ASHTABULA —
Donnell White Jr. is everywhere and nowhere.
A photo of Donnell shows a young boy wearing glasses.
But he could be wearing contacts now and have a mustache, if you see him.
Has anyone seen him? Does anyone know what happened to him?
“Somebody has to know something,” his father says. “All I have is this (Christmas) ornament he made for me in school and his birth certificate. That’s all.”
His eyes well up with tears.
Donnell White Jr., of 926 W. 38th St., was last seen by his grandmother on the afternoon of Aug. 10, 1991.
He was 14 years old.
It was a hot summer afternoon.
His grandmother was the last person to see him. She said he was with a Hispanic man who people in the neighborhood called “Chicago.” The man often took the boy fishing.
At the time, Chicago lived on 39th Street off of West Avenue.
The boy lived with his mother, Dora Dean Fields on West 38th Street.
When the boy’s father, Donnell White Sr., heard he didn’t come home that evening, he reported him missing at the Ashtabula Police Department — then located at the corner of Main Avenue and West 44th Street.
“I passed out flyers myself and searched the surrounding areas,” the father, Donnell White Sr., said. “No one had seen him. It was like he was never here.”
Three weeks later, White got the Star Beacon to do an article on his son’s disappearance.
Donnell’s mother, Dora Dean Fields, said she checked with her son’s friends about his whereabouts, to no avail, according to the Star Beacon news article dated Aug. 31, 1991.
His father was devastated.
His mother moved to California.
“I believe my ex-wife changed her name when she moved out there,” White said. “Her moving, the name thing ... It’s a mystery.”
Ashtabula police detective Paul Eurez, who is no longer with the department, told White about the boy’s possible involvement in cock fighting during a subsequent meeting at the police station.
It was possible that Chicago had given Donnell Jr. a rooster to train for fighting, his father said.
Chicago later moved from his house on West 39th Street to Ashtabula Township, White said, noting he believes the police never questioned him about his son’s disappearance.
“So far, I have been doing all the leg work on this case,” White said. “I will continue to do it until I find who’s responsible for Donnell Jr.’s disappearance.”
Today’s police chief, Robert Stell, and detective Joseph Cellitti searched for the police records of the missing boy for two weeks, to no avail.
Stell chalked it up to the fact that the police station has moved and the department has gone through at least three chiefs since 1991. He did find the missing boy’s name on file as a missing person, he said.
White said when he asked the police about the investigation, they told him it was on-going with no real information. Stell said a detective will be meeting with White this week.
“Was my son the victim of criminal neglect of duty, or is the person or persons involved in his disappearance still free and unpunished?” White said. “I want to know.”
Local News
Related Photos
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DONNELL WHITE JR.
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DONNELL WHITE holds the birth certificate and a Christmas ornament with his son's photo on it, the only reminders White has of the boy, Donnell Jr., who disappeared in 1991. ROBERT LEBZELTER
Discussion
MISSING FOR 21 YEARS
Father continues search for son
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