The Doe Network:
Case File 125DFCA

1 1 AP
Left: Cooper, circa 1986; Middle: Age-progressed to 26 years (circa 2005); Right: Age-progressed to 33 years

April Ann Cooper
Missing since December 13, 1986 from Rancho, Riverside County, California.
Classification: Non-Family Abduction

Vital Statistics

  • Date Of Birth: May 13, 1979
  • Age at Time of Disappearance: 7 years old
  • Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'6; 60 pounds
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; blue eyes.
  • Clothing: She was wearing a white leotard, a lavender dress, a white sweater and white leather dress shoes.
  • Dentals: April's upper front teeth were missing at the time of her disappearance. Dental X-rays available.
  • DNA: Available

Circumstances of Disappearance
April Cooper, a first-grade student at Cottonwood Elementary School, was last seen walking to the arcade at the Woodchuck Campground located near her Rancho, CA home on December 13, 1986. She never arrived at the arcade and has never been seen again.

Earlier that day, she had went to work at a thrift store with her mother and a neighbor, William Bannister, offered to babysit her. Bannister was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1998 for her homicide. Justin Bannister, William Bannister's son, said that his father admitted to killing Cooper in 1989. Cooper's body has never been found.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning Cooper's whereabouts, please contact:
Riverside County District Attorney's Office
909-955-5400
OR
Riverside County Sheriffs Department
909-955-2450

All information may be submitted anonymously.

Agency Case Number:
F86347048

NCMEC #: NCMC600818

NCIC Number:
M416768371
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
North County Times
The Riverside Press-Enterprise
CA DOJ

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Last Updated: 2/12/2013 - By: BR / Web Assist