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

Judith Ann Mattise
Judith, date, approximate 2003; Judith's car
Date Missing 05/19/2003
Missing From
New Haven, Michigan
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 04/29/1948 (74)
Age 55 years old
Height and Weight 5'7, 145 - 170 pounds
Medical Conditions Judith's ankle was injured at the time of her disappearance.
Associated Vehicle(s) Silver 2003 Chevrolet Impala (accounted for), Ford pickup truck (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Judith's nickname is Judy.
A neighbor who saw Judith two days before she vanished reports that she was unusually quiet at the time. She has never been heard from again. She was reported missing by her daughter two days after she was last seen. Judith resided in the 59800 block of Cynthia in New Haven at the time of her disappearance.
On May 22, Judith's estranged husband, James David "Jim" Mattise Sr., 61, was found dead at 9:30 a.m. in downtown New Haven in his Ford pickup truck, which was parked between two church vans. He had strangled himself with a plastic zip tie and left a suicide note addressed to his children, the wording of which implied that he was involved in his wife's disappearance. The note said she might be found in a "large pile."
Based on the information in note, authorities searched the local Pine Tree Acres landfill and located no evidence. James and Judith's children describe the search as perfunctory.
Judith and James had been married for thirty-four years prior to his death and had an adult son and daughter. They also owned a home in Las Vegas. They ran an optical supply store, Unlimited Services, together with their children, but in March 2003 James filed for divorce and accused Judith of hiding joint funds from him.
James also discovered that in 2003 Judith had a relationship with a prisoner at the nearby state prison where she volunteered; she sent money from Unlimited Services to the individual to finance his appeal. He had been convicted of rape. James had filed for divorce once before, in 1980, but the claim was dismissed. The couple had been fighting with the township as well, and had been accused of numerous zoning violations.
Before his death, James had not been considered a suspect in Judith's disappearance. After he died, however, investigators theorized that the may have been a murder-suicide. James and Judith's three children also believe their father was responsible for their mother's disappearance.
Their son looked in the trunk of James and Judith's other car, which was at their second home in Las Vegas, Nevada. He found, among other things, a tarp and some rope. Such items could be used to transport a body.
James and Judith's children theorize that James killed Judith on the night she was last seen, then put her remains in their company's dumpster which is emptied between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. ever day. Their oldest son smelled cleaning products when he went to Unlimited Services at 4:30 a.m. on May 20, and when the family looked in the company trash bin the next day, the same odor was present there.
The children have criticized police for not looking harder for Judith. Investigators have said that the children would benefit financially if Judith was found; much of the assets of Unlimited Services were in her name only. James and Judith's children are continuing to run the company.
In September 2003, Judith's abandoned car parked outside an abandoned house on Adelaide Street near Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan and towed. It had apparently been left there for months and was infested with two nests of bees. A parking ticket dated July 3 was on the windshield; the car had apparently not been moved since the ticket was written.
In October 2003, police announced that evidence relating to Judith's had been found inside the vehicle. Her purse, containing cash and personal items, was located in the car. There was no evidence indicating Judith's whereabouts, however.
A body washed ashore at Pigeon Lake in Port Sheldon Township, Michigan in March 2004; investigators originally believed it may have been Judith's, but forensic testing ruled out that possibility.
Judith was declared ly dead in August 2004, fifteen months after her disappearance, after authorities convinced a judge that James had murdered her before committing suicide. Police stated that if James had not killed himself, they would have had him arrested for murdering his wife whether or not her remains were ever recovered.
Judith's remains unsolved. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Macomb County Sheriff's Office
586-307-9358
New Haven Police Department
586-749-5121
Other
Click on Detroit
Macomb County Sheriff's Office
The Times Herald
The Macomb Daily
The Child Seek Network
MLive: Everything Michigan
North American Missing Persons Network

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