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

Debra Ann Woodson

Woodson, date, approximate 1986
Date Missing 03/01/1986
Missing From
Pineville, Louisiana
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 01/26/1955 (67)
Age 31 years old
Height and Weight 5'4, 115 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Possibly a blue windbreaker with the U.S. Postal Service logo.
Medical Conditions Woodson suffers from profound hearing loss and was wearing a hearing aid at the time of her disappearance.
Associated Vehicle(s) Late model beige two-door Mercury Lynx (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Sandy brown hair, blue eyes. Woodson wears eyeglasses for reading, but they were left behind. Her ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance Woodson was last seen in Pineville, Louisiana on March 1, 1986. She lived at Pine Highland Apartments in the 1800 block of Sunburst Lane, off Highway 28, on the east side of town.
Between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m., she left her apartment complex with a male friend in his truck. Her friend said they were only together for about fifteen minutes before Woodson got sick. Her friend returned her to her apartment complex, dropping her off at the mailbox so she could check the mail.
Woodson never got the mail that day and never showed up for her job that night at the post office in Alexandria, Louisiana. She has never been heard from again. On March 4, Woodson's estranged husband went to her apartment and found it locked; their five- and seven-year-old sons were alone on the balcony. He called the police.
When they arrived, they noted that Woodson's late model beige two-door Mercury Lynx was in parking lot as usual. There were no signs of a disturbance or foul play inside her residence. The tub was full of soapy water, as if she had been interrupted while taking a bath, and there were two glasses on the kitchen counter.
About a month after she was last seen, Woodson's purse was found hanging on a limb in Flagon Creek along Highway 28 east, near Esler Regional Airport, east of Pineville; it contained her wallet, driver's license, credit cards and photos of her sons, but no money. Her eyeglasses were also in the purse and one of the lenses was broken.
Woodson never picked up her last paycheck; her family said she liked her job, were she'd been employed for about a year, and wouldn't have quit without giving notice. It would also be uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning or abandon her children. After her disappearance, they spent some time living with their father and were later sent to an orphanage.
Woodson's family believes she was murdered. Her remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Pineville Police Department
318-442-6603
Other
Louisiana Repository for Unidentified & Missing People
The Alexandria Town Talk

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