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

Elizabeth Ann Kenyon









Kenyon, date, approximate 1984; Christopher Wilder
Date Missing 03/05/1984
Missing From
Coral Gables, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 01/11/1961 (61)
Age 23 years old
Height and Weight 5'7 - 5'8, 125 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Possibly a pink shirt, blue jeans, white shoes and white socks.
Associated Vehicle(s) Chrysler convertible (accounted for), Cadillac Eldorado
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Kenyon's nickname is Beth. She had blonde highlights in her hair at the time of her disappearance.
Details of Disappearance Kenyon disappeared from the parking lot of Coral Gables High School, where she worked teaching special needs children, at 3:00 p.m. on March 5, 1984. She spoke to the security guard, then drove away in her car, a Chrysler convertible.
When she didn't arrive home at her apartment on Ives Dairy Road, her roommate wasn't worried at first and assumed she had gone to visit her parents in Pompano Beach, Florida, thirty miles up the coast. Kenyon was carrying a duffel bag containing workout clothes and a curling iron when she vanished; she left behind her purse.
A Shell gasoline station attendant in Coral Gables, Florida who often sold fuel to Kenyon recalled seeing her on March 8. He said she had been driving her car, but had been talking to a man who drove a Cadillac Eldorado.
They seemed to be conversing about someone taking Kenyon's picture, and Kenyon told the station attendant that she was going to the airport. The man with the Eldorado paid for her gasoline and they drove off together. Kenyon has never been heard from again.
Kenyon was not reported missing until she failed to show up for work the next day. Her car was found abandoned at Miami International Airport on March 11, six days after her disappearance. She did not have plans to travel and had not packed to go anywhere, and her name was not listed on any recent flights going out of Miami. Her family says it is extremely uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning.
Kenyon is a former fashion model, who won the Orange Bowl Princess title in 1982 and was a finalist in a Miss Florida contest. Christopher Wilder almost immediately became a suspect in her disappearance. Photos of Wilder are posted with this summary. The gas station attendant identified him from a photograph as the man last seen with Kenyon.
Wilder, who is a native of Australia, has been linked to at least a dozen disappearances, rapes, murders and/or attacks of women in the early to mid-1980s, including the disappearances of Mary Opitz, Rosario Gonzales and Tammy Leppert.
Wilder sometimes attempted to lure young female victims by offering non-existent "modeling sessions" or other tactics, and he knew Kenyon. They had dated a few times and he had even proposed marriage to her, but she turned him down because she thought he was too old for her.
Wilder was put on probation in 1980 after pleading guilty to attempted sexual battery towards a teenage girl. While on a visit home to Australia that same year, he was charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting two teenage girls. His parents bailed him out of jail and he flew back to the United States, promising to return for his trial which was set for April 1984.
Wilder, when initially questioned by police about Kenyon's disappearance, said he had not seen her in over a month. However, two gas station attendants claim to have seen Wilder with Kenyon on the day of her disappearance. In addition, Wilder knew where Kenyon's car was before this information was released to the press.
Wilder went on a killing spree later in 1984 where he traveled across the United States, abducting, raping, torturing, and killing women along the way. He was killed in a struggle with police officers in New Hampshire in the late spring of 1984 and died without ever divulging what he might have known about Kenyon's disappearance.
Kenyon is a graduate of the University of Miami and was the coach of the cheerleading squad at Coral Gables High School. Her parents are now deceased. Her remains unsolved and foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Miami-Dade County Police Department
305-471-8477
Other
The Crime Library
Daytona Beach Police Department
Christopher Wilder Biography
Foster's Daily Democrat
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Unsolved in the News
The Doe Network
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