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
Edwin Collins Smith
Smith, date, approximate 1988; Charles Schuhart, date, approximate 2010
Date Missing 05/13/1988
Missing From
Palm Bay, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 09/13/1939 (83)
Age 49 years old
Height and Weight 5'10, 270 - 280 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A silver Rolex watch, a Leister Junior College class ring with a blue stone, and a gold chain with a lion's head pendant.
Medical Conditions Smith suffers from an unspecified behavior disorder. He takes tranquilizers to control his condition. He also has allergies and asthma.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Smith has a scar on his buttocks and a birthmark on his lower back. His nickname is Ed. He is balding.
Details of Disappearance Smith was last seen in Palm Bay, Florida on May 13, 1988. That month, he had placed a classified ad requesting a roommate to share his home in the 700 block of Azure Street.
Authorities believe Charles Harris Schuhart III responded to the ad and met Smith at his home on the day of his disappearance. He apparently stole some blank checks from the home and used them to steal approximately $88,000 from Smith's bank accounts. Smith has never been heard from again. His family in Virginia reported him missing the same month he went missing.
In 1993, Schuhart was convicted of fraud in connection with the check thefts. He served three years in prison. Later in the 1990s and into the 2000s he continued to get in trouble with the law for theft- and fraud-related offenses. He used several alias names, including Cody Martin, Cody Mitchell, Cody Thomas, Charles Lee Parker, Michael Rogers, Devin Martin and Devin Tompkins. In 2007, he was charged with first-degree murder in Smith's .
A photograph of Schuhart is posted with this summary. Authorities stated they had additional information, provided by Schuhart himself, which led to the murder charge.
In 2005, hoping to get leniency in another fraud , he stated he knew where Smith's body was buried and that the missing man had been shot to death. He claimed he was present when Smith was killed and helped bury the body. He said two other individuals were involved as well, but no one else has been charged.
Investigators believe Schuhart lured Smith to the Bull Creek Wildlife Management Area in Osceola, Florida and murdered him there. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder in July 2010 and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Because Schuhart had already been in custody for three years awaiting trial, he only had to serve a maximum of three more years. He was paroled in 2011 and now lives in Georgia.
Foul play is suspected in Smith's due to the circumstances involved. He was divorced at the time of his disappearance and had a teenage daughter who lived in Virginia. He was once a prison guard, but had retired by 1988.
Investigating Agency
Palm Bay Police Department
321-952-3456
Other
The Doe Network
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Hometown News
Florida Day
The St. Augustine Record
The Orlando Sentinel
Project Jason
Florida Department of Corrections
NamUs
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
