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.



Missing Person Photos

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

Austin Blu Stephanos
Austin, date, approximate 2015
Date Missing 07/24/2015
Missing From
Jupiter, Florida
Missing Classification Lost/Injured Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 12/01/2000 (21)
Age 14 years old
Height and Weight 5'2, 115 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A long-sleeved black shirt, camouflage-print board shorts, and a gold chain necklace with a cross.
Associated Vehicle(s) 19-foot, single-engine Seacraft boat (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, green eyes. Austin has a birthmark on his upper arm.
Details of Disappearance Austin was last seen on July 24, 2015. He left with his friend Perry Cohenfrom Austin's house that morning in Austin's 19-foot, single-engine Seacraft boat for a fishing trip. Both boys were very experienced at fishing and boating. Austin had been driving boats since he was ten, and was also capable of making minor engine repairs. According to his father, he was allowed to drive only a few miles offshore on calm days.
The boys texted their parents at 11:00 a.m., and bought more than $100 worth of fuel at a marina in Jupiter, Florida at 1:30 p.m. They were using Snapchat on their phones that afternoon. Their last message read, "we're f**ked."
Within a few hours of them leaving the Jupiter marina, Austin and Perry were hit by a storm with up to 40-mile-per-hour winds. They never returned home. Their parents reported them missing at 5:00 p.m., and the Coast Guard began a search.
On July 26, Austin and Perry's boat was sighted from the air, about 65 milers off the coast of Daytona Beach. The boat was not recovered at that time; it was gone by the time crews came out to get it. It was sighted again in September, 160 miles off the coast, and again it could not be recovered.
The boat was finally recovered in March 2017, off the coast of Bermuda. A Norwegian transport ship recovered it and delivered it to a Florida port. The battery switch, which is difficult to reach and almost impossible to switch off by accident, was switched off. The key was in the ignition and in the off position.
Authorities found Austin's iPhone and fishing gear on board the boat, but some other items, including a white Yeti cooler and some life jackets, were missing. The phone was badly damaged from months of exposure to the seawater. Austin's father initially didn't want police to examine it, but he eventually relented. Authorities were unable to get any data off of it.
The state of Florida opened an investigation into Austin's family for possible child neglect. In June 2017, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement ruled that there was probable cause to charge Austin's stepfather, Richard "Bubba" Black, with child neglect because his "egregious lapse in judgment" led to the boys' disappearance. A prosecutor did not file any charges, however.
Although Perry and Austin's mothers were once good friends, after the boys disappeared the families fell into conflict with each other. Perry was not allowed to go fishing without an adult present, something Austin's family was aware of. In the summer of 2017, two years after the boys' disappearance, Perry's mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Austin's parents his stepfather, and his grandfather, alleging that their negligence led to Perry's death.
The boys' bodies have never been found, but both are presumed lost at sea.
Investigating Agency
Tequesta Police Department
561-768-0500
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
NamUs
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
ABC News
The AustinBlu Foundation
WBPF 25
The Palm Beach Post
NBC Miami
The Epoch Times
CBS News
People Magazine
The Daily Mail
CNN

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.



Missing Person Photos

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