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

Mickey Wright Sr.
missing 2023 updates

Wright, date, approximate 2001; Sketch of individual wanted for questioning in Wright's disappearance; Dale V. Mardis; Wright's truck
Date Missing 04/17/2001
Missing From
Memphis, Tennessee
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Black
Date of Birth 08/10/1954 (68)
Age 46 years old
Height and Weight 5'8, 185 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A Seiko watch with a blue face and a brown leather band.
Medical Conditions Wright is a diabetic and insulin-dependent.
Associated Vehicle(s) Ford Ranger extended cab pickup with the license plate number GT4191 (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Graying black hair, brown eyes. Wright wears eyeglasses for reading. He had a cut on his right heel at the time of his disappearance.
Details of Disappearance Wright was last seen at his place of employment, the Shelby County Office of Construction Code Enforcement, in the vicinity of the 2500 block of Lamar Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee on April 17, 2001. He was giving a citation in a car lot at the time.
He did not return to his office to turn in his company log or his company truck, a Ford Ranger extended cab pickup with the license plate number GT4191, as he was supposed to when he ended his daily tour of duty. Wright has never been heard from again.
On April 19, two days after he disappeared, Wright's Code Enforcement identification and badge, and some other personal items of his, were found by a jogger in a creek in Olive Branch, Mississippi. On April 27, his company vehicle was found in a rural wheatfield in Marshall County, Mississippi.
The truck had been set on fire and completely destroyed. A photograph of it is posted with this summary. There was no sign of Wright at the scene, but his personal identification and wallet were found in a nearby ditch. An extensive search of the area turned up no clues as to Wright's whereabouts.
A male individual was sought for questioning in Wright's disappearance. A sketch of the person is posted with this summary. He was described as Caucasian and in his mid-forties, with salt-and-pepper hair parted in the middle and wrinkles around his eyes. The man had a large build and a tan complexion. He was wearing a light blue, short sleeved, button-down shirt and khaki pants.
A witness saw the man in Olive Branch, sitting inside what appeared to be Wright's company truck in a parking lot. There was a large bundle of blankets or sheets in the truck as well; the size and proportions of the bundle were consistent with a wrapped-up body. The truck was parked in the lot for about 45 minutes.
In 2004, Wright's family initiated the process to have him declared ly dead so they could collect on his life insurance policy and have offered the theory that Wright was murdered in Memphis by someone who got angry when he cited them for a code violation, and his body and truck were taken to Marshall County and disposed of. Wright's coworkers state that they were occasionally threatened when they cited people. A judge heard the Wright family's and declared him dead.
In July 2004, police made an arrest in connection with Wright's disappearance. They received a tip that Dale V. Mardis might be involved in his . After searching Mardis's home and questioning him, they placed him under arrest for Wright's murder.
Mardis owned several commercial properties in Memphis, including the one Wright visited the day of his disappearance, and the two had run-ins in the past. He had black eyes and broken ribs after Wright disappeared and never explained how he got the injuries. Three witnesses testified that he confessed to them that he killed Wright in self-defense when they were arguing and Wright reached for his gun. The witness who saw the man sitting in Wright's truck identified the person as Mardis.
Mardis admitted that he killed Wright, but said he only did so in self-defense. In April 2007, just days before his trial was scheduled to begin, Mardis took a plea deal in Wright's . He pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Wright's family protested against the plea and the sentence and asked the judge not to allow it, saying it was too lenient, but the deal went through anyway.
As a condition of the plea, Mardis was required to reveal what he did with Wright's body. Mardis stated he dismembered Wright's remains, burned them in a 55-gallon drum, and put what was left into junked automobiles which were eventually crushed.
State prosecutors turned the Wright file over to federal authorities after Mardis's plea agreement was concluded; federal courts are allowed to prosecute racially motivated crimes as civil rights violations. In March 2011, Mardis pleaded no contest in federal court to Wright's murder. He was sentenced to life in prison in July. There is no parole in the federal prison system, so he will never be freed.
It was only a week before Mardis's federal sentencing that authorities learned he was also responsible for the 1998 murder of his friend Henry Ackerman. Mardis confessed that he beat Ackerman to death and disposed of his body in the same way he did Wright's. He pleaded guilty to this murder and was sentenced to an additional term of life in prison.
Wright was born in Chicago, Illinois. He is described as a mild-mannered, hardworking homebody and family man who does not often go out socializing. He may have had a .357 handgun in his possession at the time of his disappearance.
Wright's remains have never been found, but foul play is suspected in his disappearance due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Shelby County Sheriff's Department
901-409-8999
Other
NamUs
Rino Kids Online
America's Most Wanted
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Shelby County District Attorney General
News Channel 3
Shelby County Sheriff's Office
WMC-TV Memphis
WVLT Volunteer TV
North American Missing Persons Network
The Commercial Appeal
Unsolved in the News
The Baltimore Sun