Shawn White went missing on December 8, 2002 in Wilmington, Delaware, during a weekend visit with his father, Thurman R. White.

The next day, Thurman went to Shawn's mother's apartment but did not have the baby and claimed that a woman would bring him later. When no one appeared, Thurman and Shawn's mother argued, and Thurman stabbed her three times in the neck.

Thurman fled the scene and turned himself in to the police the next day, but refused to say where Shawn was. Police charged him with second-degree assault for his attack on Shawn's mother but later upgraded the charges to first-degree attempted murder. Thurman was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 7 years of probation for assault, possession of a deadly weapon during a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, but never revealed what happened to Shawn.

Police suspect foul play in Shawn's disappearance and searched Thurman's home, boat, and landfill for the baby's remains but found no evidence. The case remains unsolved.