MI MI - Randall Childs, 50, & Karen Young, 51, Detroit, 7 June 2011

[Aurora90]

I'd be happy to do it, I'll request the records today.

ETA: Just sent in the request. Will post here as soon as I get a response.

That's amazing thank you @citizen_sleuth !!!

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Randall Childs and Karen Young have been missing for 11 years.

The couple was last seen at 11:30 p.m. on June 7, 2011 at the Roberts III Apartments in Detroit.

The family told Crime Stoppers that Childs, his roommate, Young, and some other friends were all at the apartment.

At some point, Childs and Young got into an argument and Young called her daughter to pick her up. Childs walked Young from his 6th-floor apartment to make sure she met her ride safely.

That was the last time either of them have been seen.

“Everywhere I go I’m looking for my brother,” Child’s sister Sharon Murray said in 2019. “It is very difficult to go on living a normal life when a part of you is missing. You go on and you do the best you can, but a piece of our puzzle is missing. A lot of people don’t even want to say Randall’s name because it’s too hurtful to say his name but he is my brother and he is real and we need to find him. So we are begging and pleading with you to come forth if you know anything.”

Detroit couple missing for 11 years was last seen leaving apartment after argument

Randall Childs and Karen Young have been missing for 11 years.

www.clickondetroit.com

 

[Pennysmom1]

Dec 29, 2023

12 years later, family wants answers in Detroit couple’s disappearance

The family is urging anyone who may know something, even the tiniest detail, to speak up. Tips can be made anonymously.

www.clickondetroit.com

<<Lisha Young, Karen’s daughter, isn’t even sure her mother and Randall left the apartment. She said her mom called the night she went missing using an acquaintance’s phone.

“She was supposed to come back that day but she called that evening saying she had business to take care of and she would see us the 9th instead,” Lisha Young said. “Where did she go? Where did Randall go after he followed behind to make sure she got downstairs? And even if there was a ride, who was the ride?”

The acquaintance whose phone she used is in prison for a murder in Dearborn. Lisha has reached out to them via email but is blocked, so she’s asking the police to take another look.>>




May 9, 2025

Missing Persons Day: Families still seeking loved ones who disappeared

For the families of Michigan’s missing, giving up is never an option. On Thursday, some of them came together not just to grieve but to remind the world that their loved ones are still out there, and they’re still searching.

www.fox2detroit.com

Added 4/17/24

4733DFMI - Karen Vanessa Young

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

 

[dotr]

A Detroit couple vanished 14 years ago. Now a prison letter is adding to the mystery

It’s been 14 years since Randall Childs and Karen Young vanished without a trace after an argument in Childs’ Detroit apartment -- and the mystery surrounding their disappearance continues to haunt loved ones.

www.clickondetroit.com

July 6, 2025 rbbm.
'A jailhouse letter sent to Childs’ sister brings even more questions.'

“I’m sick. My soul will not rest, ‘cause that’s a part of me,” said Sharon Murray, Randall’s sister. “I can’t stop looking for him because if it were me, I would want my family to look for me.”

''The letter continues with references to the events of that night, a “theory” the writer had allegedly shared with Murray before and mentions of someone possibly having harmed Randall.

“I told the officers all that I knew at that hour and what took place that night,” the inmate wrote. “Now I can finally speak my peace and pray you really take into consideration and think about what I’m about to tell you with an open heart and mind…”

The letter is about six pages. Murray turned the letter over to Detroit Police. They tell Local 4 they are looking into it.''

 

[dotr]

2022

Detroit couple missing for 11 years was last seen leaving apartment after argument

Randall Childs and Karen Young have been missing for 11 years.

www.clickondetroit.com

Randall Glynn Childs (L), Karen Vanessa Young (R) (NamUs)

 

[Aurora90]

Lots of discrepancies here, but I think it's easy to deduce what likely happened to Randall Childs and Karen Young.

Ok so we know that in the apartment was Randall, Karen, Randall's roommate, and a "few friends". We know next to nothing about those "few friends". But more on that later. Here's what we do know.

September 15th 2011: Police Given False Leads.
A few months after they went missing, Police and Crime Stoppers ask the public for more tips. They also state they have been given false leads but they don't state from whom. (I have an idea who that might be)

Tips Sought In Case Of Missing Detroit Couple
The families of two missing people are seeking help from Crime Stoppers and the public. Police say all they're getting is false leads in the case 52-year-old Randall Childs and his girlfriend 50-year-old Karen Young.

Sometime in 2011: A Newspaper Article Mentioned Randall was Homeless and Last Seen in a Cab
There was this newspaper clipping @citizen_sleuth found stating Randall was last seen getting into a cab and that he was homeless. We now know both of these things were not true. Randall's sister confirms this in later interviews.

No Cab was confirmed to pick him or Karen up. Could it be that someone made a false statement to police? Who benefits by misleading the investigation away from the apartment? Because there are no confirmed suspects I will keep suspicions to myself for now.

In May 2016, Randall's sister tells Detroit News that she was told Karen called her mother and a friend to pick her up and Randall followed. I wonder who told her this?

The Detroit News
“I was told my brother’s girlfriend had called her mother and a friend to come pick her up from my brother’s apartment, and my brother walked her out of the apartment because it was dark, and that’s the last we heard anything about him,” she said. “I look for him everywhere — at the mall, in a park, standing in a line — everywhere. I just feel so hopeless.”

In January 2019, Crime Stoppers makes a video on Randall and Karen.

"at some point Randall and Karen began to argue, and Karen called to her daughter to come and pick her up"

So was it Karen's daughter or her mother or was it a friend? I have a feeling the answer is
D) None of the above.

Years later in July 2023, a prison inmate sent the sister of Randall Childs a 'jailhouse letter' with intimate knowledge about this case. (Who could that be? I have an idea)

Then in December 2023: We find out some more news according to this interview with Click On Detroit. Turns out there actually was a phone call from Karen to her daughter. But it was not to request a pickup. Actually quite the opposite.

Lisha Young, Karen’s daughter, isn’t even sure her mother and Randall left the apartment. She said her mom called the night she went missing using an acquaintance’s phone.

“She was supposed to come back that day but she called that evening saying she had business to take care of and she would see us the 9th instead,” Lisha Young said. “Where did she go? Where did Randall go after he followed behind to make sure she got downstairs? And even if there was a ride, who was the ride?”

The acquaintance whose phone she used is in prison for a murder in Dearborn. Lisha has reached out to them via email but is blocked, so she’s asking the police to take another look.

I think the so called "acquaintance" whose phone Karen borrowed, the one currently in prison for murder in Dearborn, is the prison inmate who wrote the letter in 2023. They must be one in the same.

There is a strong possibility that LE has a suspect in mind. But with little evidence and no bodies they are likely finding it hard to convict.

 

[Aurora90]

According to Detroit Fire Dispatch Audio records, there was an early morning fire at that building on April 26, 2017 around 6:00am.

Randall lived on the 6th floor of one of the buildings in that complex. I wonder if it was the same apartment? If so, I imagine a lot of DNA is destroyed.

Detroit Fire Dispatch Audio:​

Detroit: 5 people were hurt, 1 critically during an early Easter morning high rise fire. Fire broke out on the 6th floor of the Roberts III apartment building @ 3901 Grand River in Core City Detroit.

Detroit Fire’s Engine 17 responded to a “Still Alarm” to check for smoke @ around 7:00Am Easter morning. Upon arrival, Engine 17 found smoke but was unable to locate the source.

Additional companies were dispatched through a Commercial Box Alarm.

Commercial Box Alarm Companies:
Detroit Fire Engines 1, E17, E27, Hamtramck Engine 1, Highland Park Engine 1, Ladder Truck 20, Ladder Truck 7, Squad 4, Squad 2, Battalion Chief 1, Battalion Chief 5, Senior Chief 203, Fire Marshal 602 and DPD Arson Car 809.

Chief 5 reported a fire on the 6th floor in an apartment at the rear with other companies reporting fire on the 7th. Fires were quickly extinguished.

5 civilians were injured during the fire including 1 female who suffered critical injuries when she reportedly jumped from the 7th floor.

Her injuries included a broken pelvic bone and two collapsed lungs. She was conveyed by DEMS to Detroit Receiving Hospital.

All patients were conveyed to area hospitals by Detroit EMS Medics.

This is confirmed by a separate link on Continental Construction Management's blog. It looks like after the fire in April, renovations were done in November. Note the complete gut restoration of one unit in particular.

Continental Construction Management Restored Roberts III Apartments​

We restored 18 units from fire, water, and smoke damage. We did a complete gut restoration of one unit, which had the fire. We installed a brand new kitchen with cabinets and new flooring and a new bathroom with cabinet and tub surround. We also replaced the windows and a glass door wall. Drywall was replaced, and the entire unit was painted.

We then did the restoration of the 17 other units (on multiple floors) from water damage. We cleaned up the water, drywalled the corridors, installed drop ceilings, new light fixtures, new flooring, and painted the walls.

If it is the same unit Randall used to live in, I really hope law enforcement did their due diligence and collected a bunch of possible evidence.