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
Elizabeth Nicole Forshee-Syperda
Elizabeth, date, approximate 2000; Michael Syperda, date, approximate 2017
Date Missing 07/17/2000
Missing From
Mount Pleasant, Iowa
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 05/13/1978 (44)
Age 22 years old
Height and Weight 5'3 - 5'4, 140 - 150 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A t-shirt, black jeans, a diamond and emerald ring, a wedding ring and a diamond Year 2000 necklace.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Elizabeth's hair is naturally curly. Her ears are pierced multiple times. Elizabeth's tongue and left nipple are pierced. A heart tattoo encircles her navel. Elizabeth's maiden name is Forshee. Some agencies may refer to her as Elizabeth Nicole Syperda. Her nickname is Liz.
Details of Disappearance Elizabeth was last seen by her roommate at their residence in Mount Pleasant, Iowa at 10:30 p.m. on July 17, 2000, as the roommate was leaving to go to work. When her roommate returned at 4:00 a.m. the following day, Elizabeth was gone. She left all of her personal belongings behind and has never been heard from again.
There has been no activity on Elizabeth's bank account and she never claimed her paycheck from her employer. She did not have access to a car when she disappeared. When authorities examined Elizabeth's east Madison Street apartment after her disappearance, they found her door locked from the outside, indicating she left voluntarily.
Elizabeth's family described her estranged husband, Michael Lee Syperda, was dangerous and violent and stated they believed he had murdered her. She was only fourteen when she met him; he was married to someone else at the time, and Elizabeth baby-sat the couple's two children. When she was seventeen, she moved from her native California to Iowa with Michael and his family, and shortly after his divorce, she married him.
A photo of Michael is posted with this summary. He was arrested and charged with domestic abuse not long after his wife disappeared. The arrest was in connection with a violent confrontation with Elizabeth and her roommate a month before she vanished. Michael pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery and domestic assault in that and was sentenced probation and a suspended prison term.
In December 2017, Michael was charged with first-degree murder in Elizabeth's . He was living in Colorado at the time of his arrest. He was tried before a judge rather than a jury, and convicted in June 2018. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Foul play is suspected in Elizabeth's due to the circumstances involved. Her body has never been found.
Investigating Agency
Mount Pleasant Police Department
319-385-1450
Other
NamUs
Iowa Missing Person Information Clearinghouse
Child Search Ministries
The Hawk Eye Newspaper
Unsolved in the News
KCRG 9
KTVO
The Des Moines Register
The Gazette
WQAD 8
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