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 Mabry

Cynthia, date, approximate 1976
Date Missing 12/02/1976
Missing From
Russellville, Arkansas
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Age 13 years old
Height and Weight 5'0, 95 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Blue jeans and a beige three-quarter length hooded coat with fur trim.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Cynthia's nickname is Cindy.
Details of Disappearance Cynthia was last seen in Russellville, Arkansas at 5:30 p.m. on December 2, 1976. She disappeared from her home in the Fairview Estates neighborhood. and was never seen again. That same day, two other girls vanished from their residences in the same neighborhood: Teresa Williams, 13, and Crystal Donita Parton, 14.
Authorities assumed the girls were all runaways, but none of them ever returned home. Teresa and Crystal's remains were found ten years later on a dead-end road near Brock Cemetery in northern Pope County, Arkansas. They'd been stabbed in the neck.
In October 1998, a woodcutter named James B. Grinder was charged with murder in Teresa, Crystal and Cynthia's deaths. He was already serving a prison sentence in Missouri for burglary at the time, and earlier that year, he had been charged with the 1984 rape and murder of Julie Helton, a 25-year-old Missouri woman.
Grinder admitted he knew the Russellville girls and initially said he had only given them a ride from Russellville to Pottsville, Arkansas the day they disappeared. He said he gave them $20 and left them on the interstate.
Grinder later admitted to the murders. He said he'd picked up the three girls on the outskirts of Russellville, drove them to Morrilton, Arkansas, bought them alcohol and then took them to the Brock Cemetery, where he raped Crystal and Teresa, strangled and stabbed them to death and covered their bodies with brush. Afterwards he took Cynthia to another location in Ozark National Forest, raped her, beat her to death, and left her body there without trying to hide it.
Grinder was charged with only a single count of capital murder because the crime in Arkansas in 1976 was defined as the premeditated killing of two or more people. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. He later asked for his sentenced to be reduced, claiming he was forced to confess to his crimes and other, unnamed individuals had been involved in the murders, but his petition for clemency was denied.
Cynthia's body has never been located.
Investigating Agency
Russellville Police Department
479-968-3232
Other
Official Cold Investigations
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The River Valley Courier
The Devil's Dozen: 12 Notorious Serial Killers Caught by Cutting-Edge Forensics
NamUs

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