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

Kelly Lundy Rothwell










Rothwell, date, approximate 2011; David Perry, date, approximate 2012
Date Missing 03/12/2011
Missing From
Clearwater, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 01/10/1976 (46)
Age 35 years old
Height and Weight 5'1, 110 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) Green 2007 Subaru Outback with the Florida license plate number DJE4D (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Rothwell has a tattoo of a butterfly on her ankle. Her ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance Rothwell was last seen leaving Chili's Restaurant in Clearwater, Florida at 3:38 p.m. on March 21, 2011. She had lunch with a female friend and told her she was going home to tell her boyfriend of three years, David Robert Perry, that she was moving out and wanted to end their relationship.
She lived with Perry in the 2700 block of Gulf Boulevard in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. Her downstairs neighbors heard the sound of her car pulling in that afternoon, but never actually saw her. Shortly afterwards, sometime between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., the neighbors heard several loud thumps coming from her condominium, followed by the sound of vacuuming in the master bedroom for about fifteen to twenty minutes.
Rothwell had plans to meet friends that night, but she never showed up and has never been heard from again. The day after she disappeared, her green 2007 Subaru Outback with the Florida license plate number DJE4D was found parked on the causeway at 2nd St and 4th Avenue in Indian Rocks Beach, a mile or two from her home. Her purse and wallet were missing. Her best friend reported her missing.
Rothwell was a cadet attending the Pinellas Police Academy at the time she went missing; she was within four weeks for graduating. Perry is a retired New York State corrections officer. A photo of him is posted with this summary. He was living in New York and in Florida on a visit when they met. Within weeks, he had moved in with her.
Authorities described their relationship as "volatile." According to one of Rothwell's friends, she had described Perry as possessive and controlling and said he had shut down her social media accounts and had been reading her emails. He had reportedly threatened that if she left him he would kill her and hide her body where no one would ever find it.
She also believed he could have been involved in il activity, which could have put her planned police career in jeopardy. The couple's downstairs neighbors were afraid of Perry and had once filed a police report against him.
When police checked Perry and Rothwell's condo, they found it in a "pristine, sterile" condition, with the smell of disinfectant. This wasn't altogether surprising since Perry was very strict about cleanliness and cleaned the condo multiple times a day. Some of Rothwell's notes from her police academy classes turned up in the garbage, which is uncharacteristic of her behavior.
Perry packed all his belongings and left town on the night of Rothwell's disappearance, about three hours after she would have arrived home. He drove straight back to his former home in Elmira, New York, about a twenty-hour drive. He arrived at his old house, where his daughter lived, there the next day.
Perry's move to New York may have been planned, because two weeks before Rothwell's disappearance, he had canceled his gym membership, saying he was moving to Hawaii. Shortly after Rothwell disappeared, he began a new relationship with a woman from Hawaii whom he met online. He had, in fact, been in contact with this woman by email and phone even before Rothwell went missing. Within four months they were married. They later divorced.
He had been married before he met Rothwell, and his ex-wife in Elmira stated there was a history of domestic violence in their ten-year marriage, and that the police were often called to to their residence in response to Perry's violence. She said he often choked her and that he had repeatedly threatened to kill her, run her body through a wood chipper, and dump the remains in the Chemung River, so no one would ever find her.
In May 2011, he was arrested and charged with grand larceny and insurance fraud in an unrelated ; he allegedly fabricated an injury on the job in 2003 and claimed workers compensation. Perry was found guilty, then charged with grand larceny again for the retirement benefits he collected after his "injury." He pleaded guilty to this charge as well, and was convicted of assault in connection with a fight with another jail inmate, but he served less than two years in total out of all of his sentences.
Rothwell was raised in Maryland, attended college in Colorado and worked as a human employee for a hotel before she joined the police academy. Prior to her disappearance, she had never missed a single day of class. Her loved ones said she was looking forward to the career change and would not have left of her own accord.
In August 2011, Perry was officially identified as a suspect in Rothwell's disappearance. Her remains unsolved and foul play is suspected.
Investigating Agency
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
727-582-6333
Other
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
The Huffington Post
Help Find Kelly Rothwell
WFTS-TV
Clearwater Patch
Largo Patch
The Examiner
NamUs
The Wall Street Journal
Fox News
The Daily Mail
WFLA 8
CrimeWatch Daily
Unfound Podcast

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