Overview

Date Last Seen: April 26, 1989
Location Last Seen: Mile 82 of the Parks Highway, near Willow, Alaska

Main Circumstances

• Eight-year-old David Michael Borer left home around 5:00 p.m.
• He was believed to be walking either to a friend’s house or to a sandbar along the nearby Kashwitna River.
• He never returned home and has never been found.
• Despite extensive searches, no confirmed trace of David has ever been located.
• The case remains an active missing child investigation.

Detailed Case Breakdown

David Michael Borer Disappearance (1989): The Unsolved Alaska Missing Child Case

Brief Summary

Date Last Seen: April 26, 1989
Location Last Seen: Mile 82 of the Parks Highway, near Willow, Alaska

Main Circumstances

• Eight-year-old David Michael Borer left home around 5:00 p.m.
• He was believed to be walking either to a friend’s house or to a sandbar along the nearby Kashwitna River.
• He never returned home and has never been found.
• Despite extensive searches, no confirmed trace of David has ever been located.
• The case remains an active missing child investigation.

David Michael Borer’s 1989 Disappearance

On the evening of April 26, 1989, eight-year-old David Michael Borer vanished near Willow, Alaska, beginning one of the state’s longest-running unsolved missing child cases. More than three decades later, investigators still do not know what happened to him.

David lived with his family near the Parks Highway in the small community of Willow. Around 5:00 p.m., he left home intending either to visit a friend or play on a frozen sandbar near the Kashwitna River, approximately eleven miles north of town. When he failed to return home, his family became concerned and reported him missing roughly two hours later.

Search teams, Alaska State Troopers, volunteers, aircraft, search dogs, and divers searched the surrounding area. Dogs reportedly tracked David’s scent to the Parks Highway before losing it, leading investigators to consider the possibility that he entered a vehicle. Searches of the nearby river and surrounding wilderness failed to locate any evidence of the missing boy.

David was described as adventurous and independent. Reports indicate he had previously hitchhiked significant distances, causing investigators to consider whether he may have accepted a ride from a passing motorist. Other theories have included an accidental fall into the partially thawed river, becoming lost in the wilderness, or a fatal wildlife encounter. None of these possibilities has ever been confirmed.

The case received renewed attention after an age-progressed image was released in hopes that someone might recognize David as an adult if he were still alive. His disappearance remains classified as a non-family abduction by The Charley Project, although investigators have never publicly identified a suspect.

Latest Investigation Information

David’s disappearance remains an active missing person investigation with the Alaska State Troopers and continues to be featured by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Authorities continue to encourage anyone with information to come forward. No arrests have been announced, no human remains have been identified as David’s, and no publicly announced breakthroughs have occurred in recent years.

In 2025, renewed public discussion emerged after a retired Alaska State Trooper identifying himself as the original investigator posted detailed recollections of the investigation online. He described information learned years after David disappeared, including questions surrounding a wolf-hybrid enclosure at the family’s property. These statements have not been publicly confirmed by law enforcement and have not resulted in announced investigative action or charges related to David’s disappearance. They should therefore be regarded as unverified recollections rather than official findings.

Today, investigators continue to accept tips in hopes that advances in forensic science or new witness information may eventually explain what happened to David Michael Borer.