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
Jessica G. Lopez
Lopez, date, approximate 2019; Tattoo on Lopez's ankle; Matthew Mercado; Lopez's silver 2005 Toyota Camry
Date Missing 11/03/2019
Missing From
New Windsor, New York
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Hispanic
Age 36 years old
Height and Weight 5'2, 123 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) Silver 2005 Toyota Camry with the New Jersey license plate number JDC9597
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Lopez has a tattoo of a red rose on the back of her neck, a tattoo of the words "Y Loca" on the side of her neck, and a tattoo on her left ankle; a photo of the ankle tattoo is posted with this summary. She has a scar running from the left center side of her head to the back of her head, and a scar on her right ankle. Her ears are pierced and she has a mole above her left eyebrow. She may spell her first name "Yessica." At the time of her disappearance, Lopez had blonde highlights in her hair.
Details of Disappearance Lopez was last seen by at the Windsor Motel on Route 92 in New Windsor, New York in the early hours of November 3, 2019. She was staying there with her sometime boyfriend, Matthew Louis Mercado. She has never been heard from again.
That evening, her silver 2005 Toyota Camry with the New Jersey license plate number JDC9597 was found abandoned at the Showtime Cinemas on Route 300 in Newburgh, New York, the town where she lived. A photo of the care is posted with this summary.
On November 6, authorities arrested Mercado for an unrelated burglary charge: he allegedly broke into another room in the Windsor Motel at 1:30 a.m. on November 3 and stole a backpack and purse from three women who were sleeping there.
He was still in custody on that charge a year later when, in November 2020, he was charged with second-degree murder in Lopez's . Investigators stated they believed she was the victim of a domestic violence homicide at the Windsor Motel on the morning she was last seen, but that they had located her body and did not expect that they will find it.
According to police, at about 5:00 a.m., Lopez tried to leave their motel room and Mercado restrained her and killed her. He subsequently deleted text messages between them from his phone, and disposed of her phone. He put her body in the trunk of her own car and then disposed of the remains.
He is also charged with second-degree burglary, two counts of larceny, two counts of petty larceny, three counts of evidence tampering, one count of criminal possession of stolen property, and one count of second-degree criminal impersonation. Some of the charges are because he allegedly used Lopez's debit card to withdraw $1,500 from her bank account at 9:00 a.m., several hours after her death.
A photo of Mercado is posted with this summary. In August 2022, he pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree burglary and tampering with physical evidence in Lopez's death.
Mercado stated he caused Lopez's death by giving her a variety of il drugs and failed to get medical aid for her when he realized she was having a severe adverse reaction. He put her body in the trunk of her car, drove it away and later hid her body, and as part of the plea agreement he must say where the remains are. The prosecution plans to request a sentence of 17 to 19 years in prison.
Lopez worked as a substitute teacher at schools in Newburgh between 2007 and 2012, and then at a medical clinic, until she quit to take care of her sick father. Some accounts state she was last seen at her home on Dubois Street in Newburgh on November 1.
Both New Windsor and Newburgh police are investigating her . Foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
New Windsor Police Department
845-565-7000
Newburgh Police Department
845-561-3131
Other
NamUs
The Times Herald-Record
The Hudson Valley Post
News 12 Hudson Valley
Jessica Lopez's Facebook Page
CBS New York
News 12 The Bronx
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
