Overview

Date last seen: August 20, 1975
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, near North 18th Street and West Locust Street
Age: 1 year old
Date of birth: September 12, 1973
Classification: Endangered Missing

Main circumstances:

• Dontray was reportedly playing on the front porch with his older sister.
• Their mother was inside the family’s duplex dressing Dontray’s infant brother.
• Dontray’s sister briefly went inside to use the bathroom.
• When she returned to the porch, Dontray was gone.
• Neighbors joined the search, but reportedly did not recall seeing or hearing anything suspicious.
• Dontray has never been located, and no one has been charged in connection with his disappearance.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Dontray Miguel Hunter: Milwaukee Toddler Missing Since 1975

More than five decades after 1-year-old Dontray Miguel Hunter disappeared from the porch of his Milwaukee, Wisconsin home, his case remains open and unresolved. Dontray vanished on August 20, 1975, just weeks before his second birthday.

Official missing-person records continue to list Dontray as missing, and authorities are still asking anyone with information to contact the Milwaukee Police Department.

Last Seen: August 20, 1975 — Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Date last seen: August 20, 1975
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, near North 18th Street and West Locust Street
Age: 1 year old
Date of birth: September 12, 1973
Classification: Endangered Missing

Main circumstances:

• Dontray was reportedly playing on the front porch with his older sister.
• Their mother was inside the family’s duplex dressing Dontray’s infant brother.
• Dontray’s sister briefly went inside to use the bathroom.
• When she returned to the porch, Dontray was gone.
• Neighbors joined the search, but reportedly did not recall seeing or hearing anything suspicious.
• Dontray has never been located, and no one has been charged in connection with his disappearance.

The Disappearance of Dontray Hunter

On the morning of August 20, 1975, Dontray was playing with his older sister on the porch of the family’s Milwaukee duplex near North 18th Street and West Locust Street. Their mother was inside preparing herself and Dontray’s infant brother while waiting for her grandmother to pick her up.

According to accounts of the disappearance, Dontray’s sister went inside to use the bathroom. When she returned, the toddler was no longer on the porch.

Neighbors began searching the area, but Dontray could not be found. Despite his disappearance occurring during daylight, people in the neighborhood reportedly did not recall seeing anyone take him or hearing anything unusual.

What Dontray Was Wearing

Dontray was approximately 3 feet tall and weighed about 30 pounds when he disappeared. He had black hair, brown eyes and a birthmark on the back of his neck.

He was reportedly wearing a white T-shirt, olive-green trousers and white sneakers.

Authorities have since released age-progressed images showing how Dontray might appear as an adult.

The Initial Police Investigation

Milwaukee police launched an extensive investigation after Dontray was reported missing. Officers searched the surrounding neighborhood, including streets, alleys, garages, abandoned buildings and other possible locations.

Police also interviewed numerous people connected to Dontray and his family.

Among those questioned were Dontray’s mother, his biological father and his mother’s boyfriend at the time. Public case summaries emphasize that police did not publicly name a suspect in the disappearance.

A detailed 2024 Media Milwaukee investigation, based on more than 300 pages of police records obtained through an open-records request, revealed that investigators pursued numerous leads and theories over the decades.

Investigators Examined Dontray’s Family and Associates

Dontray’s biological father, George Lee Washington, was questioned shortly after the disappearance. According to the police records reviewed by Media Milwaukee, investigators interviewed him twice on the day Dontray vanished and searched his residence.

Some members of Dontray’s family suspected Washington could have taken the child. Police investigated that possibility, including Washington’s associations, but the investigation did not establish that he was responsible for Dontray’s disappearance.

Washington later reportedly denied involvement and died in 2008.

Mother’s Boyfriend Was Also Questioned

Investigators repeatedly questioned the man who was Dontray’s mother’s boyfriend around the time of the disappearance. Media Milwaukee did not identify him because he was never arrested or charged in connection with Dontray’s case.

Police records contain conflicting accounts concerning whether the boyfriend was in Milwaukee when Dontray disappeared. He maintained that he was in Texas. Other information provided to investigators challenged portions of that account.

The records also contained conflicting statements about an alleged confrontation between the boyfriend and Dontray’s biological father before the disappearance.

These allegations and inconsistencies generated investigative attention, but they did not result in criminal charges.

Polygraphs and Conflicting Accounts

According to the police records reviewed by Media Milwaukee, Dontray’s mother underwent a polygraph examination during the investigation. The reported result was inconclusive, and she later declined another test.

The former boyfriend was also asked to take a polygraph years later and declined.

Polygraph results are not proof of guilt or innocence. The requests demonstrate, however, that investigators continued examining people close to Dontray as they attempted to determine what happened.

Investigators Pursued Numerous Leads

Over the years, Milwaukee police received widely varying stories about Dontray’s disappearance.

Some information suggested that a stranger could have taken him. Other claims alleged that Dontray had been given or sold to someone. Investigators also received allegations that the child had died and his remains had been concealed.

One particularly disturbing lead claimed Dontray had been buried inside a wall behind a stove. Other tips connected his disappearance to people involved with local gangs or criminal activity.

None of these publicly reported theories has been proven.

Investigators also encountered contradictory statements, witnesses who declined to cooperate and people connected to the investigation who died before the case could be resolved.

A Case Revisited Decades Later

Dontray’s disappearance was not simply investigated in 1975 and forgotten.

Police records show investigators returned to the case repeatedly over the following decades. Interviews and follow-up investigations continued years after Dontray vanished.

One significant example came in 2019, when police again interviewed the man who had been Dontray’s mother’s boyfriend. He maintained that he was outside Wisconsin when Dontray disappeared and declined a requested polygraph.

The renewed interviews illustrate the difficulty of investigating a disappearance after decades have passed. Memories fade, witnesses move or die, and physical evidence that might be available in a modern investigation may never have been collected in 1975.

Latest Publicly Available Investigation Information

One of the most extensive recent examinations of Dontray’s case was published by Media Milwaukee in December 2024. A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee investigative reporting team obtained the police case file through an open-records request and reconstructed decades of investigative activity.

The reporting revealed more than 300 pages of police documentation and showed that investigators pursued family members, acquaintances, conflicting alibis, alleged gang connections, possible abduction scenarios and numerous tips.

The report did not identify a proven explanation for Dontray’s disappearance or report an arrest.

More recent missing-person resources continued circulating Dontray’s case in 2025, and Wisconsin’s official missing-person clearinghouse continues to list him as missing. A missing-child case resource was also updated in May 2026, but no publicly documented breakthrough, arrest or identification accompanied that update.

As of the latest publicly available information reviewed for this article, Dontray remains missing and the Milwaukee Police Department continues to list him among its long-term missing persons.

More Than 50 Years Without Answers

August 20, 2025 marked 50 years since Dontray disappeared.

Because Dontray was only 1 year old when he vanished, it remains possible that a person with relevant information may know the story through another person rather than having witnessed the disappearance personally.

Dontray’s case remains included in national and state missing-person resources. His NamUs record is MP6203, while the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children identifies his case as NCMEC 1138063.

The NCMEC poster also lists NCIC number M188409986. Another Wisconsin missing-person database lists Milwaukee Police agency case number 93M3283A (100910100).

More than five decades later, the central question remains unanswered: What happened to Dontray Hunter after he disappeared from that Milwaukee porch on August 20, 1975?

Anyone with information — including information that may have been withheld for decades — is encouraged to contact law enforcement.