CINCINNATI, OH — More than six decades after 9-year-old James McQueary disappeared, his sister says the family is still living with unanswered questions. Deania Wilson, who lives in the Tri-State, said the mystery surrounding her younger brother has never eased, even as the years have passed.

McQueary, also called Jimmy, was last seen in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 1964. Wilson said he vanished that day after being with his best friend, Johnny Hundley, and she still remembers the details of the search that followed.

For Wilson, the loss has remained deeply personal. She says she still thinks of herself as the child who looked after her younger brother and has kept one of his shirts for more than 60 years.

How the boys were last seen near Wooster Pike

Wilson said McQueary and Hundley had walked to a Frisch’s restaurant along Wooster Pike. She said the boys had left without paying their bill, and their mother gave them money to return and settle it.

According to Wilson, that stop became the last confirmed sighting of the boys. She said the children, both 9 at the time, were later reported by several people in different places around the area.

Those tips included claims that the boys were seen across the street, farther down the road near a schoolyard and about three blocks away. Wilson said those accounts never produced physical evidence, leaving the family with little more than memories and conflicting statements.

A family search that spread into the woods and river

Wilson said her family launched its own search after McQueary went missing. Her father enlisted his brothers, and together they looked along the Little Miami River and in nearby woods.

She said the effort was broad and determined, but it never brought the family the answers they wanted. Wilson said police also investigated the case over the years, and at one point there was a person of interest.

That lead later turned out to be a hoax, according to Wilson. She said the case has remained open in spirit for the family, even if it has not produced any meaningful new information in years.

Wilson says the missing child case never stopped hurting

Wilson said the pain has never gone away. She described the disappearance as something far harder than a typical cold case because there has been so little to explain what happened.

“It’s hard, it’s hard,” Wilson said. “It doesn’t get easier, it’s hard, like I said, it’s not a cold case. It’s a frozen case.”

She also said both of her parents died without learning what happened to their son. Her mother has passed away, and her father died in January at age 96.

For Wilson, that has made the lack of closure even more difficult. She said losing her parents without answers left another wound on top of the decades of uncertainty already in the family.

A sister holding onto a shirt and a promise not to quit

Wilson said she is also dealing with her own health battle, but that has not stopped her from continuing to press for answers. She said she still sees herself as the brother’s caretaker and still feels responsible for remembering him.

One of the few things she has kept is a shirt that belonged to McQueary and dates back 62 years. She described it as a treasured keepsake and a reminder of the life that was interrupted when he disappeared.

Even with no solid lead to follow, Wilson said she is unwilling to give up. “I haven’t given up yet, and I won’t,” she said. “I will not give up.”

Police say the case was reviewed again in recent years

Fairfax police were contacted about the disappearance, and Chief Jeff Bronson said the case was reviewed by the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children a few years ago. He said there are no new leads at this time.

The renewed review did not appear to produce any fresh breakthrough. For Wilson and her family, that means the disappearance of a 9-year-old boy from 1964 remains unresolved more than 62 years later.

McQueary’s case is still part of the area’s history, but for his sister it remains something more immediate: a missing brother, an unanswered question and a family that never stopped waiting for clarity.