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
Edwina Atieno Onyango
Onyango, date, approximate 2007; Ernest Freeby
Date Missing 12/27/2007
Missing From
Lansford, Pennsylvania
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 10/18/1973 (48)
Age 34 years old
Height and Weight 5'2 - 5'3, 130 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Onyango may use the alias name Veronica Gaya. Some agencies refer to her as Edwine Onytango. She is a native of Kenya and moved to the United States in 1998. Onyango has a scar on the left side of her face, a scar under her left eye and pierced ears.
Details of Disappearance Onyango was last seen at her estranged husband's home in the 200 block of west Bertsch Street in Lansford, Pennsylvania on December 27, 2007. She lived and worked in Allentown, Pennsylvania at the time of her disappearance. Her husband, Ernest Troy Freeby, asked her to come to his house, saying he had an insurance check.
He says she left his house with an unidentified woman. She has never been heard from again. Her brother reported her missing. A photo of Freeby is posted with this summary. He and Onyango married in March 2001.
Onyango's car was found at her husband's home. Freeby used her credit card in several locations in the days after she went missing. He says she gave it to him when he last saw her. Onyango's cellular phone was also used three days after she vanished; it made two calls to Freeby's phone, three minutes apart.
Freeby told authorities his wife had mailed him two cards after she disappeared, but he couldn't produce the envelopes. He stated his relationship with Onyango was a marriage of convenience, contracted in part so she could get a green card and live in the United States ly. Onyango's family disputed Freeby's description of the relationship, and stated she only lived apart from Freeby because her job as a live-in care provider kept her in Allentown during the week.
A trail of Onyango's blood was found in Freeby's basement after her disappearance. The blood went down the basement steps and into the coal bin. Investigators stated the evidence indicated Onyango sustained "substantial" injury at someplace other than the basement. Someone had tried to clean up by painting over the stains. In August 2009, Freeby was charged with his wife's murder and with evidence tampering.
Freeby maintains his innocence in Onyango's disappearance and says he believes she's still alive. He claims he saw her in July 2009 and believes she's involved in credit card fraud. His mother stated also she saw Onyango after her 2007 disappearance. At his three-week trial in January 2011, Freeby argued Onyango was still alive and had reasons of her own to leave. He was convicted of first-degree murder and evidence tampering.
Onyango has nine siblings, most of whom live in the United States. She had frequent contact with her family in Kenya prior to her disappearance, but none of them have heard from her since she went missing. She hasn't used her credit cards or bank accounts since December 2007. Foul play is suspected in Onyango's due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Pennsylvania State Police
Troop N
570-459-3890
Other
Pennsylvania Missing Persons
WNEP 16
WFMZ-TV
The Morning Call
The Lebanon Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News
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