James Bernard White, a 59-year-old Black male, was last seen on March 18, 2022, in Saraland, Alabama, in Mobile County. The known public record places him in the 1000 block of Cleveland Road, with local reporting identifying the location as 1029 Cleveland Road and the time as approximately 6:30 p.m. He was described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, about 162 to 165 pounds, with brown eyes and graying hair.
On the day he disappeared, public alerts described him as wearing a gray short-sleeved University of Alabama shirt, dark-colored or gray sweatpants, and gray-and-black New Balance tennis shoes. He was believed to have left on foot, with no known destination, and his direction of travel was unknown.
The available details suggest a disappearance that became troubling very quickly because so little was left to explain where James went. Information associated with the case says he went missing from the area of his apartment complex on Cleveland Road, where video reportedly showed him leaving the parking lot and then stepping out of camera view. After that point, the public timeline becomes painfully thin. What happened after he moved beyond the camera’s range remains unknown, and the lack of a confirmed next sighting has left investigators, relatives, and the community with few concrete answers. Adding to the concern, James reportedly left his wallet, phone, and other personal items at home, items many people would ordinarily carry if they planned to be away for any meaningful length of time.
James was known to travel between Saraland, Chickasaw, and Prichard, Alabama, a detail repeated in public notices and local coverage. That familiar pattern may have shaped early efforts to understand where he might have gone, but it did not resolve the central question of why he vanished or where he went after leaving his residence. Saraland Police publicly asked for help from anyone who knew anything about the day he walked away from his residence or who had information about his whereabouts. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s public alert listed the case as missing and asked anyone with information to contact the Saraland Police Department.
As time passed, James’s absence became not just a police matter, but a family wound. Dateline reporting, republished by AllSides, described him as “Bernard” to his family, one of seven siblings, and included relatives who continued to plead for answers more than two years after he vanished. His brother Reginald White expressed the family’s belief that someone knows something, and his sister Angela described him as loving, laid back, and quiet. Those few personal details matter because they show the person behind the case number: a son, brother, and loved one whose disappearance left a family searching not only for his location, but for peace and understanding.
The known case, from start to finish, remains stark and unresolved in the public record: James Bernard White was 59 years old when he was last seen in Saraland, Alabama, on March 18, 2022; he left the Cleveland Road area on foot, apparently without his wallet, phone, or other personal belongings; he was last described in casual clothing and tennis shoes; he was known to travel between nearby Alabama communities; and after he passed out of view, there has been no publicly confirmed account explaining what happened next. The heart of the case is a narrow but haunting window of time in which a man stepped away from a familiar place and disappeared, leaving his family, investigators, and the Saraland community hoping that someone with even a small piece of information will come forward and help bring James Bernard White home.Last Seen: Mar 18, 2022
