Anquiatte Parker was baby-sitting C.J. Toney. She left her grandmother's home in East St. Louis on Nov. 4, 2005, to go shopping, said her father, Greg Parker.
Greg Parker said he talked to his daughter that day and she was fine. He said he didn't know it would be the last time he would talk to her.
Despite many police searches from the air with airplanes and helicopters, on the ground with dogs, all-terrain vehicles and boats, there has been no sign of the pair, who would now be 20 and 5 years old.
The lead commander from the Illinois State Police, Lt. Greg Fernandez, has retired, and Parker said since he's been gone, he has not seen much being done.
But Illinois State Police Lt. Mark Bramlett said "the case is still very much open."
"We're following up on any lead that comes up," Bramlett said. "We've sent the case to other federal, state and local departments to critique and see if we missed something. And, we've been in contact with family members every month."
Asked whether he believes the pair are still alive, Bramlett said, "It's been a year. We never found any bodies, but we haven't heard from them for a year. We are hoping for the best."
Parker is angry and thinks race is a factor in why there is no closure in the case.
Parker said the man police first identified as a person of interest was wiping his daughter's car down.
"He is a suspect," Parker said. "I think it's a racial thing going on. It's ridiculous, and I think definitely if it was a white child an arrest would've been made by now. The suspect is a white man. Justice will be served one day."
Parker said not having his daughter around for a whole year has been extremely rough on his family.
"Everybody is still very upset over this. It just is not right. We feel the law is on (the suspect's) side," he said.
Parker said he is grateful for all of the police searches, "but our thing is why has nothing been done to the person who was seen wiping the car?
"My daughter and I had so many plans together. She wanted to go to college to be a doctor. She is pregnant with my first grandchild. I am looking forward to spoiling my grandbaby, and so is the rest of the family."
Latoya Coleman, C.J.'s mother, said the time she has been apart from her son has been agonizing.
"I am numb. I miss him so much. He is just an innocent child. He was just with (Anquiatte Parker) because she was keeping him while I worked. He didn't have a choice but to be with her. I am his mother. I hope that he is happy wherever he is," Coleman said.
"I just want whoever has him to bring him home safely. I am not worried about prosecuting whoever took him," she said.
"I am praying so much and holding onto my faith that he is still alive," Coleman said. "I will never give up hope. And I hope he is home by Christmas."
