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
Austin Jay Smith
Smith, date, approximate 1993
Date Missing 03/23/1993
Missing From
El Monte, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 08/13/1969 (53)
Age 23 years old
Height and Weight 5'6, 140 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A gray and yellow plaid shirt over a white muscle shirt, gray dress pants and gray dress shoes.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Smith goes by his middle name, Jay.
Details of Disappearance Smith was last seen on March 23, 1993. He left his home in El Monte, California to keep an appointment with the stage crew manager at the Rosemead High School auditorium. The manager was his former boss. Smith did disc jockey gigs for extra money, and planned to meet the manager at 8:30 p.m. to borrow some equipment to do some deejay work.
Because Smith had a strained relationship with his former employer, his mother and girlfriend were concerned about the meeting. His girlfriend drove to the auditorium and noticed Smith's truck parked there, next to his former boss's truck. When she knocked on the door of the auditorium to check on Smith, Smith's former boss answered and refused to let her in. Smith's girlfriend then left. When she drove past the school again at 11:00 p.m., she noticed both trucks were still parked there.
Smith has never been heard from again. According to his former boss, he left the auditorium between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. He told several different versions of events at the time Smith left. At the time of his disappearance, Smith was carrying a keyring with several keys, and a brown leather wallet containing his identification, bank cards and some photographs.
Another school employee saw Smith's former boss walking back toward the auditorium at around midnight, and offered him a ride there. When the man got into the witness's car, he was "disheveled and mumbling." When they arrived at the auditorium, Smith's truck was no longer in the parking lot. The next day, the truck was found parked behind a dumpster a few blocks from from the school.
Police searched Smith's truck, but there was no evidence. When they searched the auditorium, they found a small amount of blood, but the evidence was accidentally discarded. A large barrel, which students used in theater productions, was missing and was never located.
Authorities subsequently learned that Smith had written a letter to the school board telling them that his former boss was stealing money from the school. Smith's former boss was aware that he had sent the letter and reportedly told one witness that he wanted to take Smith to an alley and beat him up. The man, who still lives locally with his family, is considered the prime suspect in Smith's disappearance, but he has never been charged for lack of evidence.
Smith lived with his mother in 1993. He had taken care of her since his father's death a few years earlier. He was a student at Citrus College and was working at the Home Savings and Loan in Irwindale, California. He is described as a friendly, outgoing, responsible young man.Smith did not smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol in 1993, and he was never tardy at work. He is a car enthusiast and talented at mathematics, and dreamed of becoming an accountant.
Smith is not believed to have left of his own accord. He left all of his personal belongings and money behind, and it's uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning. Police believe he was murdered, probably the same day he disappeared. His remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
El Monte Police Department
626-580-2100
Other
El Monte Police Department
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune
California Attorney General's Office
NamUs
CBS Los Angeles
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