Case Details

Photo URLs:

This person was missing Missing Since 12/13/1986

Missing Since:

Missing Since 12/13/1986

Missing From:

Missing From Rancho, California

Classification:

Classification Non-Family Abduction

Gender:

Female

Race:

Race White

Date of Birth:

Date of Birth 05/13/1979 (45)

Age:

Age 7 years old

Height and Weight:

Height and Weight 4’6, 60 pounds

Clothing/Jewelry Description:

Clothing/Jewelry Description A white leotard, a lavender dress, a white sweater and white leather dress shoes.

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. April’s upper front teeth were missing at the time of her 1986 disappearance.

Details of Disappearance:

In December 1986, six-year-old April went to an arcade near her home in Rancho California and vanished. Her neighbor, William Bannister, a truck driver with a violent past, was supposed to be watching her. Bannister claimed he gave April money to play games, but she never came back.

Bannister acted suspiciously after April disappeared. He showed up at his father’s wedding reception covered in dirt, falsely claiming to have been searching for April. His father later told his new wife that Bannister had “done it again,” referring to Bannister’s previous conviction for murdering his girlfriend.

Years later, in 1993, Bannister attempted to strangle his son’s girlfriend. Police found disturbing items—jewelry, bloody women’s underwear, and rope—in his truck. This led investigators to suspect Bannister in April’s disappearance.

In 1995, he was charged with April’s murder. His son testified that Bannister had admitted to killing April in 1989, claiming she died in an accident. Bannister was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. April’s body has never been found. Authorities also suspect Bannister in the disappearance of another woman in Colorado, but he was never charged.

Agency:

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department 714-674-2183

Source Links: