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
Mel L. Wiley
Wiley, date, approximate 1985
Date Missing 07/28/1985
Missing From
Hinckley Township, Ohio
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Age 47 years old
Height and Weight 5'11, 165 pounds
Medical Conditions Wiley has a skin condition that causes him problems if he goes out in the sun.
Associated Vehicle(s) Tan 1980 Toyota station wagon (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Wiley has patches of very pale skin on his neck and arms, caused by radiation exposure. He has a wart on his nose and he is balding. He smokes Salem cigarettes.
Details of Disappearance Wiley was last seen in Hinckley Township, Ohio on July 28, 1985. He has never been heard from again. At 4:00 a.m. on July 30, his tan 1980 Toyota station wagon was found at Lakefront State Park on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio.
The car was locked and contained some clothing as well as Wiley's wallet with $15 in cash, credit cards, his police identification and badge, suntan lotion, a beach towel and a pack of cigarettes. An extensive search of the area turned up no sign of him.
Authorities initially believed he drowned in Lake Erie, but they have since discounted that possibility. Wiley had told someone he planned to buy a swimsuit and go swimming with an unidentified person from out of town. But Wiley didn't like swimming, and it was later discovered that he'd never bought a swimsuit.
He had also written a book of poetry and it, too, disappeared with him. Wiley also took his music collection, envelopes, stamps, typewriter paper and his address book. He typically wore long-sleeved shirts, and most of those were missing from his home. There was nothing inside the refrigerator except a container of mayonnaise.
When police picked up his uniforms at the dry cleaner's, they found a cab schedule and a bus schedule he had left in the pockets. The top drawer of Wiley's desk at the police station, which normally contained many items, was completely empty, except for his apartment key.
Prior to his disappearance, Wiley wrote a letter to a female friend saying he was tired of his life and wanted to disappear. He said he would be 2,500 miles away by the time his friend got the letter. His friend never received the letter and investigators never found it, but they deciphered what Wiley had written by looking at the ribbon on his office typewriter.
In the weeks before he went missing, he had seemed moody and left work early a lot, which is uncharacteristic of him. His friends believed he was bored with his job. Wiley had said he planned to retire from police work at age fifty and write full-time. He disappeared three years before he could do this.
Wiley became a police officer in 1966. He joined the Hinckley Township Police Department in 1978 and became police chief in 1982. He had also worked as a fingerprint technician for the FBI, a background investigator for the Department of Defense, an Army intelligence officer, and a newspaper reporter.
He has no children and got divorced in 1984 after a seventeen-year marriage. He was paying his wife alimony. Wiley didn't make any large withdrawals from his bank account before he vanished, and he left thousands of dollars behind in his pension fund. His loved ones stated it would be uncharacteristic of him to leave his car; it was a gift from his deceased brother and he treasured it.
Investigators don't believe Wiley was murdered or committed suicide; they think he staged his disappearance and traveled far away, possibly to California. He was declared ly dead in 1993. His remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Medina County Sheriff's Office
330-725-9116
Other
The Doe Network
The Akron Beacon Journal
Time Magazine
The Los Angeles Times
The Bryan Times
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
