A toddler boy and his disabled aunt remain missing more than 10 years after they vanished in Indiana.
Diamond Bynum, 21, and King Walker, 2, have not been seen since leaving their Gary home in July 2015, possibly to take a walk. The Chicago Tribune reported that Bynum has Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can lead to mental and behavioral problems, one being relentless hunger.
“Neither one of them can speak very well, that was the biggest concern,” Bynum’s mother told WLS in 2019. “If they were to meet someone, they couldn’t tell them where they live or anything.”
Reports indicated that Bynum vanished without medication that controls behavioral issues. Without it, she can pose a danger to herself. Additionally, she was not familiar with the area where she was last seen.
Indiana State Police conducted searches in the days following Bynum and Walker’s disappearance. According to The Times of Northwest Indiana, one of those searches included zeroing in on local sex offenders. Though specifics were not provided, police said at one point that they were looking to question a person of interest in this case.
People reported that Walker and Bynum’s family and police followed up on leads about them being spotted at a local gas station, but the information turned up nothing.
In 2024, State police told The Times that the last tip they followed up on was in 2017. Details regarding what that tip entailed were not disclosed.
There was no sign of forced entry or a struggle at the home where Bynum and Walker vanished.
Anyone with information regarding Walker and Bynum’s whereabouts should call Indiana State Police at 219-696-6242 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.
Walker and Bynum’s case is being covered as part of CrimeOnline’s “Finding the Lost: Black and Missing” series, which will feature a missing Black person every day in February. The full series can be read here.