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
Karen Sue Laird
Laird, date, approximate 1994
Date Missing 08/05/1994
Missing From
Tampa, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 11/03/1960 (61)
Age 33 years old
Height and Weight 5'6, 150 pounds
Medical Conditions Laird is an alcoholic. She also suffers from a chronic illness and requires medication to control it. She is classified as disabled.
Associated Vehicle(s) 1984 Pontiac 6000 (accounted for), Black Chevrolet Blazer
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Red hair, blue eyes. Laird's spleen has been surgically removed and she has a resulting scar on the lower center portion of her chest. Her ears are pierced. She wears a full set of dentures.
Details of Disappearance Laird was last seen during the evening of August 5, 1994, at her residence near the 10600 block of Nebraska Avenue in Tampa, Florida. She was last seen getting into a black Chevrolet Blazer with a companion, described as a 35- to 45-year-old white male, 5'4 to 5'6 in height, with thinning hair. The man presented himself as a long distance trucker.
Laird has never been heard from again. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance are unclear, but her family believes she may have met with foul play. Her parents last spoke to her shortly before her disappearance and describe the conversation as normal.
She has not refilled her prescriptions or cashed any of her monthly Social Security disability checks since her disappearance, and she left $1,000 in her bank account and her 1984 Pontiac 6000. Her clothes and her collection of Miami Dolphins memorabilia disappeared with her, however.
Laird was arrested for drunk driving in May 1994 and was scheduled to appear in court on that charge twelve days after she disappeared, but her loved ones do not believe she disappeared in order to avoid prosecution.
She had a troubled life in 1994, which included an alcohol-related arrest record and employment instability, but her family stated she would not have left them without warning and without taking her car or any of her money. Laird's remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
813-247-8667
Other
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
NamUs
The Tampa Tribune
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