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
Cynthia Lynn Sumpter
Cynthia, date, approximate 1974; Age-progression to age 53 (date, approximate 2021)
Date Missing 04/27/1974
Missing From
San Jose, California
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 07/18/1968 (54)
Age 5 years old
Height and Weight 3'8, 35 - 55 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A red and white sleeveless shirt with a blue star printed on the chest, long purple pants and no shoes.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Cynthia has a cowlick on the right side of her hairline. She also has moles on the left side of her neck and on her shin. Her nickname is Cindy and some agencies refer to her by that name.
Details of Disappearance Cynthia was last seen playing in the front lawn of her family's apartment house on Elm Street in San Jose, California on April 27, 1974. She has never been heard from again. Her mother, Linda Sumpter, began looking for her between 1:30 and 1:45 p.m. that same day. When she had searched for half an hour with no result, she called police.
A massive search of San Jose turned up no sign of the child. Witnesses report that she was in a blue car driven by an unidentified young man with blond hair and a mustache; these sightings have not been confirmed.
Five weeks prior to her disappearance, Cynthia was allegedly sexually molested near her home. Her mother pressed charges against the man identified as her abuser. Several days after Cynthia went missing, the abuse suspect's stepbrother contacted Linda and said he had "ripped off" Cynthia. He demanded that Linda drop the criminal charges and pay him $1,000 in exchange for Cynthia's safe return. The ransom demand turned out to be a hoax, however, and the man was charged with attempted extortion.
Cynthia's parents had had a bitter divorce a year before her disappearance and each one accused the other of hiding her. Both her mother and father passed polygraph tests, however, and police ruled them out as suspects.
Antonio Madrid was investigated for possible involvement in Cynthia's disappearance. He was the stepfather of one of her friends and lived only about 100 yards from her apartment. Madrid committed suicide two days after Cynthia disappeared. After his death, police found a bloodstained shirt belonging to him, and blonde hairs in his car.
A convicted murderer named Eugene Joseph Wesley is also a possible suspect. He took two polygraph tests about Cynthia's and the results indicated that he knew more than he was saying about her disappearance. Wesley was never charged in connection with her , however, and has since died in prison.
Linda has since remarried and moved to Pocatello, Idaho. She believes her daughter is still alive. Police believe Cynthia was abducted by a non-relative. Foul play is suspected in her .
Investigating Agency
San Jose Police Department
408-277-4786
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
California Attorney General's Office
NewsLibrary
Newspaper Archive
The San Francisco Examiner
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