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

Daniel Barter



Daniel, date, approximate 1959; Age-progression to age 62 (date, approximate 2016)
Date Missing 06/18/1959
Missing From
Perdido Bay, Alabama
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 12/12/1954 (67)
Age 4 years old
Height and Weight 3'0, 50 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Only gray boxer shorts.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Daniel's nickname is Danny. He has scars on his fingers and a scar on his tongue.
Details of Disappearance Daniel was last seen playing near the banks of Perdido Bay, Alabama between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. on June 18, 1959. He resided in the 1700 block of Thrush Drive in Mobile, Alabama at the time, and had gone camping at Perdido Bay with his parents, a cousin and three of his six siblings. His other siblings were staying with relatives. The campsite was about an hour's drive from the Barters' home.
Daniel apparently wandered away from the rest of his family while his parents were preparing some fishing equipment. He was carrying a bottle of Nehi soda at the time. His mother, Maxine Barter, began searching for him ten or fifteen minutes after she last saw him, but was unable to locate him. He has never been heard from again.
The area Daniel disappeared from is swampy and infested with alligators and snakes. Authorities investigated the theory that the child had been attacked by an animal. They even killed and gutted two alligators to look for human remains, but found no evidence of such an attack.
An extensive search of the region, on both land and water, turned up no sign of Daniel or his remains. Even his Nehi soft drink bottle was never found. Bloodhounds were used, but didn't uncover anything useful.
Maxine stated Daniel did not like the water and she did not believe he would have gone into the bay voluntarily. The bay was very shallow at the time and a person could walk a considerable distance without getting very wet. The undergrowth bordering the campsite was thick and prickly, and as Daniel was barefoot and wearing only a pair of shorts, his loved ones don't believe he would have gone into the bushes.
After the search turned up no evidence, investigators decided it was unlikely Daniel had wandered into the woods or water near the campsite. They looked into the possibility of abduction, but they were never able to find any clues supporting this theory. The Barter family was not wealthy and they never received any communication from the supposed kidnapper(s), so a ransom motive is unlikely.
A month before Daniel's disappearance, his mother saw a mysterious vehicle parked in front of their home in Mobile. Maxine approached the car and the driver, a man, immediately covered his face with a newspaper, then drove away. One evening not long afterward, a neighbor saw a strange man peering into the Barter boys' bedroom where the boys, including Daniel, were asleep.
On the morning before Daniel's disappearance, Maxine drove him and one of his brothers to the store and went inside, leaving the boys in the car. While she gone, an unknown man drove his car up next to the Barters' car and stared at the boys for awhile without speaking to them, then drove away. Daniel's brother told Maxine about it when she returned.
These incidents have led the Barters to suspect Daniel was kidnapped by someone who had been stalking the family for some time. His was reopened in the 21st century, nearly fifty years after his disappearance. Many of the original investigative files have been lost or destroyed in the intervening decades.
Daniel's father died in 1965 and his mother in 1995. One of Daniel's brothers, who was born after his disappearance, died of cancer in 1997. The rest of his siblings are all alive and still hope his may be .
Investigating Agency
Baldwin County Sheriff's Office
251-972-8589
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
What Happened to Daniel?
The Mobile Press-Register
The Choctaw Sun

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