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

Mary Elizabeth Rico

Rico, date, approximate 1992
Date Missing 04/02/1992
Missing From
Oceanside, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 10/09/1941 (80)
Age 50 years old
Height and Weight 5'7, 130 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Rico may use the last names Pressey and/or Rico-Webber. She has previously sustained a fracture in her rib area. She has a scar on her left side from a test tube and a scar on her right cheek.
Details of Disappearance Rico was last seen at her home on Camelot Drive in Oceanside, California on April 2, 1992. She missed a her favorite niece's wedding nine days later.
Rico was reported missing on April 20. A neighbor went to the police said he saw her standing in the background of a television newscast ten days after she was last seen. The newscast was about groups protesting an execution, and Rico was politically active and championed liberal causes.
Authorities closed the after the neighbor came forward with the sighting of Rico on television, but more than a month later the missing persons file was reopened because her family still hadn't heard from her. The television sighting was later discounted.
When her son came down from northern California to check Rico's home, he found the rear patio's glass door broken and a small amount of blood smeared on Rico's bed. (Authorities are unsure how long the bloodstains had been there; Rico wasn't a good housekeeper and it's possible the blood had been present for some time prior to her disappearance.) The outside telephone line had been cut.
There was nothing to indicate Rico had left of her own accord. Her car was in the garage, her suits were in the closet and her wallet and purse were on the bed. A bridal slip she had planned to give to her niece was laid out on the ironing table.
Rico was formerly employed as an instructional aide at Mission Elementary School, but she quit her job in 1991 because of personal problems relating to her divorce. Another aide at the school, Margaret Yossa, disappeared in February of 1994. Her skeletal remains were found in a field in September. No one has ever been charged in her death.
The two women knew each other and lived within a mile of one another. On the day they disappeared, each had been shopping at the same grocery store, Ralph's, along Oceanside Boulevard. In spite of the similarities, however, investigators have not found anything to connect the two s.
In 1998, Oceanside police tore up the foundation of Rico's former residence, which was condemned after her disappearance. Workers had earlier found a human-sized patch of concrete under some rugs in the floor, and investigators thought Rico's remains might be buried there. It is unknown what, if any, evidence the search produced, but Rico is still listed as a missing person.
Her remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Oceanside Police Department
760-435-4911
Other
California Attorney General's Office
The Doe Network
The San Diego Union-TTribune

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