearing a black Batman t-shirt, blue jeans, a gray and red fleece baseball jacket, and white sneakers.

Police have said they believe the abductor was someone who knew the boys; both parents were investigated and cleared, and the father’s home was searched with no evidence linking him to the crime. No arrests have been announced and Jamal’s whereabouts remain unknown. If anyone knew Jamal or Basil, or has information about that April afternoon, please share what you know with investigators.