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
Ernest L. Vereen
Ernest, date, approximate 1984
Date Missing 10/10/1984
Missing From
Garden City, South Carolina
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Age 72 years old
Height and Weight 6'3, 175 pounds
Medical Conditions Ernest has a heart condition.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. White hair. Ernest wears eyeglasses.
Details of Disappearance Ernest was last seen in Garden City, South Carolina on October 10, 1984. He and his son, Alan, owned and operated a mobile home park together and he occupied one of the mobile homes. He missed several appointments that day and left his car parked in the carport at his home.
When his son checked the residence, the blinds were drawn and a basket had been spilled on the floor in the kitchen. It's uncharacteristic of Ernest to leave his home in this condition.
At 9:00 p.m., Alan got a phone call from someone who said they had kidnapped Ernest and left a ransom note in Alan's mailbox. Alan didn't open the box; he called the police instead.
A police officer opened the mailbox and found an envelope containing Ernest's driver's license and a typewritten note threatening the family and demanding $250,000 within 48 hours. Alan collected $75,000; the bills were marked and photocopied and their registration numbers were recorded.
When the kidnapper called on October 13, Alan followed the directions given while wearing a recording device and under police surveillance. He was led to several different phone booths in Myrtle Beach and Conway, South Carolina.
Finally Alan was ordered to leave the money in a black garbage bag under a bridge on U.S. 501. The money was picked up by a 5'7 man with a white beard. When the police told Alan this, he recognized the description and said he thought the kidnapper was Alvin Owens, a handyman who had worked for Ernest installing mobile homes.
Owens was arrested that same day and charged with kidnapping. The police found all but $18 of the $75,000 in ransom money in his pockets.
At home they found handwritten rough drafts of the ransom notes and phone conversations, and a receipt for the rental of a portable Brother typewriter consistent with the one used to type the ransom notes. He had rented the typewriter on October 6 and returned it on October 8.
Ernest's watch was found in Owens's son's possession, and Owens's daughter had pawned one of Ernest's rings. Hairs consistent with Ernest's hair were found in the trunk of Owens's car.
In January 1985, Owens was convicted of kidnapping Ernest. In May 1986, he was convicted of Ernest's murder and sentenced to death; it was the first murder conviction without a body in South Carolina history. The conviction was overturned in 1988, but Owens was convicted again in 1991 and this time sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Owens claimed a terrorist group called "Weather Underground" was responsible for Ernest's kidnapping and they had forced him to write the ransom notes and collect the money. He offered to lead the police to Ernest's body in 1994 and directed them to an area near the U.S. 17 bypass in Myrtle Beach.
Authorities dug in the area with a bulldozer, but found nothing. Foul play is suspected in Ernest's disappearance due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Horry County Police Department
843-248-6241
843-448-4260
Other
The Doe Network
The State
The Charlotte Observer
FindA
Find a Grave
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