BROTHER OF ‘MILK CARTON KID’ DIES AT 39 WITHOUT EVER LEARNING WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS MISSING BROTHER

For nearly 30 years, Lee O’Toole refused to give up on the search for his older brother. Now, he has died at just 39 — without ever learning what happened to him.

Lee O’Toole was only nine years old when his brother, David Spencer, disappeared alongside his 11-year-old friend Patrick Warren on Boxing Day in 1996.

Nearly three decades later, David and Patrick have still never been found.

Now the family is facing another heartbreaking loss.

Lee died on September 16, 2026, according to a tribute shared by the social media page dedicated to the search for the two missing boys. He was 39.

THE TWO BOYS WHO DISAPPEARED AT CHRISTMAS

David, 13, and Patrick, 11, disappeared from Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, on December 26, 1996.

The two friends had gone out to play that evening.

Patrick was riding a brand-new red Apollo bicycle, while David was on foot.

Their last known sighting came at a petrol station shortly after midnight on December 27.

Patrick’s bicycle was later discovered abandoned behind the petrol station near the bins.

A major search operation followed, but the boys were never located.

The case became known as the “Milk Carton Kids” after photographs of David and Patrick were printed on four-pint milk cartons in an effort to generate information about their whereabouts.

The campaign was launched through the National Missing Persons Helpline, with the milk distributed through hundreds of Iceland stores.

LEE NEVER STOPPED LOOKING

Lee was just a child himself when David vanished.

But as he grew older, he became one of the most persistent voices in the search for his brother and Patrick.

He repeatedly appealed for information and worked with volunteers who refused to let the case disappear from public attention.

In 2021, Lee helped lead a community search at a site near Solihull Moors Football Club after investigators received what was described as a credible tip suggesting that convicted child killer Brian Field may have been seen digging in the area around the time the boys disappeared.

Volunteers spent months searching the site.

No evidence connected to David or Patrick was found.

Lee was nevertheless praised for his determination and bravery in continuing the search.

HUMAN REMAINS BROUGHT NEW HOPE — THEN HEARTBREAK

In 2020, human remains were discovered around three miles from where the boys were last seen.

The discovery raised hopes that the decades-old mystery might finally be solved.

But extensive forensic examination found that the remains were not connected to David and Patrick.

The result was another devastating setback for their families.

Over the years, several people were arrested or questioned in connection with the disappearance, but no one has ever been charged over the boys’ disappearance.

In 2006, police said they were “closer than ever” to solving the mystery, but the case remained unresolved.

A FINAL TRIBUTE TO LEE

Following Lee’s death, tributes poured in from people who had joined the search.

A post on the Milk Carton Kids social media page said Lee had “done everything in his powers” to find David and Patrick and had remained grateful to the community for supporting the search.

Another tribute described him as a “lovely soul” and expressed shock that he had died so young.

Lee’s daughter also paid an emotional tribute to her father online, writing that she hoped he and David were now together in heaven.

For a family that had spent almost three decades waiting for answers, his death represents another painful chapter in a mystery that still has no resolution.

DAVID AND PATRICK HAVE NEVER BEEN FOUND

Despite countless searches, appeals and investigations, there is still no confirmed account of what happened to the two boys after they were last seen in December 1996.

Their disappearance remains an open case.

For Lee, the search became a lifelong mission — one that began when he was a nine-year-old boy who had suddenly lost his brother.

He spent the rest of his life trying to find him.

But Lee died without the answer he had spent decades seeking.

David Spencer was 13. Patrick Warren was 11. Nearly 30 years after they vanished, their families are still waiting to know where they are and what happened to them.