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
David DeWayne Bell
David, date, approximate 1986
Date Missing 07/11/1986
Missing From
Owensboro, Kentucky
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 12/18/1967 (54)
Age 18 years old
Height and Weight 5'8, 130 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.
Associated Vehicle(s) Blue bicycle (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, brown eyes. David is addressed by his middle name, DeWayne. He has a burn scar and a tattoo of his initials, DB, on his right arm. His hair was shoulder-length at the time of his disappearance.
Details of Disappearance DeWayne was last seen in Owensboro, Kentucky on July 11, 1986. His friends and family became alarmed when they found his blue bicycle abandoned (either in an alley near his family's home in the 500 block of east 20th Street in Owensboro, or at the home itself; accounts differ). DeWayne's loved ones say he was very attached to his bicycle and took good care of it, and would not have left it unattended.
DeWayne has never been heard from again. Foul play is suspected in his . Investigators think he may have had knowledge of the disappearance ofShannon Green, who disappeared from Owensboro a few days before he did, and was possibly killed so he could not go to the police. They knew each other, and were together at a mutual friend's home the day before Shannon disappeared.
After Shannon's disappearance someone identifying himself as "Dwayne" called her mother and told her that he and Shannon were eloping. The call is now thought to be a hoax, possibly made to mislead the investigation.
Authorities have long suspected that John Reneer was involved in Shannon's . He is convicted murderer and sex offender and a former friend of the Bell family. He maintains his innocence and claims DeWayne and his father, who was also called David DeWayne Bell and went by David, were involved in Shannon's disappearance. Reneer claims DeWayne confessed to strangling Shannon in 1986 and implicated his father.
Reneer stated he tape-recorded the confession and turned it over to police. The tape was apparently documented in police files but never saved, and records of it were not found until the fall of 2005. Reneer stated he planned to kill DeWayne and David after hearing the confession, but never got a chance to do so. He has passed a lie detector test about his role in Shannon and DeWayne's disappearance.
David, who moved to Arizona shortly after his son's disappearance, maintains his innocence in Shannon's and stated that he did not believe DeWayne was involved in it either. He theorized that Reneer caused Shannon's disappearance and DeWayne found out about it and was murdered to ensure his silence.
Investigators still believe Reneer was complicit in Shannon's disappearance, whether or not the supposed confession is accurate. Authorities also stated David gave inconsistent accounts of the events leading up to DeWayne's disappearance, but he has not been charged in that or Shannon's.
DeWayne and Shannon's disappearances may also be related to the abduction of a 23-year-old woman disappeared from Owensboro on June 17, 1986. Her body was found near a boat ramp on October 2 of that year. However, no connections have been proven and the s remain unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Owensboro Police Department
270-687-8888
Other
David DeWayne Bell -- Date Missing July 1986
14 WFIE
NewsLibrary
The Herald-Leader
The Doe Network
The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer
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