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

Christine Blackburn-Wiles
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
Blackburn-Wiles, date, approximate 2007; 1995 Chrysler New Yorker; Billy Joe Ashton Sr.
Date Missing 04/21/2007
Missing From
Belleview, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 11/02/1967 (54)
Age 39 years old
Height and Weight 5'6, 160 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) 1995 Chrysler New Yorker (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Some accounts refer to Blackburn-Wiles as Christine Wiles.
Details of Disappearance Blackburn-Wiles was last seen in Belleview, Florida at 1:00 a.m. on April 21, 2007. She and her sister went to some bars that day. Billy Joe Ashton Sr., Blackburn-Wiles's boyfriend, followed them. Blackburn-Wiles asked her sister to pull over, and got into the 1995 Chrysler New Yorker Ashton was driving. Photographs of the vehicle are posted with this summary.
Ashton later claimed they had an argument and he dropped her off around the corner from where her estranged husband lived. Her husband denied having seen her, however. Blackburn-Wiles has never been heard from again.
Her family initially thought she had gone to Texas. She was reported missing in early May, after she failed to get in touch with her daughter on the girl's sixteenth birthday. Blackburn-Wiles has a drinking problem, but it's uncharacteristic of her not to contact her child.
On July 24, the vehicle Blackburn-Wiles was last seen in was found at Wildcat Lake in Lake County, Florida, near the home of one of Ashton's relatives. Her blood was in the trunk. A witness told police that Ashton burned some items from the trunk of the Chrysler. Investigators went to the spot of the fire and dug it up, and found some fragments of clothing, including buttons from a pair of Faded Glory jeans. Blackburn-Wiles often wore that brand.
Ashton was incarcerated shortly after Blackburn-Wiles's disappearance. Some of her missing persons posters were displayed in the jail and he tore them down. He reportedly told an informant at the jail that he had elbowed Blackburn-Wiles in the face and knocked her out, and he wiped up her blood with a towel which he put in the trunk, and this was how the blood had gotten there. He also stated he had "gotten rid" of her.
A photo of Ashton is posted with this summary. He has a history of violent behavior and served six years in prison for kidnapping and assaulting another girlfriend in 1998. In June 2010, he was sentenced to thirty years in prison for possession of a firearm by a habitual offender. Less than 24 hours later, he was charged with second-degree murder in Blackburn-Wiles's .
Authorities stated the evidence against him was largely circumstantial and included tips from informants, DNA analysis and witness statements. However, in February 2013, the against him was dropped due to insufficient proof. Charges may be refiled against Ashton if more evidence surfaces. He is still incarcerated for the weapons offense.
Foul play is suspected in Blackburn-Wiles's due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Marion County Sheriff's Office
352-368-6845
Other
The Ocala Star-Banner
MyFox Orlando
Marion County Sheriff's Office
The Beaumont Enterprise
The Miami Herald
The Orlando Sentinel
Unsolved in the News
Robert A. Waters: Author

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