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

Michelle Marie Ashley Nicholaou








Michelle, date, approximate 1988; Michael Nicholaou, date, approximate 1999
Date Missing 11/01/1988
Missing From
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 10/18/1966 (55)
Age 22 years old
Height and Weight 5'4, 100 - 160 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Sandy brown hair, brown eyes. Michelle may have two piercings in each ear. She may spell her last name "Nicolaou" and/or "Nicolau," and may use the last names Nicols, Nichols, Nicholno, Nickol and/or Nicholson. Her last name is pronounced "Nick-allow."
Details of Disappearance Michelle was last seen in Holyoke, Massachusetts sometime in November or December 1988. She lived with her common-law husband, Michael Nicholaou, at the time. A photograph of him is posted with this summary.
Michael is described as very controlling and possessive of Michelle, and her personality changed after she got involved with him. They stayed in various places around the United States, including Louisiana, Massachusetts, Virginia, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
Michael had served as a helicopter pilot in the Army during Vietnam War. He and seven other helicopter crewmen were charged with murder and attempted murder for strafing civilians. The charges were dropped for insufficient evidence after six months, however, and Michael was released from active duty and sent home.
After arriving in the United States, he displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including nightmares, flashbacks and angry outbursts. He received psychiatric treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs for his problems. Michael was decorated with two Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars and two Bronze Stars for his service in combat.
Prior to her disappearance, in August 1988, Michelle left Michael, taking their two children with her. (She also had another child from a previous relationship, and left it in the care of its father.) Michael was very angry about this and confronted various relatives of Michelle, demanding to know her whereabouts.
Michelle told her mother she was afraid Michael would kill her, and said that if this happened, her mother should find him and rescue the children. When Michael found them, he convinced Michelle to come back to him. Michelle vanished a few months later, sometime after her sister's November 1988 wedding.
When Michelle's family went looking for her in December, they found her house abandoned. The Christmas tree had been set up with presents placed underneath, and the refrigerator was stocked with food. There was no sign of Michael, Michelle or their children, and the children's baby books had been left behind. Michelle's family filed a missing persons report for her, but she was not located.
In 2000, Michelle's mother hired a private investigator, Lynn-Marie Carty, to locate Michelle, Michael and the children. Carty discovered that after Michelle's disappearance, Michael traveled to various states, including Florida and Virginia, where his mother and brother lived.
Sometimes he had the children with him, and sometimes he left them in the care of relatives or friends. Michael told some people that Michelle had run away with a drug dealer, and others that she was deceased. Michelle's children have since been reunited with their mother's family.
Carty interviewed Michael by telephone in 2001. He was living in Lutz, Florida at the time. At first he denied having ever known Michelle, then later admitted to his relationship with her. He denied that they were ever married, however, and stated she had run away with a Colombian drug dealer.
Michael fled his home with his new wife, Aileen Nicholaou, after Carty told him she was going to give Michelle's mother his phone number. He and Aileen moved to Georgia.
Michael allegedly ran her over with his car during an argument in November 2005. While Aileen was back in Florida recuperating from the attack, on December 31, 2005, Michael shot her to death. He also killed his adult stepdaughter. After the police surrounded him, Michael fatally shot himself.
After Michael's death, authorities announced they considered him a suspect or a person of interest in a number of serious crimes, including a series of rape-homicides in the Connecticut River Valley. He is one of the top three suspects in those murders, and authorities plan to test his DNA to see if it can be linked to the crimes.
Michelle has never been located and no one was ever charged in her disappearance, but foul play is strongly suspected in her .
Investigating Agency
Holyoke Police Department
413-322-6940
Other
The Doe Network
The St. Petersburg Times
The Doe Network

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