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
Hoyle Smith
Smith, date, approximate 1995; Donald Abercrombie, date, approximate 1997
Date Missing 11/04/1995
Missing From
Sanford, North Carolina
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Age 79 years old
Height and Weight 6'0, 150 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Gray hair, blue eyes. Smith had a mustache and beard at the time of his disappearance.
Details of Disappearance Smith was last seen at his residence in Sanford, North Carolina on November 4, 1995. His girlfriend, Margie Shaw Boone, visited him at his home during the day. Neither of them has been heard from again.
Authorities discovered a trail of blood inside Smith's house shortly after he and Boone were reported missing. There was no other sign of the couple at the scene, although the home appeared to have been burglarized.
Donald Abercrombie held officers at bay during a 17-hour standoff in Fayetteville, North Carolina on November 9, five days after Smith and Boone disappeared. A photo of Abercrombie is posted with this summary. He eventually surrendered to investigators and pled guilty to the incident. Abercrombie was sentenced to 25 to 30 months in prison.
Authorities determined that DNA evidence inside Smith's home linked Abercrombie to the scene of the presumed murders. He was charged with one count of robbery and two counts of first-degree murder. Investigators said that Abercrombie confessed to Smith and Boone's homicides and claimed that he buried the couple in the woods near his residence in Spring Lake, North Carolina.
A jury convicted Abercrombie of both murders in February 1997. He was sentenced to two life in prison, although prosecutors had requested the death penalty. Several of Abercrombie's family members testified that he was abused as a child and was severely affected by his father's death several years earlier.
Smith and Boone's remains have never been located.
Investigating Agency
Sanford Police Department
919-774-3881
919-775-8268
Lee County Sheriff's Office
919-775-5531
Other
WRAL-TV
The Fayetteville Observer
NamUs
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
