Investigators digging for evidence in 34-year-old cold case

By Maya Lockett

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    ASHTABULA, Ohio (WEWS) — Donnell White Sr. has lived 34 years without knowing what happened to his son Donnell White Jr.

“I miss his smile, he loved being around people, playing basketball and was an amazing kid,” said White.

He hasn’t seen his son’s smile since August 10, 1991.

“When my son first went missing there wasn’t much of uproar about it from police, I had to get pictures together myself and put them up at local bars and restaurants,” said White.

Donnell Jr. was last seen on a basketball court near his home, which he shared with his mother and grandmother.

At the time, police believed Donnell ran away from home, but his father never believed that.

“I know he didn’t run away, but if he did where is he? What happened? What could he have done at that age? So, I think someone took advantage of him,” said White.

Long-time Ashtabula resident David Housten remembers the days after Donnell went missing and how it impacted the community.

“His father had a lot of emotional trauma dealing with that and for two weeks the community were upset, and people were searching for him but never found anything,” said Housten.

Now, investigators are digging to find answers.

According to White, officials have begun looking for new evidence behind the West 38th Street home where his son lived.

“I’m glad they’re doing this, but it could have happened a long time ago, while people were still alive. I’m hoping they do find something but at the same time I’m hoping they don’t. I don’t want him to be gone, but I can’t imagine how he could run away and be gone this long without contacting anyone,” said White.

White says investigators believe that someone is involved in Donnell’s disappearance, and it could possibly be someone he knows.

“They say that usually when something like this happens, it’s someone who’s closer to the family, or someone in the family. So, I’m not going to say it’s too late, but it could have been done a whole lot earlier. And people would still be alive, people would still know what happened at that time, people would have investigated more about the people who were the closest around him,” said White.

At 71 years old, White still lives around the corner from the home his son lived in.

”I’m not leaving in case he does come back and I’m going to find out what happened. He’ll never come back here and think that no one was looking for him and that no one cared,” said White.

The U.S. Marshall is offering a $5,000 reward for information on Donnell’s disappearance.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Ashtabula Police Department at 440-992-7172 or the U.S. Marshals Service at 866-492-6833.

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