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
Hattie Gertrude Brown
Hattie, date, approximate 2009
Date Missing 05/16/2009
Missing From
Halifax County, Virginia
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 09/21/1960 (62)
Age 48 years old
Height and Weight 5'4, 155 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A sleeveless top and pants with side stripes.
Medical Conditions Hattie requires critical medication for unspecified reasons. She doesn't have her medicine with her.
Associated Vehicle(s) Brown 2003 Volkswagen Jetta with the Virginia license plate number DV 20505 (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Hattie has a scar on her abdomen. Her ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance Hattie picked her adult nephew, Derek Edward Brown, up at a Sheetz gas station at the intersection of Route 501 and Route 58 in Halifax County, Virginia on May 16, 2009. She and her vehicle, a brown 2003 Volkswagen Jetta with the Virginia license plate number DV 20505, were captured on the station's security camera at 2:33 a.m.
Hattie dropped Derek off at a party and was last seen idling in her car outside. Derek made it home safely, but his aunt has never been heard from again.
In July, two months after Hattie's disappearance, her car was found abandoned and burned on a farm in southeastern Halifax County. It had been completely destroyed by the fire and looked as if it had been parked at the location for a long time. Authorities said the farm was abandoned, which suggested a local person was involved in Hattie's disappearance, since a local would be aware that it would be a safe place to leave her car where it wouldn't be found for some time.
After the vehicle's discovery, police publicly named Derek as a suspect in his aunt's disappearance. He hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing in connection with it, however. Derek has a prior criminal record for breaking and entering, destroying property and possession of burglary tools.
Hattie's family stated they didn't believe she left of her own accord, as this is uncharacteristic of her behavior. She left her purse and medication behind, as well as her cherished pet Chihuahua, when she vanished, and none of her accounts have been touched.
Hattie is an Army veteran who participated in Operation Desert Storm; she retired in 1998, with the rank of sergeant. She has eleven siblings, several of whom have died in the years since her disappearance.
Curiously, Hattie isn't the only missing person in her family; her brother, James Brown Jr., disappeared from Clover, Virginia in 2013. The s aren't thought to be connected and both remain unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Halifax County Sheriff's Office
434-476-3334
Virginia State Police
434-352-7128
Other
The Martinsville Daily
The Lynchburg News Advance
WDBJ7 Roanoke
The Halifax County Gazette-Virginian
WSET 13
NamUs
Find Our Missing
The AWARE Foundation
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
