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
Mary Teresa Kushto
Mary, date, approximate 1998; Christopher Below
Date Missing 05/05/1998
Missing From
St. Cloud, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 08/18/1954 (68)
Age 43 years old
Height and Weight 5'6, 120 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A white blouse, blue jeans and black boots.
Medical Conditions Mary has a history of drug and alcohol addiction, but she was clean and sober at the time of her disappearance.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Mary has a tattoo of a parrot on her right shoulder blade, and her ears are pierced. Her previous married name is Flaherty.
Details of Disappearance Mary was last seen at Cindy's Lounge in the 1000 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in St. Cloud, Florida at approximately 1:30 a.m. on May 5, 1998. She got into an argument with her boyfriend, left the lounge and has never been heard from again.
Her husband, Guy "Tuck" Kushto Jr., reported her missing on May 29, when he went to Cindy's Lounge and told the bartender his wife was missing and "had probably been raped or is somewhere dead."
Guy is a card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan and admitted he had mistreated Mary. By the time of her disappearance, she had left him, was seeing another man and moved in with friends at a motel near Alligator Lake. Guy passed a lie-detector test and was cleared of involvement in Mary's disappearance.
Investigators suspect Christopher J. Below was possibly involved in Mary's . A photograph of him is posted with this summary. He is a suspect in several murders and disappearances of young brunette women, including Shaylene Farrell, Kristina Porco and Heather Teague.Below pleaded guilty to attempted involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting of his mistress, Kathern Fetzer, whose body was never found. He is currently incarcerated in an Ohio prison.
Below is known to have been in St. Cloud at the same time that Mary disappeared. It should be emphasized that he has not been charged in connection with any other than Fetzer's and only conjecture links him to Mary's .
Mary left behind her parents, her children and her first husband in Pennsylvania. She usually called them at least once every three weeks. Her family realized there was something wrong when she didn't call home during the week of her son's senior prom and high school graduation.
Foul play is suspected in Mary's due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
St. Cloud Police Department
407-891-6700
Other
The Orlando Sentinel
The Akron Beacon Journal
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
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
