BROTHER OF ‘MILK CARTON KID’ DIES AT 39 AFTER SPENDING DECADES SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

BIRMINGHAM, England — Lee O’Toole was just nine years old when his older brother disappeared.

For nearly three decades, he never stopped looking for answers.

Now Lee has died at the age of 39, without ever learning what happened to his brother, David Spencer, who vanished alongside his friend Patrick “Paddy” Warren nearly 30 years ago.

Lee died on September 16, 2026, according to tributes shared by the Milk Carton Kids campaign. His death has prompted renewed attention on one of Britain’s long-running missing-child cases.

TWO BOYS WHO NEVER CAME HOME

David, 13, and Patrick, 11, disappeared from Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, on Boxing Day in 1996.

The boys had gone out to play and were later seen at a petrol station around midnight. Patrick had been riding a new red Apollo bicycle, which was later discovered abandoned behind the petrol station near some bins.

The boys were never seen again.

Their photographs were subsequently printed on milk containers as part of a nationwide missing-children appeal, earning them the enduring nickname the “Milk Carton Kids.”

LEE NEVER GAVE UP

Lee was only nine when David disappeared, but the case remained with him throughout his life.

In a 2016 interview with ITV News, Lee said there was not a day when he failed to think about his brother.

“I just want to know where David is,” he said at the time, explaining that even knowing the truth would allow his family to grieve and give David a proper funeral.

Over the years, Lee became one of the most persistent public figures in the search for the missing boys.

In 2021, he helped lead a community excavation on land near Solihull Moors Football Club after investigators and campaigners received information suggesting the area might hold clues to the disappearance.

The search continued for months, with volunteers joining the effort.

But nothing connected to David or Patrick was found.

DECADES OF LEADS — BUT NO ANSWERS

The disappearance generated several investigations and potential leads.

In 2003, West Midlands Police arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the case. He was later released on bail and was never charged.

In 2006, detectives also questioned convicted killer and sex offender Brian Field, who had been linked to another child murder. Field denied involvement in David and Patrick’s disappearance.

Neither development produced an answer to the mystery.

Then, in 2020, human remains were discovered roughly three miles from where the boys were last seen.

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

But forensic testing determined that the remains were not David or Patrick.

“LEE DID EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER”

Following Lee’s death, tributes appeared on the Milk Carton Kids social-media pages.

One tribute said Lee had “done everything in his powers” to try to find David and Patrick and thanked the community members who had supported the searches.

Another person who participated in the 2021 dig described Lee as a “lovely soul” and praised his determination.

Lee’s daughter also paid tribute to her father online.

“I love you so much dad, I hope you and David are so happy in heaven,” she wrote.

She added: “See you soon my angels.”

A fundraising campaign has also been launched to help Lee’s family with funeral expenses.

THE MYSTERY REMAINS

David Spencer and Patrick Warren have now been missing for almost 30 years.

Their disappearance has generated searches, police investigations, arrests, tips and public appeals, but neither boy has ever been found.

For Lee, the search became a lifelong mission.

He spent much of his adult life trying to answer the question that had haunted his family since he was a child:

Where is David?

Lee never got that answer.

And nearly three decades after the two boys vanished, the mystery of the “Milk Carton Kids” remains unsolved.