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
John Andrews Cheek
Cheek, date, approximate 1993
Date Missing 12/02/1993
Missing From
Memphis, Tennessee
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 08/03/1965 (57)
Age 28 years old
Height and Weight 6'0, 160 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) Charcoal-gray 1987 Acura Legend (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Cheek wears wire-rimmed glasses. He has a scar extending from his forehead to near his nose.
Details of Disappearance Cheek was last seen at approximately 11:00 p.m. on December 2, 1993, when one of his business associates dropped him off at the Crescent Center on Poplar and Ridgeway Streets where his charcoal-gray 1987 Acura Legend was parked. Cheek was intoxicated at the time; he had just finished eating dinner at the Cooker restaurant across the street. He has never been heard from again.
Cheek's parents filed a missing persons report at 9:00 a.m. the next day. His suits were found unpacked at the home he'd just bought in the 6200 block of Heather Street in East Memphis, and towels his mother had placed on his bed prior to his trip had been moved. The garage door, which Cheek always kept shut, was left open. There was no sign of him at his residence.
At 10:40 a.m. that day, his car was found abandoned in an industrial area at Crump Boulevard and Riverside Drive on the Delaware Street exit ramp, now called the Metal Museum exit. There were no signs of Cheek or any struggle near the car, and his loved ones cannot think of any reason why he would want to drive there. The location is near the Mississippi & Arkansas Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River.
Cheek is described as a driven, successful, talkative person. He has a bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Chicago. At the time of his disappearance, he was the chief financial officer of The Cates Co., a Memphis real estate firm, which was about to go public. The deal had consumed the majority of his time for months; he worked 18-hour days. It would have pushed his salary up to $110,000 and given him $2 million in stock options.
Cheek took a three-day business trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Portland, Oregon; and Denver, Colorado to work out the deal, but it was unexpectedly delayed due to questions by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Cheek took a late-night flight back to Memphis. He told friends that he had not slept for three days. Later, the deal was completed and an audit of the business found no evidence of wrongdoing on Cheek's part, but because he was missing he was never given the financial rewards he expected.
Investigators are not sure what happened to Cheek. Authorities initially believed he took his own life by jumping into the Mississippi River, but an extensive search of the river did not reveal his body and his loved ones do not believe he would have committed suicide. One theory is that he developed a mental disorder due to the stress of his job and may not recall his identity
Cheek had no history of mental illness prior to his 1993 disappearance. There were numerous reported sightings of him throughout the southern United States in the months after he went missing, but none of the accounts could be confirmed. His remains unsolved and his loved ones have never stopped looking for him.
Investigating Agency
Memphis Police Department
901-545-5700
Other
The Commercial Appeal
The Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Washington Post
The Mattoon Journal Gazette
Unsolved Mysteries
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
