Jamal's stepmother dropped him and his brother, Basil, off at their mother's apartment in the 1700 block Clarkson Road on April 16, 1990. The boys went outside to play in the front yard at 2:30 p.m. while their mother, Tambra Ellis, went to sleep inside. She had worked the night shift the day before. Ellis woke up two hours later, searched for her sons, but couldn't find them. The boys never returned to their apartment.

Authorities later discovered Basil's body in a Chesterfield County landfill five miles from their home. Basil had been stabbed to death. His killer placed his remains in a dumpster and from there they were taken to the landfill. There was no sign of Jamal at the scene and he has never been heard from again.

Following the discovery of Basil's body, investigators detained the boys' father, Everett Abdul'Faruq, for three hours. Court documents indicated that authorities initially believed the child was injured or killed inside his father's residence. A search of the property failed to produce any evidence to support the theory. Everett has never been implicated in connection with his sons' cases, although he did refuse to take a lie detector test, saying it was contrary to his Muslim religious beliefs. Jamal's case remains unsolved.