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April Ann Cooper was 7 when she vanished from the Woodchuck RV Campground in Rancho, California, on December 13, 1986. She was reported to have gone to an arcade after being left in the care of neighbor William James Bannister, but she never arrived.
Bannister emerged as the prime suspect. He had a prior conviction for second-degree murder in 1978 and later told family he had given April money to go to the arcade. Relatives noted he attended a family wedding the day after April disappeared wearing dirt-covered clothes and made cryptic remarks. In 1998 Bannister was convicted of April’s murder on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to life without parole, yet her body has never been found and her whereabouts remain unknown.
Foul play is strongly suspected. Does anyone have information about April’s last known movements around the campground or the arcade she was headed to?