Jamel's mother, Kelly Williams, stated she last saw him on May 25, 1994. He was on the rear steps of his mother's apartment on the east side of Toledo, Ohio. When his mother returned five minutes later, he had disappeared. Jamel has not been heard from again. Gary Thomas was Kelly's live-in boyfriend at the time of Jamel's disappearance and his cousin said Thomas became violent after she brought up Jamel's disappearance. Thomas denied knowing anything about the child's disappearance, and Kelly defended him. Kelly refused to provide a sample of her DNA for comparison to any unidentified remains. She said she and her boyfriend resented being treated as suspects in the case. Police could find no evidence that Jamel had ever even lived in the apartment. Nobody else living in the building reported having ever seen him.