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

Kipling Randolph Hess III




Kipling, date, approximate 1979; John Rodney McRae in 2005
Date Missing 03/27/1979
Missing From
Merritt Island, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 08/02/1966 (56)
Age 12 years old
Height and Weight 5'4, 90 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Kipling's nickname is Kip.
Details of Disappearance Kipling was last seen on his way to school in Merritt Island, Florida on the morning of March 27, 1979. He never arrived for classes that day and has never been heard from again. He left behind a note at home that simply said, "Goodbye, Mom and Dad."
John Rodney McRae is the prime and only suspect in Kipling's . A photograph of him is posted with this summary. He and his son met Kipling at a church carnival a few days prior to the child's disappearance, and McRae later assisted in the search for the missing boy. Several years later, police also found a missing person flier for Kipling taped inside McRae's locker at his workplace.
McRae murdered and dismembered an 8-year-old Michigan boy in the 1950s, when he was only sixteen. He served twenty years in prison for the crime. From 1976 to 1980, he worked as a guard at the Brevard Correctional Institution in Florida; the institution houses mostly teenagers. While McRae was working there, three local boys disappeared.
One of them was a 20-year-old inmate, Charles Collingwood, who escaped from the prison shortly after allegations were made that he had an inappropriate relationship with McRae. McRae is considered a suspect in that , and also in the 1977 disappearance of 13-year-old Keith Fleming. None of the boys were ever found.
McRae was convicted of the 1987 murder of a 14-year-old boy, Randy Ray Laufer. His conviction was later overturned on appeal, but he was convicted again in May 2005 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 70 years old and wheelchair-bound at the time of the retrial, he was found in his cell only two weeks later, dead of intestinal ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding.
Investigators strongly believe that McRae committed more murders than he was convicted of, including the murders of Kipling, Keith and Collingwood. They even offered him immunity from prosecution if he would reveal where the boys' bodies were, but he always maintained his innocence. His wife, however, stated he had admitted the Hess and Collingwood murders to her.
Kipling was a student at Edgewood Middle School in 1979. He was involved in church activities and the Boy Scouts, and took piano lessons. His remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Brevard County Sheriff's Office
321-264-5201
Other
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Florida Today
The Detroit Free Press
Michigan Attorney General's Office
The Morning Sun
The Detroit News
Dean Marie Pyle Peters & Cold s

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