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

Debra Lee Vowell
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
Debra, date, approximate 1979; Age-progression to age 50 (date, approximate 2007); The Armistice
Date Missing 01/24/1979
Missing From
Orange County, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 10/27/1957 (64)
Age 21 years old
Height and Weight 5'2, 107 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) 41-foot fishing boat called the Armistice
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Debra may use the alias last name Powers. Her nickname is Debbie.
Details of Disappearance Debra was last seen in southern California on January 24, 1979. She and her husband, Dennis Vowell, and a companion, Gary Newton, disappeared off the coast of San Diego on their 41-foot fishing boat, the Armistice. A photograph of the boat is posted with this summary.
An extensive air and sea search by the United States Coast Guard covered the ocean between San Luis Obispo, California and Ensenada, Mexico, but no sign of the Vowells, Newton, or the boat was ever found.
Two years after the Vowells vanished, Debra's grandfather, a sergeant with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, received a collect telephone call in the middle of the night. When he asked the operator who it was he heard someone shout, "It's Debbie. I am trying to go to California." Then the call disconnected.
Debra's grandfather, who is now deceased, believed the voice he heard was Debra's. No one in her family has heard from her since and the caller has never been definitively identified.
Authorities believe the disappearance of the Armistice and its occupants is linked to a large-scale marijuana smuggling organization which has been connected to other missing boats and crew members.
The Armistice was owned by Dennis and a San Clemente, California surgeon, Morris Frederick Skinner. Skinner had a business partner, Luis Alvarez, who is suspected in s of fraud, theft, organized crime, car bombings, narcotic sales, smuggling, kidnapping and murder.
Debra's was investigated only by the Coast Guard in 1979. In 2003, one of her family members filed a missing persons report with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's cold unit opened an investigation. Her disappearance, her husband's, and Newton's remain unsolved.
Photographs of Dennis and Newton are unavailable. Dennis's date of birth is June 11, 1956 and Newton's is March 12, 1956; the men were 22 years old in January 1979.
Investigating Agency
Orange County Sheriff's Department
714-647-7000
Other
California Attorney General's Office
The Doe Network

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