Anchorage police say they’ve exhausted all leads and are reaching out to the public for information on a child who went missing more than nine years ago.
Police officials called a news conference Thursday morning to get the word out about efforts to find DaShawn McCormick.
DaShawn was 6 years old when his mother Jasmine McCormick last saw him in spring 2013 before returning to her home in the Lower 48. Shortly after Jasmine’s last contact with her son, DaShawn’s biological father and guardian Floyd Lee Jr. was arrested with his girlfriend by the FBI on unrelated charges. Officials say DaShawn should have been living with Lee but there was no indication that was the case when Lee was arrested.
Police say Jasmine petitioned a Palmer court to get custody of DaShawn after Lee’s arrest, which was granted in December 2013.
Speaking at Thursday’s news conference, APD detective David Cordie said authorities weren’t able to locate DaShawn to place him with his mother.
“The FBI did considerable work in the investigation to try to locate DaShawn,” Cordie said. “And the Anchorage Police Department became involved in this investigation in 2014, Patrol Division started the investigation. And it moved to the Investigative Division in 2017 at which time I was assigned as the lead investigator on the case.”
Cordie said the department has worked with various agencies in the Lower 48 near family members of DaShawn to try to locate him.
“The investigation, we’ve exhausted all leads that were presented to us, as far as outside of the state, outside of the country,” Cordie said.
Lee has since been released from prison, and Cordie said he’s cooperating with investigators. Cordie said there’s no specific reason for the renewed push to find DaShawn, beyond the continuing desire to return him home.
APD’s call for information on DaShawn coincides with a push from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They released a video Thursday with a message from Jasmine.
“I’m still here,” Jasmine McCormick said in the video. “I haven’t given up, I’m still looking for you. I didn’t give you away, I didn’t give you up. Mommy will go to the end of the Earth to find you.”
APD is asking anybody with information on DaShawn to contact them. He would be 14 years old today. Detective Cordie’s phone number is (907) 786-8679. Anonymous tips can also be provided online.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, DaShawn is one of a dozen children reported missing in Alaska, with the earliest case from 1973, and the most recent from 2021.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
