Milton Forest was 48 years old when he was killed in St. Louis on Thursday, December 20, 2007. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated his death, and the Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in St. Louis through 2017, lists it as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
Beyond his name, his age and the date of his death, almost nothing about Milton Forest has been made public. No news story about the killing, obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. He surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public.
The record does not say how he was killed, whether he was attacked indoors or on the street, whether he knew his attacker, what time of day it happened, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, or whether anyone else was hurt. It does not say whether investigators ever identified a suspect or a motive.
Milton Forest's name also appears in a 2018 Washington Post investigation that listed thousands of homicide victims across major American cities whose killings had not led to an arrest. Being on that list means that, a decade after his death, the case was still counted among those for which no one had been arrested.
At 48, Milton Forest was older than most St. Louis homicide victims of that era. He died on a Thursday, December 20, 2007, five days before Christmas, when family gatherings were near.
His surname is recorded as Forest, which may also have been spelled Forrest. Searches for the name are dominated by place names, literature and unrelated people, including the victim of an unrelated 2024 killing in another state whose first and middle names match his name. None of those records concern the man who died in St. Louis.
The location recorded in the database places his death in the far north of the city, near the Baden and Walnut Park areas, close to the city's northern edge. People who lived there in December 2007 may remember the police activity that followed.
St. Louis has long had one of the highest homicide rates of any large American city. The city recorded 138 homicides in 2007 and 167 in 2008, at a time when it had roughly 350,000 residents, and many of those killings never led to an arrest. Homicide detectives carried heavy caseloads, and cases with few public details, like this one, often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Milton Forest could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Milton Forest, saw him in the days before Christmas 2007, or heard talk afterward of what happened to him may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Division at 314-444-5371, or leave an anonymous tip with CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (866-371-8477).
