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A two-year-old boy vanishes without a trace while allegedly playing in his front yard—but was he really there at all? The mysterious disappearance of Wesley Dale Morgan from rural Clinton, Louisiana in 2001 continues to perplex investigators more than two decades later.

When 19-year-old Ruby Renee Havard reported her toddler missing on May 15, 2001, her story raised immediate red flags. She claimed she went inside to prepare lunch at 9:45 am, only to return moments later to find her son gone. Despite exhaustive searches utilizing National Guard helicopters with thermal imaging technology that could detect bodies even below ground, no trace of Wesley was ever found.

The investigation took disturbing turns as both Havard and her much-older boyfriend failed polygraph tests—with the boyfriend's results described as "off the charts" deceptive. Most troubling was Havard's eventual refusal to cooperate with authorities or follow up on the investigation of her missing child. As Sheriff Talmadge Bunch noted years later, "The boy's mother has never been by, not one time, to try to have a follow up on the baby."

The case gained renewed attention when, years later, Havard faced allegations of attempting to sell another child—charges that were eventually dismissed but echoed investigators' early suspicions about Wesley's fate. Though the FBI reopened the case in 2016 with a $10,000 reward that still stands today, Wesley remains missing, his fate unknown.

Have you heard about this case? What theory makes the most sense to you? If you have information about Wesley Dale Morgan, please contact authorities—even the smallest detail could help solve this heartbreaking mystery after 24 years of silence.

Source Material:

Clinton (AP) The Daily Advertiser May 25, 2001 pg 14, Investigators appeal to relatives of missing boy www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-advertiser/105067645/

The Daily Review, Morgan City, Louisiana May 21, 2001 pg 4 Police say couple lied about missing boy, 2 www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-review/105067588/

WAFB Channel 9 News, Feb 10, 2005, Boy’s Vanishing still a Mystery www.wafb.com/story/2931845/boys-vanishing-still-a-mystery/

WAFB Channel 9 News, jan 9, 2008  Woman arrested for allegedly trying to sell her child www.wafb.com/story/7599800/woman-arrested-for-allegedly-trying-to-sell-her-child/

Uncovered, Missing Wesley Morgan, last updated May 4, 2024, www.uncovered.com/cases/wesley-morgan

Photo Credit:

Stole, Bryn, May 4, 2016, The Advocate, Clinton-area residents recall desperate search for toddler in 2001, say new effort offers hope, www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/clinto-area-residents-recall-desperate-search-for-toddler-in-2001-say-new-effort-offers-hope/article_6c6cde1b-5aa3-565b-ac38-e56e581b7c3e.amp.html