ST. LOUIS COUNTY – It's been 15 years since a little boy from St. Louis County vanished.
Where is Christian Ferguson? There were no answers in 2003 and there are still no answers today.
Theda Wilson often finds herself upstairs in her home, watching old home movies of her son Christian. Old home movies that bring her a lot of joy and a lot of pain.
"This is how I see him, this age," said Wilson.
The clips and photos are all she has left. After 15 years, she wonders why it is taking so long. Christian has been missing since June of 2003.
On the morning of June 11 around 6, Christian's father Dawan, who had custody of the boy at the time, called police and said his son was missing. He told police he was on a pay phone on Page Boulevard, right near the border of St. Louis and Wellston, when his SUV was stolen. Dawan said Christian was sleeping in the backseat.
The SUV turned up two hours later, on Ronbar Lane in Ferguson. But there was no sign of Christian. Police and volunteers searched frantically trying to find the boy. They knew he suffered from a rare metabolic disorder that left him severely disabled.
Every second counted.
Theda said right from the beginning she suspected her ex-husband knew more about her son's disappearance.
"Sometimes I have to catch myself when I speak about it. I say he came up missing but he didn't come up missing and that is what angers me the most," Wilson said.
Christian's sister, Lin Ferguson, shares her mother's anger.
"I want to find out the truth, want to be able to bury him, not just have a memorial," said Lin.
Lin remembers the day before her older brother went missing. She was 8-years-old and shared a bedroom with Christian when he went missing. She said her brother was in a lot of pain that day. She also noticed Christian's feeding tube was missing and tried to find it.
"I looked for a long time and I believed I tried to feed him something," said Lin.
Lin claims she watched her father and stepmother take Christian into the other room that same night.
"When they brought him back in the room, I do know that he was just about lifeless," said Lin.
5 On Your Side wanted to hear Dawan's side of the story, but he declined to speak with a reporter.
St. Louis police said it’s a missing person's case. 5 On Your Side also asked for a police report and only received a two-page document with most of the details blacked out.
"We are very limited on what we can tell the family and I know that is part of the frustration," said Lt. Kimberly Allen, St. Louis Police Department.
Police won't say whether they have a suspect in Christian's disappearance, because it's still an open case. They hope this story generates new leads.
“No information is too small,” said Lt. Allen. “Our hearts do go out to the family, I'm not a mother, but I could only imagine.”
"It feels like a nightmare," said Theda Wilson.
It's a nightmare that's lasted 15 long years.
"I want all the answers, I don't want to die and people say, mom died before she got closure," said Wilson.
5 On Your Side talked to three former investigators who worked the case. All three declined to go on camera, because they didn't want to jeopardize the case. Prosecutors said they met with police years ago. Prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone. The attorney who represented Dawan Ferguson at the time said his client was cooperative with police.
