Missing
Valarie Lynn Sloan
Sloan, approximately 1993; Joseph Miller
Date and time person was reported missing : 09/30/1993
Missing location (approx) :
Peoria, Illinois
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 12/29/1974 (46)
Age at the time of disappearance: 18 years old
Height / Weight : 5'2 - 5'6, 120 - 130 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Sloan may use the last name Swenstrom.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Sloan was last seen in Peoria, Illinois on September 30, 1993. She has never been heard from again. The serial killer Joseph Miller, who has been convicted of murdering five women, is the prime suspect in her case.
A photograph of Miller is posted with this case summary. In 2004, he told authorities he killed Sloan and another missing woman, Stacey Morrison, who also disappeared from Peoria in 1993.
Miller has not been charged in either woman's case and authorities are not certain whether he was involved; he has lied to police in the past and some believe he is confessing to crimes he did not commit merely to get attention.
He stated he buried Sloan's body in a shallow grave near a road construction site on War Memorial Drive. The road was being widened at that site in 1993 and if Miller's confession is accurate, Sloan's body lies under the pavement. Both Sloane's and Morrison's disappearances remain unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Peoria Police Department
309-494-8277
September 2021 updates and sources
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 Peoria Star-Journal
NBC 5
The Arlington Heights Daily Herald
October 12, 2004. January 18, 2011; .
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
