Kipper was last seen in Bethany, Oklahoma on June 8, 1968. His parents, Joreta Sharp Lacey and Michael Lacey, were in the process of a divorce at the time. Kipper lived with his mother in Bethany and his father lived in Dallas, Texas. His father had regular weekend visitation. On the day of Kipper's disappearance, Michael's mother, Dorothy Lacey Groseclose Wills, went to Joreta's home and said Michael was coming to her own home in Enid, Oklahoma and she was picking up Kipper so he could spend the weekend with his father there. Joreta had expected Michael, not his mother, to pick up the child, but she agreed to let him go with Dorothy. She never saw him again.

When the weekend was over and Michael did not return Kipper to Joreta's home, she called Dorothy. Dorothy said she didn't know her son and grandson's whereabouts, and suggested they had gone on vacation. The police refused to investigate Kipper's disappearance, as they considered it a domestic problem. Back in 1968, it wasn't considered a crime to take your own child, and the Laceys' divorce was not final. Although Joreta had a legal custody order, there was no legal recourse to stop Michael from leaving with Kipper.

Joreta could not afford to take the time off work to travel and search for her son, but she kept calling Dorothy and asking where Kipper was. Dorothy insisted she didn't know where Kipper or Michael were, and suggested Michael took his son to Dallas for a vacation. Joreta tried to get in touch with Michael in Dallas and couldn't find him. She eventually got enough money to go to Dallas and discovered Michael had quit his job, moved out of his apartment and disappeared. His roommate stated he had given no indication that he was planning to leave. Two months after Kipper went missing, Dorothy told Joreta she had sold her house and was moving away from Enid into an apartment. She never contacted Joreta again. Twenty years later, Joreta hired a private investigator to look into the case. The investigator discovered Dorothy had left her job and never claimed any retirement benefits. She told coworkers and relatives she was going to help Michael raise Kipper and no one would ever see or hear from her again. Michael drove a light tan 1967 Volkswagen in 1968. Dorothy drove a green 1964 Chevrolet.

There has been no indication of Michael, Kipper or Dorothy's whereabouts since 1968. There's been no activity on their Social Security numbers, and no one using Michael or Kipper's names or dates of birth has gotten a driver's license anywhere in the United States. Michael's aunt died sometime after 1968 and left him a substantial inheritance, but he never claimed it. It's possible the three changed their names and/or left the country. Kipper may be unaware of his status as a missing child. Dorothy was born in 1914, and would be in her nineties today, if she is still alive. Michael was born in 1939. An age-progressed image of him is posted below this case summary.

Dorothy remarried in 1969 and had another child, but she has never given up her search for Kipper. She now lives in Colorado. Kipper's disappearance remains unsolved.

Above: Michael Lacey as he may appear today