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
Kirsten Renee Hatfield
Kirsten, date, approximate 1997; Age-progression to age 24 (date, approximate 2013); Anthony Palma
Date Missing 05/14/1997
Missing From
Midwest City, Oklahoma
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 02/12/1989 (33)
Age 8 years old
Height and Weight 4'2, 55 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description An adult-size white t-shirt with the phrase "Bud Bowl" imprinted on the front.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Kirsten has a mole on the bridge of her nose near her left eye, and a discoloration on her neck. Her two upper front teeth are permanent and her ears are pierced. Kirsten stuttered when she spoke at the time of her 1997 disappearance, and she is left-handed. Her nickname is Kurdle Burdle.
Details of Disappearance Kirsten was last seen inside her family's residence in the 1100 block of Jet Drive in Midwest City, Oklahoma on May 13, 1997. She was in her bedroom with her three-year-old sister at approximately 11:30 p.m. when her mother put her to bed.
Kirsten's mother was involved with drugs at the time of Kirsten's disappearance and said she believed someone she knows, possibly someone connected to the drug culture, abducted the child.
In October 2015, Anthony Joseph Palma was arrested and charged with Kirsten's abduction and murder. A photo of Palma is posted with this summary. He lived two doors down from Kirsten's home at the time of her disappearance, and was still living there at the time of his arrest.
Police who responded to the scene noticed his truck parked near the girl's residence, and he knew the victim; he was dating her older sister. He was not charged in the due to lack of evidence. In 1998, a woman who lived with Palma accused him of drugging her and raping her; he wasn't charged in that either, however.
The prosecution presented the DNA evidence at Palma's trial in October 2017, and multiple witnesses testified that they had been sexually victimized by him as children. He maintained his innocence, but was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In January 2019, Palma was murdered in prison.
Foul play is suspected in Kirsten's disappearance due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Midwest City Police Department
405-739-1330
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Child Protection Education of America
The Polly Klaas Foundation
Nation's Missing Children Organization
Child Watch
NewsLibrary
Unsolved in the News
KFOR 4
NamUs
Child Quest International Inc.
HLNTV
News 9
KFSM
News on 6
KOCO Oklahoma City
Fox News
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
