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
Leaona Cheyanne Wright
Leaona, date, approximate 2015; Kiara Sullivan; Travis Jones; Donnie Jones
Date Missing 06/06/2015
Missing From
Pendleton, South Carolina
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 05/25/2014 (8)
Age 1 year old
Height and Weight 2'0, 29 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A long white sleeper t-shirt.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Some agencies spell Leaona's name "Leonna" or "Leaoana." She was not yet walking by the time of her disappearance, but she was able to crawl.
Details of Disappearance Leaona was last seen in Pendleton, South Carolina on June 6, 2015. Her mother, Kiara Sullivan, said she disappeared from their home at the Edgewood Square apartment complex on Cherry Street during the morning hours.Kiara had left her three children in the care of her boyfriend, Travis Devon Jones, while she attended a party. She arrived home at 5:30 a.m. and gave Leaona a cup of juice. She checked on her once more, at 6:30 a.m., before going to bed.
Kiara said she and Travis woke up at 9:30 a.m. to find Leaona gone and the apartment door wide open. She theorized Leaona's three-year-old sister let her out. A neighbor called 911 and reported Leaona missing at 9:47 a.m.
On June 11, Leaona's sister and her six-year-old brother were taken into custody by the South Carolina Department of Social Services. Three weeks after Leaona's disappearance, Kiara and Travis were arrested and charged with neglecting Leaona's three-year-old sister. Authorities stated a drug test proved the toddler had been exposed to cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, and both Kiara and Travis tested positive for those drugs. Travis subsequently admitted he'd used drugs while caring for Leaona's sister, and pleaded guilty, but he hasn't been cooperative in the investigation into Leaona's disappearance.
Investigators openly questioned Kiara's story; they stated Leaona's sister could not open the locked apartment door by herself, and that they didn't believe Leaona was even there when her mother arrived home at 5:30 a.m. that day. Police stated they believed both Kiara and Travis lied about the circumstances surrounding Leaona's disappearance and hindered law enforcement efforts to find the girl.
In July 2020, Travis was arrested and charged with murder/homicide by child abuse; the date of the offense was June 6, 2015, the same day Leaona disappeared. The arrest warrant stated Travis had caused the death of a one-year-old child "while committing child abuse or neglect, under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life," and that on that day he "did willfully abandon and neglect the child multiple times."
Travis's older brother, Donnie Roderick Jones, was charged with being an accessory to the murder after the fact, and with destruction or desecration of human remains. Photos of the Jones brothers, and of Kiara, are posted with this summary.
Leaona's body has not been found. The suspects are awaiting trial, and little information has been released about the evidence against them. Foul play is suspected in her due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Anderson County Sheriff's Office
864-260-4444
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
WSFA 12
The Greenville News
WSPA 7 News
The North Augusta Star
The State
CBS News
WYFF 4
Fox Carolina
The Independent Mail
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