S4: Coming May 3: Season 4

Unsolved

USA TODAY and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

True Crime

3.9 • 792 Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2023

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Alexis Patterson’s walk home from school was just 242 steps. But on May 3, 2002, the 7-year-old never made it. The story of Alexis’ disappearance started with a massive search and sympathy for her family, but that quickly changed as her parents became suspects. Over the years, there have been conspiracy theories and false leads and cases of mistaken identity. Still, her mom has never given up hope that Alexis will come home again someday.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I was walking into a gas station and I saw her picture.
0:11.7	When I saw her picture, I just looked, I'm like, it can't be my Lexus.
0:18.0	So when I saw the number on the flyer, I called the number on the flyer right away.
0:22.0	And her mom answered. And she was like, Miss Lisa, Miss Lisa, I need you to come right away.
0:28.2	I just, I instantly lost it. Like, I instantly lost it. I don't know what was going through my head.
0:36.4	I just wanted my baby. That's it.
0:39.3	Alexis Patterson was last seen walking to school in 2002. She was seven years old.
0:46.3	More than 20 years later, what happened that day is still a mystery.
0:52.3	This white guy comes down and saves this little black girl
0:57.1	from running into the highway. I can see both of them. I look directly at them in the eyes,
1:03.6	and she looks scared. The father of Alexis Patterson is sitting in jail right now for the disturbing allegations.
1:13.1	The best theory is, is that someone owed a debt, perhaps a drug debt, and they use Alexis as a pawn.
1:21.2	I told the police my daughter didn't run away. I had a real issue with that. She's seven years old.
1:33.3	We would all like to believe and like this to be resolved with the finding of Alexis alive. As journalists, we want to get to the bottom of things.
1:37.3	We believe that somehow that makes the world right.
1:40.3	If the truth, you know, be told, the truth will set you free.
1:44.8	But in that case, the truth would be crushing to this woman.
1:51.7	From USA Today and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, this is Unsolved Season 4.
1:59.0	A Missing Girl, A Search for Truth. I'm investigative reporter Gina Barton.
2:05.2	Join me on Wednesdays, beginning May 3rd, as we explore the unsolved disappearance of Alexis Patterson.
2:13.3	Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
2:18.4	You can also sign up to get our Unsolved newsletter at usat today.com slash unsolved.
	...

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