Overview of Christopher Milton "Choo Choo" Dansby
Christopher Milton Dansby was born on March 30, 1987. Affectionately nicknamed “Choo-Choo”, he was just 2-years-old at the time of his disappearance. He was last seen wearing a blue jacket over a floral print shirt as well as blue jeans and white and green sneakers.
On May 18, 1989, Allison Dansby, Christopher's mother, took Choo-Choo and his brother, Levon, to a playground located at the Martin Luther King Jr. Towers building l at 114th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem, New York City. Allison left Christopher and Levon under the supervision of her mom in the park while she went to a nearby store for food. When she returned about 30 minutes later, Christopher had vanished. Levon recalls the experience and stated “We was playing and Choo-Choo (Christopher) got lost,” recalled Levon. “I didn’t see him. I called my mommy.”
There is speculation, particularly among Harlem residents, that Christopher Dansby's disappearance is connected to the disappearance of Shane Walker and Andre Bryant, two other African-American toddlers who also went missing in 1989. All three had eerily similar surrounding circumstances, including the fact that all three disappearances occurred on a weekday in the early evening ( between 5-7 pm). In Shane and Christopher’s cases, both toddlers were seen playing with the same two, older children, at the park. Police cannot confirm if this is relevant.
That night, police search the 10-floor buildings of the King Towers apartment complex, they comb a 24-square block area of Harlem and go door to door asking if anyone has seen Christopher. Knowing they couldn’t keep looking after dark, the search resumes the following day, this time with police dogs and a scuba team. The divers search the Harlem meer- a shallow, manmade pond at the north end of Central Park. Sadly, Christopher Dansby was not found.
Christopher’s mom, Allison, was known to use drugs but was cleared of any suspicion early on. The fact that rumors continued to circulate about her possible involvement devastated the grieving mother. She has never stopped looking for her son and still thinks of him as the 2-year-old boy he was, not the 32-year-old man he would be. “It has been a long, hard process,” explains Alison. “All this time has gone by and there is still no closure. It’s just not okay. One of my kids is missing and I still don’t know what happened.”
At the time of his disappearance, Christopher was described as 2 feet 6 inches tall and weighing approximately 30 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair. He also has a birthmark shaped like a figure "8" on his neck.
Police are asking anyone with information about what happened to Shane or Christopher to call Crime Stoppers at 1800-577-TIPS for an up to $2,500 reward.
