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
Jennifer Lynn Pentilla
Pentilla, date, approximate 1991; Age-progressions to an unknown age
Date Missing 10/17/1991
Missing From
Deming, New Mexico
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 04/04/1973 (49)
Age 18 years old
Height and Weight 5'5, 112 - 125 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue Bum sweatshirt, a tank top, denim shorts, socks, brown hiking boots, dog tags, a friendship bracelet, a silver ring with the words "Loves Jesus" on it, and a watch with the Rice Krispies cartoon characters Snap, Crackle and Pop imprinted on it.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Pentilla has a mole or birthmark on her left forearm, a laparotomy scar on her abdomen, and diagonal scars on the tips of her index and middle fingers. She has a gap between her upper front teeth. She wears Iazza Fortell eyeglasses with brown-colored frames. Pentilla's nickname is Jen. Her blood type is O-positive.
Details of Disappearance Pentilla left her home in Missoula, Montana in late September 1991. She planned to travel to San Diego, California to meet with a missionary group.
Pentilla was in Las Cruces, New Mexico in mid-October 1991. She was riding her new white Fuji mountain bicycle and carrying her backpack, a sleeping bag, a tent and other camping gear, $450 in cash, two Bibles and books about Mexico. She had decided to bike to Mexico and work with another mission assisting the poor.
Pentilla called her mother in Montana eight times between October 1 and October 13 to report her trip's progress. She called home the last time on October 17 from Deming, New Mexico. She placed the call a pay phone from the Shell gas station on Main Street, which is no longer in operation. Pentilla said her next stop was Las Cruces, New Mexico.
She said she heard Mexico could be dangerous for a single woman traveling alone, so she had changed her plans. She was thinking of traveling to Minnesota to visit a friend instead. Pentilla's mother offered to pay for her transport to Minnesota or back home after she made more concrete plans, and Pentilla agreed to call her mother that evening with her decision. She never called back, never arrived at the friend's home and has not been heard from again.
Pentilla's camping gear, backpack, bicycle helmet and journals were discovered by hunters under a tree about a mile off State Road 26, seven miles from Hatch, New Mexico, in 1992, approximately one year from the time Pentilla had disappeared. Hatch is approximately 46 miles northeast of Deming, New Mexico. There has been no trace of Pentilla since that time, and her bicycle has never been found.
Pentilla's mother received a phone call from a woman who claimed she may have spoken to Pentilla in San Francisco, California in 1998. The witness said that the unidentified girl was in the China Basin area of San Francisco near the third and fourth piers at Fisherman's Wharf. It has not been confirmed that the girl was Pentilla.
Other evidence suggests that Pentilla may be living in the southwest part of the United States, specifically New Mexico. She may be in the company of a street woman named Teresa.
Pentilla is originally from Great Falls, Montana. She moved to Missoula, Montana shortly before beginning her travels in September 1991. Her mother stated she had previously traveled to as far as Africa with religious groups. Pentilla's remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Deming Police Department
505-546-3481
505-524-6111
Other
The Garden of Missing Children Society
Child Quest International Inc.
Rino Kids Online
NamUs
Cyd International
New Mexico Department of Public Safety
The Doe Network
The Great Falls Tribune
The Las Cruces Sun-News
The Missoulian
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