Six-year-old Sarah Avon was last seen on July 21, 1981, playing near her home on Richards Street in Joliet, Illinois. After a disagreement with another child she walked away from the group; her family reported her missing at about 9:00 p.m. that evening. At the time she was wearing a Joliet District soccer t-shirt, blue jogging pants with red and white stripes, and blue tennis shoes with a white stripe. She had blondish-brown hair and brown eyes.

The initial search produced no clues and the case went cold. In 1993 a man named Robert Tadej told police his uncle, Ernest Wilson Sr., had made a deathbed revelation and, though largely unable to speak, drew a triangle with a circle inside that some family members thought pointed to Wilson’s former triangular lot. Tadej also said Wilson’s son, a teenager in 1981, had implicated himself.

A paternal cousin, William Billy Redden, who lived nearby and had a prior aggravated battery conviction, was questioned in 1981; his former home and crawl space were searched and excavated as recently as 2019 with no evidence recovered. The Will County Sheriff’s Office has continued to follow leads, but Sarah’s disappearance remains unresolved. If anyone knew Sarah, the family, or remembers that evening on Richards Street, please come forward with information.