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
Joel Mark Wells
Wells, date, approximate 1994
Date Missing 01/15/1994
Missing From
Hazard, Kentucky
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 09/02/1972 (50)
Age 21 years old
Height and Weight 6'0, 160 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue flannel shirt, a black denim jacket, blue jeans, a green baseball cap with a hemp plant insignia, and tan and green hiking boots.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Wells may go by his middle name, Mark.
Details of Disappearance Wells was last seen in Hazard, Kentucky on January 15, 1994. He got into an argument with a group of friends. He walked away from them and went to a Burger King restaurant at Black Gold Shopping Center.
Wells banged on the door of the establishment, which was in the process of closing. He appeared panicked and was acting as if someone was after him. The employees at the Burger King called the police, who arrived within minutes, but by then Wells was gone.
There was also a Wal-Mart store at the shopping center, and Wells apparently attempted to catch a ride with customers exiting the store after he was last seen at the Burger King. Tracker dogs caught his scent near the river behind the city hall, but a search of the area turned up no indication of his whereabouts.
Wells disappeared less than 24 hours after a gas station on Main Street in Hazard was robbed and its attendant shot to death. The murderer was convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison. Authorities investigated the possibility that Wells's disappearance was related to the earlier murder, but could find no evidence to support this theory.
Wells is one of fourteen children and left behind two sons. His remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Kentucky State Police
Hazard Post
606-435-6069
Hazard Police Department
606-436-2222
Other
The Doe Network
NamUs
The Hazard Herald
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