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
Josephine Carroll Chatraw
Chatraw, date, approximate 1984; Phillip Whaley in 1996
Date Missing 07/29/1984
Missing From
Syracuse, New York
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 03/09/1948 (74)
Age 36 years old
Height and Weight 5'3, 125 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A white blouse, blue jeans, a silver chain with a small heart on her left hand, and possibly a mother-of-pearl ring in a silver setting on her right hand.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Chatraw's nickname is Josie. She has a scar on her chin and a long scar on her head.
Details of Disappearance Chatraw was last seen on July 29, 1984 in Syracuse, New York. She spoke to one of her three sisters at approximately 1:00 a.m. that day from her home in the 200 block of Seymour Street that day. She has never been heard from again. Her sisters reported her as a missing person on August 3. She left behind five children.
Philip S. Whaley Sr., her boyfriend of several years, was the last person known to have seen Chatraw. A photo of him is posted with this summary. He lived in the 100 block of Seymour Street, a block from her apartment, and Chatraw visited him as his home on the day of her disappearance.
Whaley told police he and Chatraw got into an argument and she accused him of infidelity. He went into the bathroom to shave and when he came out, Chatraw was gone. He said he saw her walking alone on Seymour Street afterwards.
Chatraw and Whaley had a troubled relationship. Her loved ones frequently saw them fighting, but Chatraw disliked it when others intervened and tried to protect her. Whaley was charged with unlawful imprisonment and assault several weeks before her disappearance; he had allegedly held her inside his apartment against her will. (The charges were dismissed in 1988, in exchange for Whaley's testimony against another person.)
Chatraw told her sister Whaley had threatened to kill her and hide her body so no one could find it. One of Whaley's neighbors reported seeing Whaley beat Chatraw at approximately 1:00 a.m. on the day of her disappearance, in the hallway outside her apartment. Her punched her several times and dragged her inside by her hair. This is the last time anyone besides Whaley saw Chatraw.
Whaley was eventually charged with Chatraw's murder and the murder of another woman, Margaret Reiley, who disappeared in 1992. He went to trial in 1996. One of his friends testified that Whaley admitted to causing Chatraw's death and burying her remains in a wooded area near Central Square. Several former girlfriends testified as to his violent behavior towards women.
Whaley maintained his innocence, but was convicted of both murders and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. He was the first person in Onondaga County history to be convicted of murder without the victim's body, and his trial was also the first where DNA evidence was presented.
Whaley, who is still in prison and now in poor health, admitted responsibility for Reiley and Chatraw's deaths in 2011. He said they were not intentional homicides, however. He offered to lead authorities to the bodies, and a search was launched in November.
Authorities looked for Chatraw in a wooded area off Cusson Drive in Amboy, New York, but found nothing and gave up after two days. Whaley said he'd put Reiley's body in a garage next to his mother's home in Pulaski, New York, but the building has since been demolished and investigators believe her remains wound up in a landfill.
Foul play is suspected in Chatraw's and Reiley's disappearances due to the circumstances involved. Their remains may not be recoverable.
Investigating Agency
Syracuse Police Department
315-442-5330
Other
The Doe Network
The Syracuse Post-Standard
Syracuse Police Department
NamUs
The Wall Street Journal
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