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

James Dupree Lewis Jr.

James, date, approximate 1991
Date Missing 07/28/1991
Missing From
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Black
Age 4 years old
Height and Weight 3'3, 60 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A white muscle shirt with black trim on the arms and neck, blue and yellow shorts, white tube socks and no shoes.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Brown hair, brown eyes. James's nickname is Squirt.
Details of Disappearance James's mother, Debra A. Johnson, and her live-in boyfriend of one year, Maurice Marcell Martin, reported him missing at 8:30 a.m. on July 28, 1991.
Martin stated he left the child in the car while he went into the Giant Food supermarket in the 300 block of north Reservoir Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When he came out a few minutes later, James was gone. He has never been heard from again and an extensive search turned up no sign of him.
Authorities eventually determined Martin's story about James's disappearance was untrue, and he was charged with criminal homicide in October 1991.
Johnson testified against Martin at his trial, stating he severely abused James on a regular basis, forcing him to stand in a corner for hours at a time and whipping him with various objects, and that he abused her as well. At one point, as a joke, he allegedly gave James a soda spiked with hot sauce.
Neighbors had also saw Martin harshly disciplining the boy, kicking him and striking him with a tree branch. Numerous witnesses testified that James appeared terrified of Martin. Martin also contacted James's preschool teacher and told her she should hit him if he misbehaved.
Martin had been investigated for possible child abuse earlier in 1991, and social workers made multiple unannounced visits to the household, but Johnson and Martin strenuously denied that there was any violence in the home and both James and his baby sister appeared healthy, properly dressed and well-fed with no visible injuries.
Child welfare authorities closed their file on the family two months before James disappeared.
Martin's attorney admitted his client had abused James but said that didn't mean he was responsible for the child's disappearance. Two witnesses who testified for the defense said they saw James alive after he was reported missing. Martin was convicted of third-degree murder in May 1992.
The jury decided he had unintentionally killed James while abusing him and invented the abduction story to cover up his crime. He served twenty years in prison and was released in 2012.
Most of James's family, including his mother, have moved away from the area. His body has never been found.
Investigating Agency
Lancaster Police Department
717-735-3300
Other
The Lancaster New Era
The Harrisburg Patriot-News
Pennsylvania Missing Persons

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