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
Matthew Wade Crocker
Matthew, date, approximate 1983; Age-progression to 38 years (date, approximate 2021); Sketch of abductor
Date Missing 06/09/1983
Missing From
Van Buren, Arkansas
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 02/12/1983 (39)
Age 3 months old
Height and Weight 2'5, 15 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) 1973 Chevrolet Vega (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Matthew had pectus excavatum (a concave chest) at the time of his disappearance.
Details of Disappearance Matthew's mother met a woman in 1983 who called herself Kathy Johnson. She was a worker at a rodeo that had stopped in Fort Smith, Arkansas. A friend of Matthew's family met her and introduced her to Matthew's mother. The baby's father was in jail at the time, and Matthew's mother needed help with child care, so she asked Johnson to stay in her Van Buren, Arkansas home for a week to watch her three children.
There was a party at Matthew's home on the night of June 9, 1983, and alcohol was served. When Matthew's mother woke up in the morning, he and Johnson were both gone and the family car, a 1973 Chevrolet Vega, was also missing. Three other children were left at the trailer, including Matthew's one-year-old sister, who shared a crib with him.
The stolen Chevrolet was found abandoned at a rest stop near Sallisaw, Oklahoma the next day. Neither Matthew nor his abductor has ever been seen again.
Johnson had told Matthew's mother she was twenty-six years old. She also said she had lost two children shortly after they were born; she said her children, had they lived, would have been nine and six years old by 1983. She may also use the first name Judy.
A composite sketch of the abductor is posted with this summary. She's described as Caucasian and about 5'4, with blonde hair. She had a chipped or decayed front tooth, a six- to seven-inch scar on her shoulder blade, and a puncture scar six to eight inches above her right knee. She had the following tattoos: a green and yellow star or sunburst on the left side of her chest, a unicorn on her upper left arm, and the name "Kathy" with a ribbon above it on her upper right arm.
Matthew and his abductor may have traveled through Utah to California after Matthew's abduction. Authorities believe the abductor may have taken Matthew to raise him as her son. They think he's probably still alive and doesn't know his true identity.
Investigating Agency
Van Buren Police Department
479-474-1234
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
KFSM KXNW
The Spectrum
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Springfield Leader and Press
NamUs
People Magazine
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
