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

Henry Peter Ackerman


Ackerman, date, approximate 1998; Dale Mardis
Date Missing 06/18/1998
Missing From
Memphis, Tennessee
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Age 48 years old
Height and Weight Unknown
Associated Vehicle(s) Red and white striped 1995 GMC pickup
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Graying brown hair. Ackerman wears contact lenses. He normally styles his hair in a ponytail. He has a scar on his left knee and he walks with a limp, sometimes having to use a cane.
Details of Disappearance Ackerman lived alone with his dog and three cats in Baltimore, Maryland in 1998. He worked as a child psychologist for the city school system. His wife had died of cancer four years before, while they were living in Memphis, Tennessee, and he moved afterwards to Oregon and then to Maryland.
Ackerman was making plans to move to Alaska before he disappeared. He had secured a job with a school there and planned to live in a camper. On June 18, 1998, he left Baltimore to go to Memphis and buy a used pickup truck for his trip north. He took a plane to Memphis and planned to drive the truck back to Maryland. He asked a neighbor to look after his pets while he was gone.
Ackerman did arrive in Memphis and took possession of the truck, a red and white striped 1995 GMC pickup. He was supposed to go back to the auto dealership the next day to finish some paperwork, but he never arrived. Ackerman also planned to pick up the camper he'd bought to live in when he reached Alaska, but he never did that either. He never arrived home and has never been heard from again.
While he was in Memphis, Ackerman had planned to meet up with his friend Dale V. Mardis in Memphis. A photo of Mardis is posted with this summary. Both men were interested in guns and Mardis was a gun dealer.
In 2001, Mardis murdered Mickey Wright, and burned the remains in a 55-gallon drum. Wright's body was never found. Mardis pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in state court in 2007 and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He was prosecuted for the murder again in federal court because authorities believed the crime had been racially motivated.
Mardis pleaded guilty in March 2011 and was sentenced to life in prison in July. It was only just before the sentencing hearing that investigators learned he had also murdered Ackerman. Mardis confessed that they got into an argument over a debt, and he beat Ackerman to death with a hammer and disposed of his body the same way he would later do with Wright's. The federal prison system does not have parole, meaning Mardis will never be released.
Ackerman grew up in New Jersey. He got a bachelor's degree in child development from St. John Fisher College in New York, a master's degree in public service from Western Kentucky University, and Ph.D. in education from the University of Memphis. He was licensed in Tennessee as a psychological examiner.
Foul play is suspected in his disappearance due to the circumstances involved. Maryland police handled the investigation. The is now considered closed, as they don't expect to find Ackerman's body.
Investigating Agency
Baltimore County Police Department
Other
News Channel 3
The Commercial Appeal
The Baltimore Sun
WMCTV Action News 5

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