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 Case Updates with Photos
Adrianne Gilliam
Gilliam, date, approximate 1979; Gary Johnson, date, approximate 2000
Date Missing 06/22/1979
Missing From
San Jose, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 04/20/1960 (62)
Age 19 years old
Height and Weight 5'8, 110 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Jeans.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Gilliam may use the last name Johnson.
Details of Disappearance Gilliam met Gary Neal Johnson while hitchhiking in San Jose, California in 1977. A photo of Johnson is posted with this summary. Gilliam was seventeen years old at the time and in high school; Johnson was twelve years older than her and lived with his parents while selling automotive chemicals.
According to Johnson, Gilliam had an unhappy and allegedly abusive home life. He stated Gilliam had many siblings and acted as the caregiver to the children. Johnson claimed he witnessed Gilliam's mother abuse her daughter shortly after they began dating. Gilliam decided to leave her residence shortly afterwards and she and Johnson hitchhiked to Kansas together.
Johnson said that he and Gilliam were happy in Kansas, but had financial problems and returned to San Jose to live with his parents six months later. Gilliam was employed in a hospital and earned her GED and her California Nurse's Aide license. She and Johnson moved into an apartment in the 200 block of Union Avenue in Campbell, California when their finances allowed it.
The couple embarked on a six-week camping trip through the United States during the late spring of 1979. They returned to San Jose and found new jobs in June of that year.
Gilliam had been employed at Skyline Convalescent Hospital as a nurse's aide for three weeks on June 22, 1979. She was sent home from work on that day when she failed to arrive in her uniform. According to Johnson, Gilliam was last seen returning to their residence and disappeared. She has never been seen again.
Johnson said that he realized Gilliam was missing when he returned home from work that evening. He stated that he searched for her and called the authorities, but was told he had to wait 72 hours before filing a report.
Johnson enlisted the help of the San Jose mayor's office on June 25, three days after Gilliam vanished, when he was still refused assistance from law enforcement. He said that the mayor's office intervened and requested that the police and the media investigate Gilliam's .
When he filed the missing persons report, he described Gilliam as his wife although they were not ly married. Her grew cold and remained unsolved over the next several years.
Johnson married in 1985 and began using drugs around that time. He began selling drugs around 1986 and shot and killed an innocent bystander, James J. Carver, while involved in a drug transaction. Johnson was convicted of the murder in the late 1980s. He was also charged with attempting to murder his former wife, but the outcome of that is unknown.
Johnson claimed that a prison informant lied to authorities and told them he had admitted to Gilliam's 1979 murder. Johnson was charged with the crime and brought to trial in California. Several of Gilliam's family members testified that they believed Johnson was responsible for her death. He was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Johnson maintains his innocence and is hoping to build public support in order to overturn his conviction for Gilliam's murder. He has accepted responsibility for Carver's death. It is worth noting that if Johnson's conviction for Gilliam's is overturned, he would become eligible for parole in the future.
Gilliam's body has never been located.
Investigating Agency
San Jose Police Department
408-277-8900
Other
Gary Johnson's Web Site
The San Jose Mercury News
The Doe Network
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 Case Updates with Photos
