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
Jason Edward Thornton Townsend
Jason, date, approximate 1980; Age-progression to age 34 (date, approximate 2010)
Date Missing 05/20/1980
Missing From
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Male
Race
Black
Date of Birth 10/15/1976 (45)
Age 3 years old
Height and Weight 3'0, 50 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A green pullover shirt, blue shorts and brown sandals.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes. Jason's hair was styled in a short Afro at the time of his disappearance.
Details of Disappearance Jason's mother, Augusta Townsend Walker, left Jason and his siblings in the care of her boyfriend, Roscoe Pierce, while she worked on May 20, 1980 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Jason was last seen with Pierce in Lauderhill, Florida, later during the day.
When his mother returned to the family's apartment that night, Jason was gone. Pierce said he'd wandered off while they were at a nearby convenience store. Walker believed his story and called the police that evening to report Jason missing.
By the the next day, however, Walker had become suspicious, particularly after Pierce removed a sheet of blue plastic and two duffel bags from the apartment. She tried to stop him leaving, but he left anyway. Jason has never been heard from again.
After Walker alerted law enforcement regarding her son's disappearance, investigators learned that Pierce was a fugitive from Syracuse, New York. He had been charged with sexually abusing a young girl and fled from the state some time earlier. While in Florida he had been using the alias name "Emerson Blatch", and Walker knew him by that name.
Florida authorities located Pierce on May 22, two days after Jason initially vanished. When investigators attempted to question Pierce about the child's , he reached for an officer's weapon and was shot by law enforcement.
Pierce refused to divulge Jason's location before he died later in the day. Jason's remains open; foul play is suspected due to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
Investigating Agency
Broward County Sheriff's Office
954-480-4300
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Miami Herald
Broward County Sheriff's Office
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
The Palm Beach Post
Florida Today
The Tallahassee Democrat
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
