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
Logan Nathaniel Bowman
Logan, date, approximate 2003; Age-progression to age 22 (date, approximate 2019)
Date Missing 01/07/2003
Missing From
Galax, Virginia
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 02/15/1997 (25)
Age 5 years old
Height and Weight 3'2, 30 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes. Logan has decayed teeth. He had a healing fracture in his left arm and fresh burns on his feet, legs, buttocks and genitals at the time of his disappearance.
Details of Disappearance Logan was reportedly last seen at home on January 7, 2003, but his mother did not report him missing until January 23, over two weeks after his disappearance. She could not explain the reasons for the delay. A month after Logan's disappearance, his mother, Cynthia Lee Davis, was charged with child endangerment.
Logan was scalded on his legs, feet, groin, and buttocks before his disappearance and Davis never took him to a doctor. Davis's boyfriend, Dennis "Danny" Schermerhorn, was also charged in connection with the incident. Authorities stated Schermerhorn gave conflicting statements about Logan's .
Teachers at Logan's school say they noticed bruises on his body in December. They did not report this until after he disappeared. Logan's father last saw his son at Christmas in 2002. He had weekend visitation rights, but Davis and Schermerhorn would not permit him to see Logan after Christmas, saying he was ill. Logan's father is not considered a suspect in his son's disappearance.
Davis and Schmermerhorn only reported Logan missing after his father threatened to call the police himself. In April 2003, Davis and Schmermerhorn were indicted on two counts each of child neglect. The first count relates to their failure to seek medical attention for Logan's burns; the second, for failure to report him missing for two weeks. In July of that year, they were charged additionally with felony murder.
Davis pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison and twenty years of probation. She testified against Schmermerhorn. She claimed that Logan was severely scalded in the bathtub on or about January 7, and and she wanted to take him to a hospital, but Schmermerhorn told her to calm herself first. Davis fell asleep and when she woke up, Logan was gone.
Schmermerhorn told her he had taken the child to his mother, a nurse. Davis says she never saw her son again. Schmermerhorn says it was Davis who left with Logan and later returned without him. He stated he believed Davis had sold the child.
In May 2004, a judge dismissed the murder charge and one of the child neglect charges against Schmermerhorn, citing lack of evidence. Prosecutors were counting on Davis's evidence to convict him, but her testimony was self-serving and inconsistent. She has told five different stories about the events of January 7, and on the witness stand she said she thought Logan might be still alive. Schmermerhorn was convicted of one count of child neglect and sentenced to a year in jail.
Logan's body has never been found. Foul play is suspected in his disappearance due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Grayson County Sheriff's Office
276-773-3241
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
WDBJ7
News Channel 10, Roanoke, Virginia
The Carroll News Online
The Child Seek Network
The Roanoke Times
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
