Disappearance of Lisa Irwin

Lisa Renée Irwin was reported missing from her family's home in Kansas City, Missouri, in the early morning of October 4, 2011. According to Lisa's mother, the child had last been checked on in her bed the previous evening. Lisa's father said he discovered she was missing at around 4:00 a.m. on October 4 after returning home from a late-night job and finding several lights on, a window open, and the front door unlocked. The family later told police that a number of cellphones were also missing from the home.

During the investigation, two witnesses independently reported seeing a man walking down the street carrying a baby around the time Lisa disappeared. Investigators located and questioned a man matching one witness's description, but the second witness said the man's photograph did not match the person they had seen. On October 19, 2011, investigators carried out a court-authorized search of the family home; court documents state that a cadaver dog alerted to a scent consistent with a deceased body near the mother's bed. Items removed from the home under the search warrant included a multicolored comforter, purple shorts, a shirt bearing Disney characters, a Glo Worm toy, a "Cars"-themed blanket, rolls of tape, and a tape dispenser.

Lisa's mother later told the Associated Press that investigators had told her she was responsible for the disappearance and said, "we have nothing," and that she had been told she failed a polygraph examination; no family member has been charged in connection with the case. The following week, the family announced plans to organize a reward, and in October 2011 an anonymous benefactor reportedly hired a private investigator and offered a $100,000 reward for Lisa's return. Lisa's parents also appeared on national television to say they continued to cooperate with investigators and were doing everything possible to find Lisa.

Lisa's brothers were scheduled for police interviews and DNA collection; the family's attorney said the parents canceled an initial session and that investigators were denied access to the boys, who were interviewed a second time on November 10, 2011. A police request for a search warrant stated that inconsistent accounts from people connected to the case may have complicated the investigation's early stages.

In May 2012, Lisa's parents reported that their debit card had been used without authorization on a website that produced fraudulent birth certificates; two television programs confirmed the website's existence, and the family's attorney said he had visited it. Investigators said at the time that their inquiry was continuing and that they considered it possible Lisa was still alive. In October 2013, authorities in Greece examined a girl found living in a Romani camp whom some believed might be Lisa; they determined she was not. The case was later profiled on the podcast "The Vanished" in 2016 and featured in a November 24, 2020, episode of the HLN series "Real Life Nightmare" titled "Vanished from the Crib." Lisa Irwin's whereabouts remain unknown.