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
Henrietta Geck Cruz Avila
Henrietta, date, approximate 1960; Age-progression to age 75 (date, approximate 2017)
Date Missing 06/01/1960
Missing From
Santa Ana, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Hispanic
Date of Birth 10/10/1942 (79)
Age 17 years old
Height and Weight 5'0, 100 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A gold chain and a wedding band.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Henrietta's maiden name is Cruz. She has a measles scar between her eyebrows.
Details of Disappearance Henrietta was last seen in Santa Ana, California sometime in the summer of 1960. She had dropped out of Santa Ana High School prior to her disappearance and taken a job at a store. In the spring of 1960, she met 24-year-old Merle Avila. They married a month later and lived in Santa Ana, where her family also lived.
Three months into the marriage, according to Merle, Henrietta packed her belongings and left him. She didn't get in touch with her family, and her father reported her missing on August 1. Merle stated he saw his estranged wife in a park in Long Beach, California on August 20; this is the last time anyone claims to have seen her.
On August 27, Henrietta's parents got a collect call from San Francisco, California, from someone who gave their name as Henrietta Cruz. Henrietta's mother said she would accept the charges, but the caller hung up without speaking to her.
That same day, Henrietta's parents got a telegram from San Francisco, signed "Henrietta." It said she was okay, had gotten a job and would not be returning to her husband. Police determined the telegram had been phoned in from a payphone by a woman who gave a false address.
The week before Christmas in 1961, Henrietta's father went outside to his driveway and found, sitting on the trunk of his car, a belt and some underclothing belonging to Henrietta. There was no other sign of her and she never contacted her parents again.
Merle died in 2012, and Henrietta's brother died in 2020, but her sister, younger than her by ten years, is still alive and hopes for resolution in her .Foul play is possible in Henrietta's disappearance, which remains unsolved. Santa Ana police are investigating.
Investigating Agency
Santa Ana Police Department
714-834-4211
714-245-8353
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
NamUs
The Los Angeles Times
NBC Los Angeles
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