Missing
Orben Lee Dorrell
Dorrell, approximately 1978
Date and time person was reported missing : 01/18/1978
Missing location (approx) :
Kansas City, Missouri
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 10/02/1925 (95)
Age at the time of disappearance: 51 years old
Height / Weight : 6'0, 215 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Gray hair, brown eyes. Dorrell goes by his middle name, Lee. He has a large scar on the left side of his beltline.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Dorrell was last seen at a boat shop in southeast Kansas City, Missouri on January 18, 1978. He has never been heard from again. On February 10, his car was found near the Kansas City International Airport.
Three months after his disappearance, Dorrell was charged with forty-eight counts of mail fraud. The charges against Dorrell and other defendants were the result of an eight-month federal investigation, and the indictment alleged he and his co-defendants operated two companies solely for the purpose of fraudulently declaring bankruptcy.
According to Dorrell's daughter, he was afraid for his life at the time of his disappearance. She believes he met with foul play and that his disappearance was related to the fraud investigation.
He is a former police officer who served twenty-five years with the Kansas City Police Department before his retirement in 1974. His case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Kansas City Police Department
816-234-5136
September 2021 updates and sources
Kansas City Police Department
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.
The Iola Register
October 12, 2004. May 6, 2020; last name corrected, Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map