Help Find RUSSELL JOHN MORT! He Is Gone, But Not Forgotten! UPDATED ON 02/15/2020

🎸Russell John Mort🎸

He was born on September 4th, 1979 to Ruth and Ron Mort.

May 5th, 1982, was a beautiful sunny spring day in Wheatfield, New York. Russell's mother was with him outside while he was playing with his toy guitar in the family's fenced backyard at their residence at Lynch's Trailer Park on River Road. When he complained that something was wrong with the guitar, his mother  put Russell into the sandbox his father had built for the boy. She then took the toy inside to fix it.

Ruth was gone less than five minutes when she returned outside, and discovered her son was missing. The gate in the fence was still closed and was locked from the outside. 

The family's fence was four feet high, but one part of the fence was shorter than the rest, and the day before his disappearance Russell had climbed over the fence and gone to play in a neighbor's yard. 

By late afternoon, a massive search effort was underway. State police helicopters patrolled the sky and sheriff’s dept. patrol boats cruised the upper Niagara River just in case the 2-year-old climbed the fence, crossed the road, walked 100 yards and fell into the roiling water.

A female in her early 20's with brown curly hair & a male in his late 20's/early 30's with brown hair and a mustache were seen in the area at the time of Russell’s disappearance, and are wanted for questioning regarding this case. They were seen riding in a 1965 or older white Corvette with a black convertible hood. They were last seen in the area of Hyde Park Boulevard and Packer Road.

In 2005, a Texan man contacted Niagara authorities because he believed he could be Russell Mort. He said he was adopted, and his parents had acted extremely shady and secretive whenever he would ask for more information. Unfortunately, he was ruled out through DNA testing.

In 2015, former Niagara County Sheriff Jim Votour told reporters that he believed Russell was still alive. He says this cold case has caused frustration for his department and decades of unrest for the families who’ve been affected.

“It was the beginning of a nightmare that has no end,” Russell’s mother, Ruth Mort told reporters.

“I think about Russell most every day…we had two other girls after Russ disappeared and we’re busy now with grand babies, and it’s helped an awful lot,” Ruth Mort said.

In her home, Mrs. Mort keeps two thick scrapbooks of news articles, photos, and other items related to her son’s disappearance, including a flattened, now 28-year-old milk carton with his picture on it.

At the time of his disappearance Russell was 3'0 tall, 30 pounds with light brown hair and brown eyes. He had a small cleft in his chin and a small mole on the left side of his chin. His upper left front tooth was chipped. He was last seen wearing a faded brown plaid sunsuit over an old shirt, and beige knee socks. His nickname was Russie.

Please help solve this case! If you have any information, no matter how small, please contact the Niagara County Sheriff's Department at 716-439-9327.

https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/investigators-continue-to-search-for-russell-mort/414542264

Russell You Are Gone But Not Forgotten!