Direct-mail cards sent to millions of homes and a segment on CNN Headline News haven’t helped authorities find a 3-year-old Clinton boy who went missing in 1996 or the man who allegedly abducted him.
Reuben Bennett Blackwell has been missing since May 1996. He was reportedly taken by his noncustodial father, Reuben Bennett Blackwell Sr., according to police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Reuben would be 17 now. His father is still wanted on abduction charges in Maryland, court records show. Prince George’s County police say no new information has come to light about the case.
The pair disappeared after Blackwell picked up his son from day care, Reuben’s mother, Deborah Blackwell, said on a “Nancy Grace” episode in 2006.
The couple was having problems, and Reuben Blackwell Sr. had just been served with a court order requiring him to stay away from the home, Deborah Blackwell told the CNN anchor.
Authorities believe Reuben Blackwell Sr. threatened to harm himself and his son. Deborah Blackwell said on CNN that a relative received a letter from him that described funeral arrangements for the pair a few days after the disappearance.
In 2000, the advertising company Advo featured the Blackwell case on direct-mail cards that were sent to more than 79 million homes, including more than 2 million in the D.C. and Baltimore areas, according to news reports at the time.
Reuben might also go by his middle name, Bennett.
Reuben Blackwell Sr., now 53, is described as a black man who is about 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 260 pounds. He has black hair that is graying and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about the case can call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678.
