Jamal Abdul'faruq Missing Person Case

Jan 28, 2026

Jan 28, 2026

Jamal

Abdul'faruq

44

8

Black / African American

Male

On a spring afternoon in Richmond, Virginia, seven-year-old Jamal Abdulfaruq was playing outside his mother's apartment with his older brother. It was April 16, 1990, when the two boys, Jamal and his eight-year-old brother, Basil, were dropped off at their mother's home at the Palms Apartments on Clarkson Road after a visit with their father. Their mother, having worked the night shift previously, took a nap while the boys played in the front yard. When she awoke about 45 minutes later, she could not find her sons. At the time of his disappearance, Jamal was described as having a small gap between his upper front teeth, a scar on his right eyebrow, and a mole on his temple above his left ear. 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 two brothers began immediately, but the initial hope of a swift return turned to tragedy three days later. Basil's body was discovered in a landfill in Chesterfield County, about ten miles from their home. He had been bound, gagged, and had died from two stab wounds to the back. Investigators searched the landfill for four days, hoping to find some trace of Jamal, but he was not found. The discovery of Basil's murder intensified the investigation into Jamal's disappearance, which was now considered a non-family abduction and suspected homicide. In the years that have followed, Jamal Abdulfaruq's case has remained unsolved. While police investigated the boys' parents, they were eventually ruled out as suspects. In 1991, authorities stated they believed they knew who was responsible for the abduction and murder but did not publicly identify the individual, though sources indicated it was someone who knew the brothers. Despite this, no arrests have ever been made in connection with either Basil's death or Jamal's disappearance. The overview of this case is a heartbreaking story of two brothers who vanished while playing in their own yard. One was found murdered, while the other's fate remains unknown. Jamal, a second-grader at E.S.H. Green Elementary School who loved pizza and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, has not been seen or heard from since that tragic day, leaving his family with decades of unanswered questions.

Apr 16, 1990

Richmond

Virginia

07/08/2026