Account
Jan 28, 2026
Jan 28, 2026
Jamal
Abdul’faruq
7
7
4'5 inches
47 lbs
Black
Male
On a spring afternoon in Richmond, Virginia, on April 16, 1990, seven-year-old Jamal Abdul'Faruq and his eight-year-old brother, Basil, were playing in the front yard of their mother's apartment. Their stepmother had dropped them off earlier, and their mother, having worked a night shift, was resting inside. When she awoke, her sons were nowhere to be found. A frantic 45-minute search by their mother yielded no trace of the two boys, leading to a call to the police. At the time of his disappearance, Jamal was a second-grade student who loved pizza, basketball, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He was last seen wearing a black Batman T-shirt, blue jeans, a gray and red fleece baseball jacket, and white sneakers. The search for the brothers took a devastating turn three days later when Basil's body was discovered in a landfill in Chesterfield County, approximately ten miles from their home. He had been bound, gagged, and had sustained fatal stab wounds. His remains had been placed in a plastic bag and disposed of in a dumpster, which was then emptied at the landfill. Investigators searched the landfill for four days hoping to find any sign of Jamal, but he was not found. Though authorities have stated they believe Jamal was likely murdered alongside his brother, no evidence of his whereabouts has ever been located. In the years following the boys' disappearance and Basil's murder, the investigation has continued, though it has grown cold. The boys' parents were investigated, but both were eventually cleared of any involvement in the case. While police indicated in 1991 that they had a suspect in mind, no arrests have ever been made, and the individual has never been publicly identified. The case remains one of Richmond's most significant unsolved mysteries, leaving a family without answers and a community still searching for a little boy who vanished without a trace. Authorities continue to hold out hope that Jamal could still be alive, and his case remains an active missing person investigation.
Apr 16, 1990
Richmond
Virginia
Richmond
Richmond Police Departmen
804-780-6748
06/02/2026
