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
Jason Sims Jr.
Jason, several years prior to his disappearance (more recent photos are unavailable); Age-progression to age 15 (date, approximate 2015); Jason Sims Sr.; Natasha Wright
Date Missing 01/01/2015
Missing From
Fairfield, Alabama
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Black
Date of Birth 04/24/1999 (23)
Age 15 years old
Height and Weight 5'6, 125 pounds
Medical Conditions Jason is autistic and nonverbal.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes.
Details of Disappearance Authorities with the Alabama Department of Human (DHR) began investigating Jason's parents, Natasha Wright and Jason Sims Sr., for child neglect in in October 2014. They lived in the 100 block of 59th Street in Fairfield, Alabama. The DHR was aware of two children living in the home at the time, a ten-year-old and a twelve-year-old; they didn't know about Jason or his nine-year-old sibling. Neither of them had ever been enrolled in school or been to a doctor recently.
Based on conditions at the home, police issued arrest warrants for Wright and Jason Sr. charging them with aiding the dependency of minors. They tried to arrest the couple in October, but the family had moved out of the house.
Photographs of Wright and Jason Sr. are posted with this summary. On January 23, 2015, Wright was found unconscious at the 59th Street residence and taken to the hospital. Three days later, their other children were found with relatives in Mulga, Alabama and placed in DHR custody.
Wright briefly regained consciousness and asked asked authorities about Jason. She said she had last seen him at their home, but was unable to say when. It was only then that authorities learned of Jason's existence. A search of the 59th Street home turned up no sign of him, and Jason Sr. has refused to provide any information as to his whereabouts.
Later in 2015, Wright filed for a protection-from-abuse order against her husband. In April 2016, Jason Sr. was charged with failure to report a child missing, a felony. He maintained he had no responsibility to report Jason missing because, although the boy bears his name, Jason is not his biological son and Jason Sr. is not listed as his father on the birth certificate.
The charges against Jason Sr. and Wright for aiding the dependency of minors have been dismissed. In November 2019, Jason Sr. pleaded guilty to misdemeanor failure to report a child; as part of his plea bargain, the charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to twelve months in jail, suspended, and two years of probation.
Jason Sr. still states Jason is not his son and he doesn't know the child's whereabouts. His defense attorney has gone so far as to suggest that Jason never actually existed.
The circumstances of Jason's disappearance are unclear. Authorities can find no medical records and no recent pictures of the child, and little to go on as what his current whereabouts are. Local law enforcement stated his disappearance is one of the most bizarre situations they've encountered.
Investigating Agency
Fairfield Police Department
205-786-4111
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Huntsville Times
The Birmingham News
CBS News
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