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
Melissa Fadden
Melissa, date, approximate 1997
Date Missing 03/03/1997
Missing From
Lowell, Massachusetts
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Age 13 years old
Height and Weight 5'4, 110 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A black shirt with maroon stripes, black jeans, a gold necklace and gold earrings.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, green eyes. Melissa has a tattoo of the letter "M" on her right shoulder. Her ears are pierced. At the time of her March 1997 disappearance, she wore braces on her teeth.
Details of Disappearance Melissa was last seen by her mother inside their home on March 3, 1997. Her mother reported her missing two days later, on March 5. She had run away from home on several prior occasions.
In September 1999, a 32-year-old Lowell man named James Howley hanged himself after being questioned in the kidnapping and murder of an eleven-year-old Lowell girl, Tabitha Potter. Potter's body was found in Shedd Park three days after she was reported missing.
After Howley's death, police were able to identify him as the killer through DNA and other forensic testing. He knew Melissa and they were reportedly seeing each other, and Melissa and Tabitha Potter were friends.
Howley is considered a suspect in Melissa's disappearance. There have been many reports with regards to her whereabouts over the years, but none have panned out. Authorities are not ruling out the possibility of foul play in her disappearance, which remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Middlesex District Attorney's Office
617-679-6600
Lowell Police Department
978-937-3200
Other
SouthCoast Massachusetts News
The Middlesex District Attorney's Office
The Boston Globe
The Boston Herald
NamUs
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