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

Joseph Michael Bushling
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
Bushling, date, approximate 2011; Bushling's tattoo
Date Missing 05/08/2011
Missing From
Dugway, Utah
Missing Classification Lost/Injured Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 06/03/1984 (38)
Age 26 years old
Height and Weight 5'9, 190 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Blue jeans or shorts, and a t-shirt wrapped around his feet.
Associated Vehicle(s) Black 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, green eyes. Bushling's hair was in a buzz cut at the time of his disappearance. He has an appendectomy scar on his abdomen and a scar from gallbladder surgery. He has the following tattoos: an American flag on his right shoulder, a Celtic design on his neck, the words "Jeremy 88-00" on the left side of his chest, and a tribal design extending from his left shoulder down to his elbow. The tribal design tattoo is posted below this summary. Bushling's nickname is Joe.
Details of Disappearance Bushling, a soldier, was assigned to Fort Collins, Colorado and stationed at the Army base in Dugway, Utah in May 2011. He left the English Village area early in the morning on May 8 and drove out into the desert in a borrowed black 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer.
At 7:00 p.m., he called a friend in Dugway and left a message, saying he'd run out of gas and was going to try to walk back to the Dugway Proving Ground. He said he was very cold, he'd lost his flip-flops and was using his shirt as footwear, it was raining and he needed help. This was the last contact with him; he never arrived back in Dugway and has never been heard from again.
Six days later, Bushling's vehicle was found abandoned in a deep ravine off a gravel road in a very isolated area 64 miles from Dugway's main gate. Some of Bushling's belongings were inside the vehicle, but there weren't any clues to indicate his whereabouts. The keys were missing.
Two days later, Bushling's Arkansas Razorbacks hat was located in the desert six miles from the car. Searchers also found his flip-flops. The terrain where he disappeared is rough and desolate, with lots of caves, and cellular phone reception is poor to nonexistent. Dugway had once served as a chemical weapons testing facility and there are caches of munitions concealed in the desert around the base.
Bushling was born and raised in California, and moved with his family to Russellville, Arkansas in 2000. His parents still live there. After his disappearance, the Army automatically classified him as a deserter, although his supervisor didn't believe he had actually deserted. His family doesn't think he left of his own accord either; they stated he was happy in the Army and close to his parents, he has no history of mental illness, and nothing was missing from his room.
Bushling enlisted about two and a half years prior to his disappearance and had been deployed in South Korea. He had struggled following a divorce and his younger brother's suicide, but he was looking forward to a re-assignment to San Antonio, Texas and hoped to become a nurse. He worked as an emergency medical technician and ambulance driver at Dugway's medical clinic.
Authorities have ruled out suicide and foul play as possible explanations for Bushling's disappearance. A death certificate was issued for him in August 2014; the cause of death was given as exposure due to low temperatures and lack of protective clothing.
His family held a memorial service for him and, because the Army had changed his status from a deserter to a deceased person, a six-man Honor Guard was present at the service. His family will now be able to collect his life insurance and military benefits.
Investigating Agency
Tooele County Sheriff's Office
435-882-5600
Dugway Police Department
435-831-2929
Other
NamUs
The Deseret News
Facebook Page for Joseph Bushling
Fox 13
The CUE Center for Missing Persons
The Salt Lake Tribune

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