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
David Joseph Miera
David, date, approximate 1970; Age-progression to age 54 (date, approximate 2021); Genevieve Miera; Leon Zerfas
Date Missing 01/10/1970
Missing From
Dixon, New Mexico
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Hispanic
Date of Birth 03/07/1967 (55)
Age 2 years old
Height and Weight 3'0, 50 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) Faded green 1946 Chevrolet pickup truck
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic male. Light brown hair, brown eyes. David has a birthmark in the center of his upper back, wide-set eyes and unusually wide feet.
Details of Disappearance David was last seen in rural Dixon, New Mexico on January 10, 1970. He was with his mother's boyfriend, Leon Zerfas, at the time.
David's mother, Genevieve "Genie" Miera, was giving birth to a daughter named Eelia at Embudo Presbyterian Hospital the day David disappeared, and had to stay in the hospital for two days. She last saw David and Zerfas outside the hospital. The pair may have left on foot, hitchhiked or rode in a faded green 1946 Chevrolet pickup truck.
Zerfas was 27 years old in 1970, 6'0 with brown hair and gray eyes. He often used his surname as his first name. He also went by the initials LG or used the first names Bill, Joe, John, Jose and William.
Genevieve was released from the hospital on January 12 and came home. She, David and Zerfas lived five or six miles from the hospital, east of Dixon, in an area known as the Canoncito. When Genevieve arrived home, David and all his clothes and toys were gone.
Zerfas claimed he gave the baby away, but told different stories about it: he variously identified David's new caregiver(s) as his sister from Mexico, a "hippie" family who lived in a bus, a childless pair of college graduates from the eastern United States, a family named Phillips or Felps, and a blonde photographer. None of his stories have been verified and David has never been located.
David's mother, Zerfas and their daughter moved to California, then Genevieve left him after a violent argument and returned to New Mexico. Only then, more than a year after she'd last seen her son, did she report him missing. Photographos of Genevieve and Zerfas are posted with this summary.
Genevieve would later characterize Zerfas as an unfaithful and violent man who abused her and David. Dixon was known as a "hippie" enclave in 1970 and many of its residents, including Genevieve, were involved with drugs. Several of David's relatives and the family's former neighbors believe Zerfas murdered the child.
Genevieve ultimately had five more children and raised them in the Santa Cruz, California area. In 1986, she and Eelia went to New Mexico to look for David, and Eelia encountered Zerfas and asked him what happened. He said he'd given David away. Genevieve died in April 1989 and Zerfas died in 2005. Eelia is still looking for her brother. David's disappearance remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
New Mexico State Police
505-827-9300
505-827-9066
Other
The Doe Network
Susan Stone Salas's La Luz De Jesus Studio Art Gallery
New Mexico Missing Person Web Page
David Joseph Miera- Almost 3 years Old-Missing 1970
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Albuquerque Journal
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
