Family of baby abducted by his babysitter in 1983 say they think he is still alive

Family of four-month-old boy who was snatched from his crib by a babysitter in 1983 and has not been seen since say they believe he is still alive

  • Matthew Crocker was abducted by his babysitter in Arkansas in June 1983
  • His mother had asked Kathy Johnson to come and help her care for her kids
  • Kathy snatched Matthew in the middle of the night and hasn’t been seen since
  • Now, he would be 36 and police say he may not know his true identity 
  • They are urging anyone with information to contact the authorities
  • Johnson has a long scar on her back and a distinctive unicorn tattoo on her arm  

The family of a four-month-old baby who was abducted from his crib in 1983 by his babysitter and has not been seen since say they believe he is still alive. 

Matthew Crocker was abducted from his family’s home in Van Buren, Arkansas, while he slept alongside his older sister. He would be 36 now. 

Police say he was taken by Kathy Johnson, a babysitter who his mother had left him with. His mother met Johnson at a carnival and told her she needed help looking after her children so invited her to stay for a week. 

On the morning of June 9, 1983, she discovered both Matthew and Johnson missing. Police have been looking for the pair ever since. 

Not long after they vanished, police found a Chevy truck which Johnson allegedly stole but she had discarded it in Oklahoma by the time they got to it. 

There have been no other leads since then, but Crocker’s mother and sister are determined to find him. 

What Matthew Crocker may look like now

Matthew Crocker was abducted from his family’s home in Van Buren, Arkansas, while he slept alongside his older sister. He would be 36 now and is imagined in a computer generated imaged, right, issued by authorities 

‘We want to find him so bad…Even though he didn’t get to be a part of our family, hopefully he was loved and had a normal, happy life. 

‘I just feel that he is alive, and I feel like we will find him,’ his sister Elizabeth, now 38, told People. 

‘I just wonder, what’s he like? I don’t know if he has kids, and do they look like mine? And do I look like him? Do we have similar personality traits? 

This sketch of Kathy Johnson, the abductor, is the best image police had to use at the time. She had gone to live with Crocker's mother to help her with the children for a week but snatched him to raise him as her own

This sketch of Kathy Johnson, the abductor, is the best image police had to use at the time. She had gone to live with Crocker’s mother to help her with the children for a week but snatched him to raise him as her own 

‘I wonder so many things,’ she said. 

Kathy had distinctive tattoos including one of a unicorn on her left arm and another, of her name and one on her chest  of a green and yellow star. 

Police do not have a photograph of her but they have been issuing a sketch of her for decades. 

She is also thought to have gone by the name Judy. 

Authorities have long believed that Johnson took him to raise him as her own son and that he does not know who he really is. 

They continue to investigate his disappearance. 

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Van Buren Police Department in Arkansas on 479 474-1234 or the National Center of Missing or Exploited Children on 1-800-8435678. 



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