Kendrick moved in with his father, stepmother and two half-siblings a few months before his disappearance; he had been previously raised by his maternal grandmother and his mother. The family resided in the Canfield Falls apartment complex in the 1200 block of Wilcrest in Houston, Texas. Photographs of Kendrick's mother, Keyanna Jackson, and his father, Roderick Terrell Fountain, are posted below this case summary.

Fountain stated Kendrick disappeared from the apartment at 9:30 a.m. on April 7, 2006. He said he last saw his son in the child's bedroom; Kendrick was sitting up in the bed at the time. Fountain left the apartment for a few minutes to do laundry and when he returned, Kendrick was missing and the front door was open.

Initially it was believed that Kendrick had been abducted by a non-family member, as witnesses reported seeing him with an unidentified African-American man at a Metro bus stop outside Kendrick's apartment complex. The man was described as between 30 and 40 years old, 5'7 to 5'9 tall, and wearing jeans and a white shirt. The investigation quickly turned in another direction, however.

Just days after Kendrick was last seen, Fountain was arrested and charged with filing a false police report in connection with his son's disappearance. He has reportedly made inconsistent statements about the events leading up to his son's vanishing and cannot satisfactorily account for his whereabouts between 2:30 and 6:00 a.m. on April 7. The day after his arrest, he was additionally charged with causing injury to a child; this charge is the result of bruises that were seen on Kendrick prior to his disappearance. Later in April 2006, Fountain was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Investigators had found a shotgun in his residence when they searched it for evidence in Kendrick's case. Fountain has multiple felony convictions dating back to 1992, and is not legally allowed to own a gun. He was also charged with attempted federal witness tampering. Fountain pleaded guilty to the firearms charge in September 2006. The witness tampering charge was dropped. The projected release date for these charges is 2019.

Investigators have long believed Kendrick is deceased and Fountain was responsible for his death. He has been ordered to have no contact with the two other children he has by his wife. He has six additional children by other women. Keyanna has passed a lie detector test in connection with Kendrick's disappearance and is not a suspect, and neither is any other member of Kendrick's family. Keyanna stated she believed Kendrick had been abducted by a stranger and Fountain had not harmed him. In June 2009, over three years after Kendrick's disappearance, his father was charged with the child's murder. He is charged with felony murder: that is, murder committed while committing felony injury to a child. Authorities believe Kendrick died after his father struck him with his bare hands. Fountain could face life in prison if convicted. He is awaiting trial.

Authorities don't believe they will recover Kendrick's body by the time of the trial. Foul play is suspected in his disappearance due to the circumstances involved.

Left: Roderick Terrell Fountain;
Right: Keyanna Jackson