Missing
Viola A. Butler
Butler, approximately 1987
Date and time person was reported missing : 02/18/1987
Missing location (approx) :
Pleasantville, New Jersey
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
Black
Age at the time of disappearance: 38 years old
Height / Weight : 5'6 - 5'7, 130 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A pink ankle-length coat and her work uniform, consisting of a dark yellow sweater, a yellow shirt and black pants.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: African-American female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Butler wears eyeglasses with large frames. Her ears are pierced.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Butler was last seen in the casino shuttle bus parking area of the Atlantic City Expressway in Pleasantville, New Jersey on February 18, 1987. She had taken a cab to the parking area and was going to take a shuttle to her job at Bally's Park Place Casino, where she was a parking attendant working the midnight to 8:00 a.m. shift.
A witness reported seeing her getting into a mid-sized red sports car with tinted windows. Butler never boarded her shuttle, never arrived at work and has never been heard from again.
Butler lived in the 10 block of west Pleasant Avenue with her husband and family at the time of her disappearance. Foul play is suspected in her case because she was devoted to her youngest child, who was diabetic and insulin-dependent, and always called to check and make sure he'd gotten his medicine.
In 2000, after Butler's house went into foreclosure and was bought by a development company, before it was demolished police checked it with dogs to search for her remains. They found nothing. Her case remains unsolved and is being investigated as a homicide.
Other information and links : ncy
Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office
609-909-7800
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 Atlantic City Press
October 12, 2004. June 23, 2017; .
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
