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
Barbara Lee Elms
Elms, date, approximate 1993
Date Missing 08/25/1993
Missing From
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 04/02/1943 (79)
Age 50 years old
Height and Weight 5'3, 150 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description White shorts, black hose, a multicolored blouse and high-top sneakers.
Medical Conditions Elms had a history of mental illness and alcohol and prescription drug abuse. She is classified as disabled.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Elms often dances when she walks.
Details of Disappearance Elms resided in the 500 block of southeast 16th Street in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was last seen inside her home during the evening hours of August 25, 1993. Elms has never been heard from again.
She became estranged from her husband several years before her disappearance and they lived apart. Elms's husband stated she refused to apply for public assistance of any kind and lived in great poverty. He paid her rent and some of her other expenses, and she also scavenged for subsistence.
Elms's husband filed for divorce shortly before her disappearance; the divorce was finalized in November 1993. He promised her he would continue to support her financially. He stated she frequently went out at night alone, and was assaulted and robbed in a Cedar Rapids park the month before she disappeared.
Elms has a history of leaving without warning, but she was never gone for more than a few days, and she always took her possessions with her. At the time of her August 1993 disappearance, she took no belongings, not even her purse or identification. Soup she had planned to eat later that day was left out to rot, which is uncharacteristic of her.
Elms's loved ones believe she may be deceased or may be living homeless in another part of the country. Her remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Cedar Rapids Police Department
319-398-5242
Other
Iowa Missing Person Information Clearinghouse
The Cedar Rapids Gazette
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