According to this article and this one, seven-year-old Patrick Alford, who disappeared from New York City over a year ago, may be alive and in the Cleveland, Ohio area. The police evidently got some kind of tip, a sighting or something.
I really, really hope this tip pans out. Patrick’s disappearance is ridiculous. Seven-year-old boys don’t just “run away.” Or, if they do, they don’t get far without running into serious trouble. From what I’ve read, he shouldn’t have been placed in a strange foster home to begin with. There were relatives who were willing to take care of him. Patrick’s foster mother didn’t even speak English.
He looks like such a beautiful kid. Sigh.
The Charley Project Blog 
He’s a cute little guy, that’s for sure. Looks bright too. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he did run away, Lord knows he had good reasons to want to. If I was speculating I’d speculate he ran away but had help from one or some of his relatives. I can’t realy blame them that much but if its true then they need to be open about it and tell what they know.
I don’t know — I would be looking at his foster mother. Or the possibility that he did run away but was rapidly picked up by some sicko.
I heard he was placed in foster care because his mom shoplifted. That didn’t make sense to me. A bad choice like that doesn’t make her a bad mother. I really hope he’s found in Cleveland.
Unless I totally misread the case file, he told his foster mother he was going to run away. He doesn’t speak spanish, she doesn’t speak english, how would that happen. And how, exactly (or should I say who) explains the charlie foxtrot that got him there in the first place? I know foster care is bad, but really?
I would assume that she probably spoke a few words of English at least. Or maybe they communicated through gestures?
Its my experience that when you hear that somebody doesn’t speak English, they usually understand quite a bit more than you think. Sometimes they don’t speak it well but they do understand it when they hear it.
I am convinced that the child never left that foster home and NYPD is essentially on a wild goose hunt. I believe he was beaten to death in his foster home by the foster mother or her man and disposed of. The trash story is unbelievable to say the least. Supposedly one moment the child is helping carry trash bags down to the chute then the next moment when the foster mother pauses to take a call on her cellphone, he tosses the trash aside and dashes off,never to return. Why didn’t the foster mother quit running her mouth for a second and chase him down before he made it outside? Why didn’t she yell at him and draw the attention of others who could have helped her catch him? If by some miracle he did actually manage to escape the building, how did such a young child survive with only inadequate clothing and no money? Seems he would have been found, nearly frozen to death,pretty quickly, or even more likely returned to the foster home defeated. Something just isn’t right here.