Key facts
- Name: David Allen Crabtree
- Born: August 11, 1986
- Age at disappearance: 13
- Last seen: April 8, 2000, between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m.
- Location: His home, Locust Grove, Oklahoma
- Height / build: 5’5″, 125 lbs, dark brown hair, brown eyes; scar on eyebrow and top of head; Cherokee descent
- Status: Still missing — reclassified from runaway to missing in 2017; OSBI “suspicious disappearance”
- Case numbers: NCMEC 1318013
- Investigating agency: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
“I love you”
On the evening of April 8, 2000, 13-year-old David Allen Crabtree told his parents and his sister that he was going to bed. He told them he loved them.
Sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m., he crawled out of his bedroom window. Three boys had been waiting for him by the window — they’d asked David’s sister to come with them, and she’d said no. David went with them.
He was wearing a gray shirt and black pants. He never came home.
David had been rebelling that spring — drinking, acting out at school, sneaking out. On April 5, three days earlier, he’d run away and been picked up by police fifteen miles away in Pryor, drunk, and brought home. His parents, desperate to change his behavior, sent him to a juvenile center in Claremore — which discharged him right back home after he was caught drinking again.
But here’s what his family and even law enforcement have said since: although David had a history of running away, he always came back — or was seen around town with his friends within a few days. There has been no solid indication of his whereabouts since April 2000. As Oklahoma Cold Cases put it: even law enforcement believes he would have contacted his brother by now if he could.
In 2017, David was officially reclassified — from runaway to missing. The OSBI lists his case as a suspicious disappearance.
Who David was
David Crabtree grew up in Locust Grove, Oklahoma, in Cherokee Nation housing. He was very close to his three siblings — James, Cynthia, and Christina. He was into sports, particularly wrestling, and he’d won several medals. His mother, Brenda Miller, described him as fun-loving, always making people laugh.
“David was never argumentative,” his mother said. “I would go find him and he would come home. He was never loud and he would never argue with me. He would just come home.” His older brother James remembered him the same way: not angry, more like “I can’t believe I got caught, so I had to come home.”
He was 5’5″ and 125 pounds, biracial — White and Native American, of Cherokee descent — with dark brown hair just starting toward a mustache, brown eyes, a scar on his eyebrow and another on the top center of his head, and an old clavicle injury.
The investigation
There were possible sightings in the towns of Pryor, Tahlequah, and Kenwood after his disappearance. None was confirmed. The three boys who waited by the window that night have never been publicly identified as suspects or witnesses in any detailed account.
The NCMEC poster for David — case 1318013 — shows his photo age-progressed to 36. He would be 40 now.
David’s case sits at the intersection of two crises: missing children who are first dismissed as runaways, and missing Indigenous youth. The Murder Is Bad podcast’s MMIP series covered his story, and his family continues to search for answers to his whereabouts.
Theories: what might have happened
Foul play on the night he snuck out. A 13-year-old out at night with three older boys, a kid who’d been drinking and running with a rough crowd — the vulnerability is obvious. The OSBI’s “suspicious disappearance” classification reflects that this was never just a runaway case. But no suspect, no witness account, and no physical evidence have ever been attached to that night.
An accident. Out at night, possibly drinking, in rural Mayes County — a fall, a drowning, an accident no one witnessed and no one reported. Twenty-six years of silence would follow naturally. No trace has ever been found.
He left and couldn’t come back. The runaway theory in its kindest form: David meant to come home, as he always had, and something — someone — stopped him. The reclassification in 2017 was the system’s quiet admission that the original label was wrong.
Have information?
Contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-522-8017 or cold.case@osbi.ok.gov, the Locust Grove Police Department at 918-479-8121, or NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- August 11, 1986 — David Allen Crabtree is born.
- Spring 2000 — Begins rebelling: drinking, acting out, sneaking out; wins wrestling medals at school.
- April 5, 2000 — Runs away; picked up by police in Pryor, drunk; returned home; sent to Claremore juvenile center, quickly discharged.
- April 8, 2000, 7:00–8:00 p.m. — Tells his family goodnight and “I love you”; crawls out his bedroom window to meet three waiting boys. Never seen again. (The Charley Project narrative places the crawl-out on the evening of April 8; some databases, including Oklahoma Cold Cases, list April 9, 2000 as the “date of last contact.”)
- April 2000 — Unconfirmed sightings in Pryor, Tahlequah, Kenwood.
- 2017 — Officially reclassified from runaway to missing; OSBI lists as suspicious disappearance.
- 2026 — NCMEC poster (1318013) still active, age-progressed to 36.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is David Allen Crabtree still missing?
Yes. David has been missing since April 8, 2000 — more than 26 years. The OSBI lists his disappearance as suspicious, and his NCMEC poster remains active.
Was David Crabtree a runaway?
He had run away before and always returned within days. In 2017 — 17 years after he vanished — authorities officially reclassified him from runaway to missing. Even law enforcement believes he would have contacted his brother by now if he could.
What happened the night David Crabtree disappeared?
He told his parents and sister he was going to bed and said “I love you.” Between 7 and 8 p.m., he crawled out of his bedroom window to join three boys waiting outside. His sister had declined to go with them. He never returned.
How old would David Crabtree be today?
David was born August 11, 1986 — he turned 40 in August 2026.
How can I help?
Share his NCMEC poster (case 1318013). Anyone with information should contact the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017, the Locust Grove Police Department at 918-479-8121, or NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (cold-case listing; 1-800-522-8017; cold.case@osbi.ok.gov); NCMEC poster 1318013 (1-800-843-5678); Locust Grove Police Department (918-479-8121).
- News: Oklahoma Cold Cases (oklahomacoldcases.org).
- Reference: The Charley Project — “David Allen Crabtree”; Uncovered.com case file.
- Media: Murder Is Bad podcast — MMIP series (David Crabtree segment); America’s Most Wanted Fans forum archive.
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.