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
Deborah Diane Owens
Deborah, date, approximate 1979; Marvin Owens, date, approximate 2015
Date Missing 11/19/1978
Missing From
Oroville, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 05/01/1955 (67)
Age 24 years old
Height and Weight 5'0, 100 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Deborah has a scar on her abdomen. Her nickname is Debbie and some accounts spell her name "Debora."
Details of Disappearance Deborah was last seen by her husband, Marvin Gail Owens, at their residence in the 5300 block of Crestridge Drive in Oroville, California at 8:30 a.m. on November 19, 1978. She has never been heard from again. She had a history of dropping out of sight, but she was never away for very long and always kept in touch with her two daughters.
Later, Marvin told people she had been found safe; this was untrue. The police were under the impression that Deborah had been located and it wasn't until ten years after her disappearance that her family contacted them and told them otherwise.
Deborah never took off her wedding rings and she had been seen wearing them shortly before she disappeared. In 1989, when the police got a search warrant for Marvin's residence, they found the rings inside. They also located a pair of roller skates he said she had taken with her when she vanished.
Marvin moved to Ogallala, Nebraska after his wife's disappearance; a photo of him is posted with this summary. In February 2015, he was arrested and charged with Deborah's murder. Their marriage had been troubled and he had long been a suspect in her disappearance.
Authorities looked into the possibility that he was involved in the of Essie Hiett, who vanished from Oroville in February 1978. Deborah and Hiett had some mutual friends and they disappeared in the same year.
Marvin was eventually ruled out as a suspect in Hiett's . In mid-March 2015, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, admitting he "snapped" and strangled Deborah to death during an argument. He was sentenced to four years in prison, the maximum term possible for voluntary manslaughter in 1978.
He stated he buried her body in a shallow grave in the Oroville Wildlife Area. Four major excavations have turned up no evidence, however. Deborah has never been found; Marvin couldn't pinpoint the exact spot where he'd buried her. Foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Butte County Sheriff's Office
530-538-7434
Other
California Attorney General's Office
Butte County Sheriff's Office
News 10
The Chico Enterprise-Record
Action News Now
The Oroville Mercury Register
Deborah Diane Owens, One More Day, Memorial and Impact Statement Video
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
