Left and Center: Francillon circa, 1986
Right: Age Progressed to age 29
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: August 2, 1986
Missing From: North Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: October 1, 1982
Age: 3 years old
Height and Weight: 3’6″ and 35 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Biracial Male; Francillon is African American and Caucasian, Black hair, Brown eyes, Francillon is Haitian descent and was born in Haiti, he may use the nickname “Yo Yo”
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A light gray short sleeved sweatshirt with two ivory colored buttons on the side
NCMEC Number: 603393
Details of Disappearance
Francillon Pierre was last seen in North Las Vegas, Nevada on August 2nd 1986. His mother, Amy Elizabeth Luster and his stepfather, Mahalee Luster both stated that the child was last seen at the Broad Acres Swap Meet. Amy reported that they stopped at a food stand at approximately 11:30 am and purchased food. Manhalee stated he wanted to buy Francillon a bicycle.
When they last saw Francillon, he was standing at the entrance which was approximately 6 to 9 feet away from them at the time. While they were both busy with the food and the bicycle, Francillon disappeared and was never seen or heard from again.
Prior to Francillon’s disappearance, Amy and Mahalee were charged with felony child abuse in connection to them beating Francillon with a belt and caused 30 to 40 welts to form on his back. He was placed in foster care following the abuse and Amy and Mahalee were jailed. Amy admitted to beating the child with the belt and Mahalee who is commonly known as “Lee” also stated he had beat the boy.
The two were released from jail in April of 1986 after Amy and Lee posted bail. While the case against them for child abuse was still open, Francillon was eventually taken out of foster care and returned to her and his custody. Social workers attempted to make visits to Francillon’s home to check up on his welfare but Amy refused this and said it wouldn’t work.
The abuse patterns returned in July of 1986 when friends and neighbors of the family noticed that Francillon had bruises. Amy stated that she had beat the child because he urinated on the floor and set small fires in the house. Amy also has bruises and told those close to her that Lee has beaten her on multiple occasions. Lee would later admit that he would make Francillon run around in circles around the coffee table as punishment and once forced the child to sleep outside one night.
A friend of Amy’s also came forward and stated she had noticed a severe burn on his hand and scratches on his face. Amy stayed that these injuries were the result of an accident. A hearing for the child abuse charges was scheduled 24 days after he disappeared on August 26th 1986. Social workers were also supposed to check up on Francillon two weeks prior to the hearing but it never occurred.
After Francillon was reported missing, Amy and Lee were both subjected to lie detector tests and failed both of them. They would later be charged with obstruction of justice because they lied about a Minecraft of things which included there backgrounds, jobs, where they lived, as well as the events which lead up to the child’s disappearance. Amy at one point stated she never left Francillon with a babysitter but later said she did.
Authorities always doubted the story that Francillon disappeared from the Swap meet. Numerous witnesses said they never saw the child at the area and investigators believe he never even went there. Family members of Francillon also said that they hadn’t seen the child since possibly 2 weeks before he disappeared. Amy claimed that two people had babysat for the child approximately two days before his disappearance but the people she named denied this.
Neighbors observed Amy and Lee leaving their residence on the morning that Francillon was reported as missing. The couple later pleaded guilty to some of the charges in relation to obstruction of justice. Amy was sentenced to 3 months in prison and Lee was sentenced to 5 months in prison. While they served their sentences, the Lusters exchanged many letters with each other. Correction officers later seized them as evidence. They wrote little about their son’s disappearance.
In one of these letters, Amy wrote “Just as you couldn’t stand to send me to prison, I cannot stand to see you hate me, that hurts more than prison, can you still love me, forgive me for falling short?” In another one, Amy wrote “What happened was totally unintentional, I’m sorry, you know that.” In addition to the very odd letters, two witnesses reported during a jail visit, they heard Lee say “Amy killed the baby” and “Amy killed him, I know Amy killed him. The two witnesses came forward with their statements in 1987 and said they recognized Lee from his pictures in newspapers.
In the initial stages of the investigation, the Luster’s implicated Francillon’s biological father, Jean Pierre, in the boy’s disappearance. He lived in Haiti at the time of his son’s disappearance and investigators searched his apartment but found no sign of Francillon. He and Amy divorced in 1985 and Amy won custody of the child. Jean traveled for Nevada and took a lie detector test and passed. He is not considered a suspect in his son’s disappearance.
Lee and Amy moved to Palm Beach County, Florida about 11 months after Francillon disappearedand have lived in various other areas of Florida since.
In February of 2019, Amy was arrested and charged with Francillon’s murder. While authorities have yet to recover Francillon’s remains, they have said they have a very well compound circumstantial case against her which included the letters and incriminating statements that were mentioned above. She agreed to be extradited to Nevada. She has not confessed to actually killing the child and Lee has said she didn’t actually murder him.
Authorities believe that Francillon was the victim of foul play at the hands of his mother and that he is deceased. Despite the charges, Francillon’s case is still classified as a non family abduction. His body has never been recovered.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
North Las Vegas Police Department 702-649-9111
Source Information
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children