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
Lewis Barrett Welch Jr.
Welch, date, approximate 1971
Date Missing 05/23/1971
Missing From
Nevada City, California
Missing Classification Lost/Injured Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 08/16/1926 (96)
Age 44 years old
Height and Weight 6'0, 150 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A denim jacket, Frisco jeans and boots.
Medical Conditions Welch was depressed and suicidal at the time of his disappearance. He had also been drinking heavily.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Graying red hair, blue or brown eyes. Welch's nickname is Lew. He has a thin build and is balding.
Details of Disappearance Welch was part of the "Beat movement" of the 1960s and was a relatively known poet. He associated with other Beat writers including Philip Whalen, Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder. Kerouac wrote about Welch in his novel Big Sur; the character he based off of Welch is called "Dave Wain." Welch had lived with Snyder and Whalen and attended Reed College, where he wrote his thesis on the writer Gertrude Stein.
Welch moved to New York after graduating college. He began to have emotional problems afterwards, moved to Florida and completed a course of therapy. He then studied philosophy and English at the University of Chicago before moving to California, where he drove a cab while devoting most of his time to writing. He got involved in the San Francisco literary scene. People who knew him stated he was a very talented writer, but his multiple nervous breakdowns crippled his career.
Welch was depressed and was drinking heavily by 1971. He was last seen on May 23. He was staying with Snyder in Nevada City, California at the time. Welch walked out of Snyder's house carrying a gun he'd taken from Snyder's foot locker. The gun is described as a stainless steel, heavy-frame .22 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver. Welch has never been heard from again. He left a note behind reading:
I never could make anything work out right and now I'm betraying my friends. I can't make anything out of it -- never could. I had great visions but never could bring them together with reality. I used it all up. It's all gone. Don Allen is to be my literary executor -- use MSS at Gary's and at Grove Press. I have $2,000 in Nevada City Bank of America -- use it to cover my affairs and debts. I don't owe Allen G. anything yet nor my Mother. I went Southwest. Goodbye. Lew Welch.
Although Welch is presumed to have committed suicide, his remains have never been located.
Investigating Agency
Nevada County Sheriff's Department
530-470-2400
530-265-7880
Other
The Doe Network
The American Museum of Beat Art
American Poems
California Attorney General's Office
NamUs
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
