She was later found murdered .
Thornton was in the fifth grade , living in the southeast suburb of Hazel Crest , when he said his 35 - year - old mother went missing a couple days before Halloween in 1999 .
mother was later found murdered .
Thornton was in the fifth grade , living in the southeast suburb of Hazel Crest , when he said his 35 - year - old mother went missing a couple days before Halloween in 1999 .