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

Lucy Rebecca Meadows


Lucy, date, approximate 1996; Age-progression to age 20 (date, approximate 2012)
Date Missing 07/25/1996
Missing From
Goodlettsville, Tennessee
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Asian, Biracial, White
Date of Birth 10/01/1992 (30)
Age 3 years old
Height and Weight 2'8, 30 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A long button-down blue denim dress with buttons on the front, white socks and white canvas shoes.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Biracial (Asian/Caucasian) female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Lucy is of Korean descent and may understand a few Korean words.
Details of Disappearance Lucy was reportedly last seen in the parking lot of the Rivergate Mall in Goodlettsville, Tennessee on July 25, 1996. Her mother, Yong Meadows, told authorities that she let Lucy exit their vehicle's back seat on the driver's side. Yong then walked to the passenger side of the car to retrieve packages. When she turned around, Lucy had disappeared.
The mall's security team was alerted to Lucy's disappearance immediately and an extensive search of the parking lot and surrounding area was completed by law enforcement. No evidence related to her was discovered, although witnesses saw a brown or champagne-colored minivan in the parking lot which may be connected to her disappearance. It has never been identified. Lucy has never been heard from again.
Lucy resided on a farm in Clarksville, Tennessee with her parents in 1996. Investigators searched the property, but there was no indication of her whereabouts. Yong's marriage to Lucy's father, Tom Meadows, had been troubled. According to Tom, the source the problems was Yong's friendship with Hyong S. "Tammy" Dy, whom Tom referred to as a "devastating influence" on the family.
After Dy's husband was deployed with the Air Force, she moved into the Meadows home for what was supposed to only be a few weeks, but wound up staying for months. A few weeks prior to Lucy's disappearance, Tom began eviction proceedings against Ty; he said neighbors had wound Lucy wandering around outside alone and crying, and that Yong had begun leaving Lucy's eleven-year-old brother home alone for extended time periods.
Lucy's parents filed for divorce a month after she went missing. The divorce was granted in 1997 and Yong was granted custody of both the couple's children. Tom, who has been active in the search for Lucy, believes Dy may have been involved in her disappearance.
Yong has reportedly been uncooperative in the investigation and has given inconsistent statements. She initially said Lucy was out of her sight for only a few seconds, then changed the time to 10 to 15 minutes. In addition, a witness reported that Yong said Lucy disappeared from a mall in Clarksville, Tennessee, before saying she disappeared from the Rivergate Mall.
Investigators have stated they do not believe Lucy was at either mall on the day she was supposedly abducted. Yong has failed two polygraph tests about her daughter's disappearance, and when she was last interviewed, she refused to make a statement at all.
In November 2004, a witness came forward and said he had seen Lucy at her parents' home on the night prior to her disappearance and the child looked "as if she could have been dead." At least two adults were present, including Lucy's mother, and the witness stated the adults appeared to be panic-stricken, asked for a Bible and shouted Lucy's name repeatedly.
The witness was only twelve years old at the time Lucy disappeared and says he didn't come forward sooner because he initially didn't realize the significance of what he saw. He has passed a polygraph test and investigators believe his story. He has not been publicly identified, but investigators stated he is a family member. Yong has not provided any comment on the witness's statement and is no longer cooperating with the police in Lucy's .
Authorities attempted to start a grand jury investigation about Lucy's disappearance in Montgomery County, the county where she lived, rather than Davidson County, where the Rivergate Mall is, suggesting that they think whatever happened to Lucy happened in Montgomery County. Nothing has come of this thus far, however. Lucy's remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Goodlettsville Police Department
615-859-3405
Other
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
Child Protection Education of America
Tennessee Internet Crime Information Center
WKRN News-2
The Commercial Appeal
Crimenet
Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts
The Leaf Chronicle
WTVF NewsChannel 5
The Tennessean
Middle Tennessee Mysteries

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