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

Charles Arlin Leon Henderson










Charles, date, approximate 1991; Age-progression at age 40 (date, approximate 2020); The bicycle
Date Missing 07/25/1991
Missing From
Moscow Mills, Missouri
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 03/16/1980 (42)
Age 11 years old
Height and Weight 4'5, 70 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A camouflage-print t-shirt, camouflage-print pants with a tear in one knee, gray socks with red stripes, and black sneakers.
Associated Vehicle(s) White and yellow bicycle (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes. Charles had a crewcut at the time of his disappearance. He has a scar on his thigh and a gap between his teeth. He goes by one of his middle names, Arlin, and many accounts refer to him as Arlin Henderson.
Details of Disappearance Arlin was riding his white and yellow bicycle in his family's mobile home in Moscow Mills, Missouri, about fifty miles north of St. Louis, on July 25, 1991. He was last seen between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. the day he vanished. Arlin has never been heard from again.
Joshua Spangler confessed to Arlin's murder in 2001, ten years after the child disappeared. Spangler was 13 years old at the time of the alleged killing, and he could not have served prison time for his role in the alleged crime because of his age.
Spangler was apparently involved in drug activity in 1991 and was associated with George N. Gibson and his older brother, Charles "Chuckie" Gibson; he says he sold drugs for them.Both of the Gibson brothers were initially charged in connection with Arlin's in the spring of 2001. Spangler told investigators that a member of Arlin's family owed money to Charles Gibson, and Spangler was paid $10,000 to kill Arlin as a warning.
Spangler stated that he was riding in a truck with George on July 25, 1991, the day Arlin vanished, and they abducted him and held him in a house in Davis, Missouri for a few days. He claimed he shot Arlin in the head with a nine-millimeter pistol in a creek bed near Davis on July 28, three days after the boy was abducted, and buried the body along the Mississippi River.
Investigators searched a site near Winfield, Missouri in the summer of 2001 for Arlin's remains. Nothing was located. Authorities withdrew charges against both of the Gibsons in October 2001 after learning that Spangler lied regarding their involvement in the crime. Citing numerous discrepancies in Spangler's account, they charged him with perjury in connection with his testimony about Arlin's supposed death.
Spangler plead guilty to perjury and was sentenced to seven years in prison. At the time of his plea, he was serving a four-year prison sentence for unrelated charges of burglary and evidence tampering. Authorities now believe Spangler and the Gibsons had nothing to do with Arlin's disappearance. They say he made up the story as a malicious joke to make the police look incompetent.
Authorities have not cast aside the theory that Arlin's disappearance may have been drug-related, but his mother denies allegations that she or any of her family members were involved with drugs.
Arlin's mother describes him as a fun-loving boy who enjoyed telling stories, swimming, diving and bike riding. His favorite school subjects in 1991 were social studies and science. He lived with his mother at the time of his disappearance; his father had died of emphysema in 1990.
Arlin's sister was murdered ten years after his disappearance, but the crime was not related to his ; his sister was killed by her estranged husband, who subsequently committed suicide. Arlin's mother still lives in the same trailer park where her son used to live, but in a different mobile home. Her husband's name is still listed in the phone book in Arlin decides to call home.
In 2007, investigators began investigating Michael J. Devlin for possible involvement in Arlin's disappearance and in several other s, including the 1988 disappearance of Scott Kleeschulte and the 2005 disappearance of Bianca Piper.
Shawn Hornbeck, a fifteen-year-old boy who disappeared at age eleven in 2002, and William "Ben" Ownby, a thirteen-year-old boy who was abducted in 2007, were both found alive in Devlin's house in January 2007. Ownby had been missing for five days and Hornbeck for over four years. Both boys had been held against their will by Devlin, who subsequently pleaded guilty to kidnapping and child molestation and was sentenced to life in prison.
Authorities initially suspected Devlin could be linked to other missing child s, and formed a multi-jurisdictional task force to investigate this theory. In October 2007 the task force dissolved, as it could not find any evidence that Devlin was involved in any other children's disappearances.
Arlin's bicycle was found in a bean field three months after his disappearance and was taken by the police as evidence. Investigators hope to identify a set of fingerprints discovered on its frame. A photo of the bicycle is posted with this summary.
Arlin's disappearance remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office
314-528-8546
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Operation Lookout
KMOV-TV 4
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Associated Press
Kids Foundation
The Hannibal Courier-Post
KSDK NewsChannel 5
The Missourian
KindraLore
Friends of Arlin Henderson
MySpace Page for Charles "Arlin" Henderson
90.7 KMWU

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