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

Laurent Abecassis


Abecassis, date, approximate 1994
Date Missing 12/27/1994
Missing From
Boca Raton, Florida
Missing Classification Lost/Injured Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 06/06/1949 (73)
Age 45 years old
Height and Weight 5'8, 160 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) Rented brown single-engine 1978 Piper Warrior airplane with light gold trim
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Black hair, brown eyes.
Details of Disappearance Abecassis was last seen in Boca Raton, Florida on December 27, 1994. He told his wife of seven years he needed to handle some quick business at the airport and she offered to go along with him, but he said no.
Abecassis had gotten a letter saying he needed to update his flying record in order to keep his commercial flying license current, and he thought he had to just change something in the computer at the airport and would be back soon. In fact, he had to make a flight; in order to carry passengers, every pilot was required to complete three takeoffs and three landings every 90 days.
Abecassis rented a brown single-engine 1978 Piper Warrior airplane with light gold trim from Boca Aviation, paying $75 for an hour. He indicated he was going to fly locally and practice touch-and-go landings. He left the ground at 1:35 p.m. He didn't file a flight plan; it wasn't required for flights within a fifty-mile radius. He also didn't bring along emergency equipment such as flares, life jackets or rafts.
Abecassis never returned home and has never been heard from again. The airplane had enough fuel to last about four hours flying at 138 miles per hour. The emergency locating transmitter inside can be turned on manually or go off automatically at impact; searchers didn't detect any signals. An extensive search of the ocean turned up no indication of Abecassis or the plane.
Abecassis and his wife had moved to Boca Raton from the city of Rouen in France four years before his disappearance. He had held a pilot's license in France and had been flying for at least seven years, and he was trying to find a job as a commercial pilot or a flight instructor when he disappeared. His body has never been found.
Investigating Agency
Boca Raton Police Department
561-416-3350
Other
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
The Palm Beach Post
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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