A Maryland man who went missing as a teenager might have been fearing reprisals from gang members when he disappeared. Authorities have been looking for William W. Brooks Jr., who would now be 35 years old, since he went missing in August 1992.
Brooks, then 17, might have had some disagreements with gang members and could have been fearing repercussions, said Melinda Stevens, director of the missing children division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Brooks was last seen at his home in Frederick on Aug. 24, 1992. He has not been seen or heard from since that day.
Investigators believe that if Brooks left his home voluntarily, he may have gone to Hagerstown or New York, Stevens said.
The center produced an age-progressed photograph of Brooks last year to show what he might look like now.
Brooks’ nickname is “BB.”
According to his profiles entered in the NCMEC and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System databases, Brooks is described as a black man who is about 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.
Brooks had a pierced left ear and wears glasses. The day he disappeared, he was wearing a black baseball cap, a black and purple t-shirt, baggy black jeans, and black and purple sneakers.
His dental and DNA information have been entered into the NamUs system, which integrates information from missing and unidentified persons databases in hopes of solving cold cases.
Anyone with information about Brooks’ disappearance is asked to call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (843-5678) or the Frederick police department at 301-600-2100.
