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
Arianna Fitts
Arianna, date, approximate 2016; Age-progression to age 8 (date, approximate 2021); Nicole Fitts; Plywood board found at Nicole's gravesite
Date Missing 02/01/2016
Missing From
Oakland, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 09/06/2013 (9)
Age 2 years old
Height and Weight 2'0, 45 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes.
Details of Disappearance Arianna's mother, 32-year-old Nicole Fitts, disappeared from San Francisco, California on April 1, 2016. She was last seen after her shift at Best Buy on Harrison Street that day.
Later in the day, she exchanged text messages with relatives, saying she was going to Fresno, California with a friend named "Sam." Her family was puzzled by this, as Nicole didn't know anyone named Sam and she didn't have a car.
In the early morning hours of April 2, there was a post to Nicole's Facebook reading, "Spending time with my 3 year old need this brake." Her family doesn't think she actually wrote it; Arianna was two, not three, and Nicole wrote with good grammar and spelling.
Nicole has never been heard from again. Her family reported her missing on April 5; they said they couldn't find Arianna either.
On April 8, Nicole's body was found in a shallow grave in McLaren Park, covered by a piece of plywood with a symbol spray-painted on it. Photos of Nicole and the plywood are posted with this summary. After Nicole was found murdered, police announced they thought Arianna was at risk.
Nicole, a single mother, was struggling financially prior to her death. She spent a period living in a homeless shelter and had sent her older daughter to live with the child's father in Southern California. While in the shelter, Nicole met a "street pastor" namedLemasani Briggs, who invited her and Arianna to live with her. Nicole paid Briggs money for rent and for babysitting Arianna, but after a few months she switched babysitters to Siolo Hearne, Briggs's niece.
According to Nicole's sister, Briggs was abusive to Nicole, never gave her a key to their shared residence, read her private diary and sent her text messages calling her names. Nicole's sister and a friend helped Nicole and Arianna escape the situation, picking them up from Briggs's house in November 2015 and taking her to their home in Santa Cruz, California.
After Nicole moved to Santa Cruz, commuted two hours each way to her job at Best Buy. She worked long hours and stayed with various friends. She often left Arianna with Siolo Hearne and Helena Martin, Briggs's nieces, as well as Helena's husband, Devin Martin.The Martins lived on Castro Street in Oakland, California.
A coworker offered Nicole and Arianna a place to stay, but Arianna's babysitters did not want to let her go and wouldn't even let Nicole see her. No one in Arianna's family had seen her since sometime in mid-February 2016, about six weeks before her mother's murder.
According to Nicole's roommate, Nicole planned to try to retrieve her daughter on the day she disappeared. Nicole was reportedly very upset because she hadn't been able to see her, and her roommate urged her to seek help from the police to get her back.
Police stated Hearne and the Martins were refusing to cooperate with the investigation and had provided inconsistent statements, and it's worth noting that Helena previously served a six-year prison term for killing the father of her child. They haven't been named as suspects in Nicole's homicide or Arianna's disappearance, however.
Arianna's family hopes she is still alive and being cared for. Prior to Nicole's death, she and Arianna frequented the San Francisco, San Mateo, Oakland, Emeryville, Fresno, Santa Cruz and the Silicon Valley areas of the state; investigators believe Arianna could be anywhere in California. Her remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
San Francisco Police Department
415-553-0123
Federal Bureau of Investigation
415-553-7400
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
California Attorney General's Office
NBC Bay Area
KTVU
ABC 7 News
SFist
The San Francisco Chronicle
SF Weekly
True Crime Daily
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
