Unusual Investigative Technique: New York Police Department Uses Mannequin to Look for Boy Missing For 6 Years

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has revealed a new instrument to help in the search of Staten Island boy who has been missing since 2010.

Wearing the red shirt that he wore when he was last seen, the mannequin of Patrick Alford, Jr.stands on the window of SoHo boutique.

According to Pix 11, Patrick Alford, Jr.'s replica is just a part of the Missing Persons Squad initiative called "Invisible faces" to help find missing children in New York.

"People forget and go on with life. It's not that they don't care; it's that Patrick's a missing child that happened 2010. Most people don't remember that," said Lt. Christopher Zimmerman, NYPD in a video uploaded on the site.

While many people have forgotten the boy's story, Zimmerman has made a commitment to never stop until the boy's case is solved.

Zimmerman has been leading the search for Patrick, hanging posters and handing fliers, but it seems like most people do not really mind looking at them.

Together with Rodrigo Linhares, of BBDO Advertising, they came up with the idea that while people don't look at fliers, people look at store windows.

So then, they decided to sculpt a life size mannequin, courtesry of Standard Transmission, that looks the way Patrick would look today.

According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Patrick went missing from his foster home in East New York on Jan. 22, 2010 when he just just 7 years old.

He could have been 13 by now. A plaster replica of the boy is just a reminder that there's still hope for the missing child.

"He use to sit in this chair and play his game. This is his sneakers. I want him to know that I'm looking for him and never going to give up on him," said his mom, Jennifer Rodriguez in an interview with Pix 11.

Zimmerman and the team hopes that through this initiative, which has never been done before, people would helplocate the missing boy.

"The mannequins are traditionally used for sales, now we are going to use this to find missing people. We're gonna make that mannequin count."

The mannequin will remain at the K-Way, a European sportswear shop, at 424 W. Broadway, until mid-May.