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
Michaelle Marie Champagne
Champagne, date, approximate 1993
Date Missing 03/09/1993
Missing From
Washington D.C., Washington D.C.
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 07/01/1963 (59)
Age 30 years old
Height and Weight 5'8, 120 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Champagne is a Belgian citizen.
Details of Disappearance Champagne's parents last spoke to her on March 9, 1993. She had just returned to the United States from a trip home to Belgium with her live-in boyfriend, and was in Washington D.C. at the time of the conversation. She told her parents she was going to stay in town for a few days to see the sights before returning to her home in Spokane, Washington. This was the last verified contact with her.
Champagne had moved to the United States in 1990 with her American husband, whom she met while he was stationed with the military in Belgium. They lived in Germany for three years before moving to Spokane.
Champagne and her husband divorced in late 1992. He described her as an independent, strong-willed woman. She often supported herself working as a cook or a waitress. She had played soccer at a national level in Belgium, but gave up the sport after moving to the U.S. According to her ex-husband, Champagne had her father wire her a large sum of money from Belgium shortly before her disappearance. He thought this was odd, as she'd been granted $60,000 in their divorce settlement. She reportedly needed the money to pay off a debt, but he didn't know the details.
Champagne's boyfriend, Darryl Matlen, reported her missing on September 8, 1993. He told the police they'd broken up on March 17 and he was filing the report at the request of her parents. Matlen reported seeing her in June 1993, three months after anyone else last saw her. She was riding a motorcycle in the Spokane, Washington area at the time.
In the months between the time anyone heard from Champagne and the time he filed the missing persons report, Matlen used her credit cards, sold all the furniture she had in storage and sold their jointly owned car. When the police checked on his movements in March, they discovered he'd returned to Spokane on March 12 and checked into a hotel, apparently alone.
In 2011, police have renewed the investigation into Champagne's disappearance and collected DNA samples from her parents and brother in Belgium to compare with unidentified remains. They hope to locate and re-interview witnesses in her . Her disappearance remains unsolved. Spokane police are investigating.
Investigating Agency
Spokane Police Department
509-625-4231
Other
The Doe Network
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Idaho Spokesman-Review
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
