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.



Missing Person Photos

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 Suzanne Gutierrez
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
Jessica, date, approximate 1986; Age-progression at age 32 (date, approximate 2013); Thomas McDowell, date, approximate 2022
Date Missing 06/05/1986
Missing From
Lexington, South Carolina
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 12/03/1981 (40)
Age 4 years old
Height and Weight 3'0, 32 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A pink and white t-shirt and white panties.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Jessica has a small scar on her upper forehead, ear-piercing scars on both of her earlobes, and a small brown birthmark on her right buttock. She had a wart on her left hand at the time of her 1986 disappearance, and her fingernails were painted. Jessica's nickname is Jessie.
Details of Disappearance Jessica was sleeping in a bedroom with her two sisters in her family's Lexington, South Carolina mobile home during the evening hours of June 5, 1986.
Jessica's mother discovered the crime scene and her disappearance on the morning of June 6; her six-year-old sister, Rebecca, stated she had been taken by "the man with the magic hat and the beard." She has never been heard from again.
Rebecca, now an adult, remembers seeing a man lift Jessica out of the bed and carry her away. She stated the man was able to do this without waking Jessica. Rebecca had been too frightened by what she saw to tell anyone until the next morning, when Jessica was discovered missing.
Just a few days before Jessica disappeared, her mother, Debra, had broken up with her boyfriend and kicked him out of the house for alcohol use and what she described as possessive behavior. Debra accused her ex-boyfriend of abducting Jessica, but he said he had no idea where she was. The man was questioned repeatedly by police, but never charged. Jessica's father was ruled out as a suspect in the , as he had been living in California at the time of her abduction.
In 1987, McDowell allegedly told a cellmate that he had kidnapped a girl in Lexington County and buried her body in a landfill there. He mentioned that he was wearing a tall cowboy hat at the time of the kidnapping. His cellmate told authorities about his statements, and when police confronted McDowell, he offered to confess if he got immunity from prosecution for the crime. Immunity was denied and McDowell did not speak any further on the subject.
In January 2022, McDowell was charged with murder, kidnapping and first-degree burglary in Jessica's disappearance. A photo of him is posted with this summary. Authorities haven't released much information about the evidence against him.
Debra still believes her ex-boyfriend is somehow involved in the . The ex-boyfriend and McDowell denied knowing each other, but Debra says they met each other at a gathering several months before Jessica disappeared.
Jessica's remains have never been found, but foul play is suspected in her due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Lexington County Sheriff's Office
803-359-8230
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Child Protection Education of America
NewsLibrary
WIStv
NamUs
WACH FOX 57
WLTX 19
WRAL
The State

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.



Missing Person Photos

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