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

Jael Tiara Hamblen









Hamblen, date, approximate 2014
Date Missing 10/11/2014
Missing From
Anchorage, Alaska
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 07/28/1994 (28)
Age 20 years old
Height and Weight 5'4, 170 - 185 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A dark blue or black pea coat made of wool-like fabric, wide-leg blue jeans, dark-colored high-heeled shoes or boots, a dark-colored scarf and earrings.
Medical Conditions Hamblen suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a developmental condition caused when the mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy. The condition's symptoms include developmental delays, learning disabilities, hyperactivity and behavioral issues.
Associated Vehicle(s) 1998 Ford Expedition with the Alaska license plate GFB641 (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Although Hamblen's natural hair color is brown, she dyed it pink shortly before her disappearance. She is supposed to wear eyeglasses, but doesn't always wear them. Her ears are pierced one time each. Hamblen has a strawberry birthmark at the base of her skull, above her neckline. She may go by the name Sasha or her middle name, Tiara, which was also her birth name.
Details of Disappearance Hamblen was last seen in the Trailside Loop area in southern Anchorage, Alaska on October 11, 2014. She and her roommate, Kendra Vincent Estrada, went out to dinner together and returned home before 10:00 p.m.
Estrada's children and Hamblen's infant son were being baby-sat by Estrada's mother at the time. Hamblen was thinking of going out again, but her roommate went to bed.
That night, Hamblen was upset because a man she was interested in had rejected her. She texted a male friend at 1:40 a.m., saying she was crying and wanted to get together with him, and she exchanged text messages with another man shortly after 3:00 a.m. This is the last time anyone heard from her.
Estrada texted Hamblen the next day at 10:32 a.m. and Hamblen didn't respond. At noon, Estrada knocked on her door and discovered she was gone and the bed was unmade.
She had taken her purse and cellular phone with her, but left her vehicle, a 1998 Ford Expedition with the Alaska license plate GFB641, parked in the driveway. (She didn't have a driver's license, but did have a learner's permit.)
Estrada initially assumed Hamblen had gone out the night before and stayed out all night, or left home early in the morning. She texted her twice during the afternoon, but got no response and calls to her phone went straight to voice mail. Hamblen has never been heard from again.
A later analysis of her phone showed that neither of Estrada's text messages on October 12 were received, meaning Hamblen's phone was either turned off or the battery had died. She was reported missing by her mother on October 14.
In March 2015, hikers found Hamblen's black purse buried in the snow along a trail in Chugiak, Alaska and turned it into the police. Inside it was her Social Security card and her iPhone 5. Authorities don't believe Hamblen placed it there herself; the weather on the night she disappeared was below freezing, and she didn't enjoy hiking.
Hamblen was born in Washington state and spent the first fourteen months of her life in foster care before being adopted. She was raised her in Wasilla, Alaska, and she also spent time in Washington with her father after her parents divorced.
Growing up, she struggled with cognitive, social and developmental delays, and she was eventually diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Hamblen's mother stated she began rebelling in her early teens, dropped out of high school and and ran away from home for the first time at age seventeen.
However, her family stated the birth of her son gave her purpose in life and lead her to become a more responsible person, and they don't believe she would have abandoned him. Her mother filed for custody shortly after Hamblen's disappearance and is now raising the boy.
Authorities are investigating Hamblen's as a possible homicide. It remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Anchorage Police Department
907-786-2681
Other
Anchorage Crime Stoppers
NamUs
Facebook Page for Jael Hamblen
KTVA
The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman
KTUU 2
The Anchorage Press
Alaska Unsilenced

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