Missing
Michaelle Marie Champagne
Champagne, approximately 1993
Date and time person was reported missing : 03/09/1993
Missing location (approx) :
Washington D.C., Washington D.C.
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 07/01/1963 (58)
Age at the time of disappearance: 30 years old
Height / Weight : 5'8, 120 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Champagne is a Belgian citizen.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Champagne's parents last spoke to her on March 9, 1993. She had just returned to the United States from a trip home to Belgium with her live-in boyfriend, and was in Washington D.C. at the time of the conversation. She told her parents she was going to stay in town for a few days to see the sights before returning to her home in Spokane, Washington. This was the last verified contact with her.
Champagne had moved to the United States in 1990 with her American husband, whom she met while he was stationed with the military in Belgium. They lived in Germany for three years before moving to Spokane.
Champagne and her husband divorced in late 1992. He described her as an independent, strong-willed woman. She often supported herself working as a cook or a waitress. She had played soccer at a national level in Belgium, but gave up the sport after moving to the U.S. According to her ex-husband, Champagne had her father wire her a large sum of money from Belgium shortly before her disappearance. He thought this was odd, as she'd been granted $60,000 in their divorce settlement. She reportedly needed the money to pay off a debt, but he didn't know the details.
Champagne's boyfriend, Darryl Matlen, reported her missing on September 8, 1993. He told the police they'd broken up on March 17 and he was filing the report at the request of her parents. Matlen reported seeing her in June 1993, three months after anyone else last saw her. She was riding a motorcycle in the Spokane, Washington area at the time.
In the months between the time anyone heard from Champagne and the time he filed the missing persons report, Matlen used her credit cards, sold all the furniture she had in storAge at the time of disappearance: and sold their jointly owned car. When the police checked on his movements in March, they discovered he'd returned to Spokane on March 12 and checked into a hotel, apparently alone.
In 2011, police have renewed the investigation into Champagne's disappearance and collected DNA samples from her parents and brother in Belgium to compare with unidentified remains. They hope to locate and re-interview witnesses in her case. Her disappearance remains unsolved. Spokane police are investigating.
Other information and links : ncy
Spokane Police Department
509-625-4231
September 2021 updates and sources
The Doe Network
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Idaho Spokesman-Review
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 not known. 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�5% 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.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s 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.
October 12, 2004. December 20, 2013; Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
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