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

Lori Ann Slesinski










Slesinski, date, approximate 2006; Derrill Richard Ennis
Date Missing 06/10/2006
Missing From
Auburn, Alabama
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 09/21/1981 (41)
Age 24 years old
Height and Weight 5'7, 160 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) Blue 2005 Mazda Tribute with the Alabama license plate number 94B6V (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Slesinski's ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance Slesinski was last seen in Auburn, Alabama on June 10, 2006. Her mother reported her missing five days later, after she visited Slesinski's home in the Ridgewood Village Trailer Park and realized her daughter had been gone for some time and the dog had not been fed.
When the police were called to the scene, they noted the front door to Slesinski's home looked "splintered" and there were scuff marks on the walls. There was a landline phone in the bedroom, but its cord was missing, and there were rugs missing from the kitchen. The thermostat had been also set to an unusually low temperature.
At 4:41 a.m. on June 14, Slesinski's blue 2005 Mazda Tribute with the Alabama license plate number 94B6V was found abandoned and actively burning in the roadway on DeKalb Street off Opelika Road. This location was in a cul-de-sac outside a construction site, not far from Slesinski's home. She had just purchased the vehicle a short time before. The car was later sent to a forensics lab, which found Slesinski's blood on the door.
In August 2018, Derrill Richard "Rick" Ennis was arrested in Virginia and charged with capital murder, burglary and kidnapping in Slesinski's . A photo of him is posted with this summary.
Investigators stated he and Slesinski were friends and she had sold Ennis a car the very day she disappeared, but that he developed an obsession with her and killed her after she rejected his advances. Ennis stated he and Slesinski had consensual sex twice and the last time he saw her, she was leaving to go meet a drug dealer.
Ennis's semen was found inside Slesinski's home and a rolled cigarettes with Ennis's DNA was found near her burned car. Police found cleaning supplies, handcuffs and a knife inside Ennis's car, and he had scratches on his arms and hands when police questioned him.
At his trial in 2022, Ennis maintained his innocence and his defense suggested someone had deliberately planted his DNA at the scene of Slesinski's burned-out vehicle. He said the scratches came from his dog and the cleaning supplies were because the dog would go into heat once a month and needed to be cleaned up afterwards. In fact, dogs typically go into heat only twice a year.
Ennis had moved to South Carolina after Slesinski's disappearance. A former coworker of his from South Carolina testified at the murder trial, saying he had asked Ennis why he left Auburn, and Ennis told him he had gotten into some trouble and needed to get out of town. Ennis reportedly told the coworker he had been talking to a woman, but she only wanted to be friends. The coworker stated Ennis indicated he had strangled the woman, whom he described as "a white piece of trailer park trash."
He was convicted of all charges, including capital murder during a kidnapping and capital murder during a burglary, after two days of jury deliberations. Although he had been facing the death penalty, at the request of Slesinski's mother the judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
This was not the first murder Ennis had committed: in 1993, at the age of twelve, he shot his mother and stepfather to death. At the time he said he did this because he was angry that the planned to move; later, he claimed the real motive was that he was sexually abused by his mother. Ennis served nine years in juvenile detention for the double homicide and was released from custody after turnining 21.
Slesinski graduated from Auburn University in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in psychology and criminology, and she planned to get a master's degree. At the time of her disappearance, she was employed at the East Alabama Mental Health Center. One of her friends stated she was unhappy with her job and salary at the time of her disappearance.
She maintained close contact with her family and friends prior to her disappearance, but none of them have heard from her since she went missing. She left behind her puppy, which is uncharacteristic of her. Her hobbies include walking, bicycle riding and other sports, movies and video games. Since her disappearance, her brother and her father had both died, but her mother is still alive.
Her body has never been found, but foul play is suspected in her due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Auburn Police Department
334-501-3100
Other
Alabama Department of Public Safety Community Information Center
The Opelika Auburn-News
The Ledger-Enquirer
The Auburn Plainsman
WRBL 3
Websleuths
The Birmingham News
WFSA
Yellowhammer News
CBS News
WTVM 9

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