ASHTABULA —
Donnell White Sr., who has been looking for his missing son for 21 years, received a encouraging phone call Thursday.
The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) wants to update his son’s case. Someone, somehow, read about Donnell White Jr.’s disappearance in Sunday’s Star Beacon and a representative called him.
Donnell Jr., of 926 W. 38th St., disappeared Aug. 10, 1991.
He was 14 years old.
“I’m going to the (Ashtabula) police station to file another missing person report,” White said. “The local police have to reactivate Donnell as a missing person.”
Afterwards, NCIS will put together a DNA profile of Donnell Jr., he said.
NCIC is a computerized index of criminal justice information (such as criminal record history information, fugitives, missing persons). It is available to federal, state, and local law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies and is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The purpose for maintaining the NCIC system is to provide a computerized database for ready access by a criminal justice agency making an inquiry and for prompt disclosure of information in the system from other criminal justice agencies about crimes and criminals. This information assists authorized agencies in criminal justice and related law enforcement objectives, such as apprehending fugitives, locating missing persons, as well as in the protection of the law enforcement officers encountering the individuals described in the system.
White said he will submit to DNA testing, as well as relatives on Donnell Jr.’s maternal side of the family.
It’s the most action that has been taken on the case since August 1991, he said.
The missing boy lived with his mother, Dora Dean Fields on West 38th Street at the time of his disappearance.
When 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.
He distributed flyers in the neighborhood.
Three weeks later, White got the Star Beacon to do an article on his son’s disappearance.
Donnell Jr.’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.
Dora Dean Fields moved to California soon after..
Police Chief Robert Stell has since talked to the old-timers on the force who remember the case. They said there really weren’t any leads.
Ashtabula police detective Paul Eurez, who is no longer with the department, told White the boy was possibly involved in cock fighting with the man known as Chicago, White said.
Stell and detective Joseph Cellitti spent the past two weeks searching for the police records of the missing boy but couldn’t find them. They believe they were lost in all the moves that the department has made in recent years.
Today, White has a glimmer of hope.
“I just want to know what happened,” he said. “Every year, it has built up inside me. Every time I pass a playground, or every time I see a child in a grocery store that resembles Donnell, it hurts more and more. I had to do something.”
Local News
NCIS getting involved in White disappearance case
- Local News
-
-
KSUA professor wins prestigious national award
Irene Edge has kept students on the cutting edge of information technology for decades.
-
Boaters gather in Ashtabula Harbor to pray for safe season
Safety on the water was the over arching theme of the 64th Annual Blessing of the Fleet Saturday evening in Ashtabula Harbor.
-
The earth will occasionally move under Ashtabula County
When the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 leveled Missouri, the shock waves were strong enough to ring church bells in New York and break windows in Washington D.C. People in southern Ohio fled from their cabins. Closer to the quake’s epicenter, earth liquefied, sand volcanoes popped up and rivers appeared to run backwards. It was the first recorded magnitude 8.0 earthquake in North America, and to this day the strongest. Seismologists agree it could happen again. Some believe it could happen any time within the next 50 years.
-
Fishing derby draws hundreds to Conneaut
Two-year-old Mark Miller, of Wooster, wasn’t quite sure what to make of his success Saturday during the fishing derby at the Conneaut Fish and Game Club.
-
Monthly cruise-ins are an outlet for car enthusiasts in Andover
It all began 15 years ago when four young families got together and decided to form a group to share their love of cars with others and give back to the community.
-
Tradition draws thousands to Kingsville Township lawn sale
Parking spaces disappeared quickly Saturday morning as crowds began to gather for the 39th Annual Kingsville Lawn Sale.
-
Fifth man in Ashtabula murder case pleads guilty to kidnapping
Now it’s five out of six.
-
Walnut Beach restrooms and concessions will be ready in time for summer
They are working on the restrooms at the Walnut Beach concession stand in preparation for the summer season, but the city still is looking for a concessionaire, City Manager Jim Timonere said.
-
Catholic community saddened by loss of the Rev. Charles Poore
The Catholic community is mourning the loss the Rev. Charles Poore, who lost his battle with cancer Thursday.
-
A bit of the farm may come to Ashtabula's Main Avenue
Rich red tomatoes, bright green peppers and farm fresh eggs — this is what the Downtown Ashtabula Farmers’ Market envisions for Main Avenue.
- More Local News Headlines
-
