Alexandria Christine Suleski
Alexandria, circa 1989; Roxanne Suleski in 2014; Thomas Suleski in 2014
- Missing Since 10/26/1989
- Missing From Radcliff, Kentucky
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race Asian, Biracial, White
- Date of Birth 11/26/1983 (40)
- Age 5 years old
- Height and Weight 2'9, 40 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue denim skirt, a white blouse, and beige or cream-colored sneakers.
- Distinguishing Characteristics Biracial (Asian/Caucasian) female. Black hair, brown eyes. Alexandria's nickname is Alex. She is of Korean descent, and spoke Korean and broken English at the time of her disappearance.
Details of Disappearance
Alexandria was last seen playing outside of her family's residence at the Duvall Mobile Home Park on south Wilson Road, near the 1100 block of Dixie Highway in Radcliff, Kentucky, at 2:00 p.m. on October 23, 1989. She has never been seen again. Authorities initially believed she had either been abducted or had wandered off and fallen into one of the many area sinkholes.
In April 1990, Alexandria's father and stepmother, Thomas and Roxanne Suleski, were arrested for child abduction and violating a custody order in connection with Alexandria and her nine-year-old sister, Dawn.
The girls' mother in California, Thomas's ex-wife, had custody of them. Thomas was allowed visitation under the condition that the children have no contact with their stepmother. In August 1989, Thomas had picked up Alexandria and Dawn at their mother's home. He was supposed to take them on a vacation, but he never returned them. Instead he moved to Kentucky with the children, Roxanne, and her twelve-year-old daughter, Nyssa Bruno.
The charges against the couple were later dropped for lack of evidence, but in 1993, Thomas and Roxanne were charged with making false statements about Alexandria's disappearance. They were later charged with abusing, kidnapping and murdering the child.
Nyssa testified that her stepsister was regularly abused by Roxanne prior to her 1989 disappearance. Alexandria frequently soiled herself, which enraged Roxanne. Once, in response to one of the child's accidents, Roxanne severely beat Alexandria with a belt, forced her to stand in a corner in her underwear all night long without a break or any food, and forced Nyssa and Dawn to hit her with the belt as well. Then, she forced Alexandria to eat jalapeno peppers.
Nyssa stated that the day before Alexandria disappeared, in response to her toileting accidents, Roxanne forced the child to sit inside a plastic trash bag in a box all day. When Alexandria soiled herself again inside the bag and the smell became offensive, Roxanne covered her and the first bag with a second bag and tied it. Nyssa heard gasping sounds coming from the bag.
Alexandria stayed in the bag all day while her sisters were at school. When Nyssa came home from school, but before Dawn came home, Roxanne said Alexandria wasn't breathing. She called her husband home from work. Thomas and Roxanne didn't call 911; instead, they put the child's body in a box, buried it in the woods in Otter Creek Park in Meade County, Kentucky, and told everyone that Alexandria had wandered away while playing. They made Nyssa go along with the story.
Nyssa didn't tell anyone the truth about her stepsister's death until she was sixteen years old. She first told Dawn, then her biological father, who notified the authorities. Nyssa spoke to her stepfather about Alexandria's death while wearing a recording device; on the recording, Thomas stated he'd gone back to the place where he'd buried Alexandria and crushed her bones to powder.
Thomas and Roxanne maintained their innocence, but were convicted of all charges in 1994 and sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years. They could have gotten the death penalty. The Suleskis' defense attorneys petitioned the court to set their sentences aside in early 2001, but the requests were denied. Photos of both of them are posted with this case summary.
When the Suleskis came up for parole in 2018, Nyssa testified, saying she was afraid Roxanne would harm her if she was released. Roxanne waived her parole hearing and agreed to serve her full life sentence in prison. Thomas went before the board, admitting he'd been "stupid" and "weak" but saying he had no role in his daughter's death, and only helped Roxanne hide the body. He was denied parole and won't be reconsidered until 2028.
Alexandria has never been located. Her case continues to be listed as a non-family abduction with many missing children's agencies.
Investigating Agency
- Radcliff Police Department 502-351-5147
Source Information
- Child Protection Education of America
- The Kentucky Post
- The Lexington Herald-Leader
- The Doe Network
- Angelizd's Place
- Kentucky Online Offender Lookup
- The Spectrum
- The Louisville Courier-Journal
- WAVE 3
- WHAS 11
- Dark Secret: The Complete Story: The True Account of What Happened to Little Alex Suleski
- NamUs
Updated 8 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated October 10, 2022; picture added.