Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Anthony Tyrone Woodson
Anthony, date, approximate 1981; Age-progression to age 34 (date, approximate 2010); Terry Lee Woodson in 2018
Date Missing 08/29/1981
Missing From
Mansfield, Texas
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Black
Date of Birth 08/20/1976 (46)
Age 5 years old
Height and Weight 3'0, 50 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Underwear and an adult-sized t-shirt with burn holes at the bottom.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes. Anthony's nickname is Burt.
Details of Disappearance Anthony was last seen on August 29, 1981. Shortly after he was born, his parents divorced and his paternal grandmother began caring him. Ten months prior to Anthony's disappearance, with her eyesight failing, his grandmother turned custody of the boy over to his aunt and uncle. Anthony lived with them on Cotton Drive in Mansfield, Texas.
Anthony's uncle, Terry Lee Woodson, said that in the early morning hours of August 29, he wanted to go out and get a drink, and didn't want to leave Anthony at home because Terry's wife, Della, was asleep. He put Anthony in the backseat of his car and drove to a 7-11 store in the 1000 block of east Broad Street at 3:30 a.m.
Anthony was asleep in the car when Terry went inside the store to buy a soft drink. After a few minutes, Terry returned to the car and drove home. He didn't realize Anthony had disappeared from the vehicle until after he'd arrived home. The police were called at 3:50 a.m.
Police interviewed Anthony's father, who was in prison by this time, and he had no idea where his son was. Terry's polygraph about his nephew's disappearance showed deception. Investigators were suspicious of Terry's story and thought Anthony may have never gone to the convenience store that night.
The Woodsons divorced after Anthony's disappearance, and Della has since died. The investigation was revived in 2017 and witnesses were re-interviewed. In August 2018, Terry was arrested and charged with his nephew's murder. A photo of him is posted with this summary.
In an October 2017 interview with police, Terry told them Anthony had died after being beaten by Della, and that he had dumped the child's body along a dirt road off Highway 287, between Mansfield and Midlothian, Texas. Investigators drove around in the area with Terry, trying to find the dump site, but couldn't locate it.
In March 2018, Terry changed his story, stating Della had begun beating Anthony with an extension cord, then asked Terry to continue the beating. He beat Anthony until there were U-shaped marks from the extension cord on Anthony's back and blood was soaking through the child's shirt. He covered Anthony and left him on a bed, and when he checked on him later, Anthony had died.
Neighbors told police they'd seen Anthony's guardians beat him with a lamp cord and that they'd come to recognize the sound of the cord, and the screaming and crying from the beatings. Terry speculated that his nephew might have lived if he'd gotten him medical attention after the beating.
Since his arrest, Terry has retracted his confessions, stating that because of blood sugar problems caused by his diabetes, he would get confused and say things that weren't true and which he didn't remember later on. He denies having ever abused his nephew.
Terry is awaiting trial in the . Police are still hoping to locate Anthony's body, but experts have stated it's likely his remains were scattered by animal scavengers and are unrecoverable. Foul play is suspected in his due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Mansfield Police Department
817-473-0211
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Texas Department of Public Safety
The Mansfield News-Mirror
The Doe Network
The Dallas Morning News
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
