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

Monica Renee Bowie










Bowie, date, approximate 2007; Jasper Keels
Date Missing 07/05/2007
Missing From
Atlanta, Georgia
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Age 34 years old
Height and Weight 5'4, 135 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A dark green dress shirt and blue jeans.
Associated Vehicle(s) Maroon 2002 Mercury Sable (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Bowie wears braces on her teeth. Her ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance Bowie was last seen at Lenox Apartments where she lived in the 2100 block of Gables Drive northeast in Atlanta, Georgia. She was abducted from the parking lot. Five witnesses heard a woman scream for help at 11:00 or 11:15 p.m. and then saw a maroon 2002 Mercury Sable driving off. Inside the vehicle were two men in their late twenties or early thirties. One of the men was heavyset and bearded.
One of the witnesses memorized the car license plate number and called 911. Police found items including a woman's green jacket, jewelry, a manila folder, a broken perfume bottle, a container of chicken wings, eyeglasses and two broken fingernails scattered in the parking lot. The car seen leaving the scene was located the next day, abandoned and burned. It was badly damaged.
On July 7, Authorities arrested Jasper Keels and charged him with the theft of the car. He had borrowed it from an acquaintance on July 4 and never returned it. A photograph of Keels is posted with this summary.
On June 20, two weeks prior to her disappearance, Bowie and her fiance, Shernotta "Rico" Walters, were arrested on felony charges after the police found marijuana and a handgun in her vehicle. Walters was driving; he had borrowed the vehicle from Bowie. Bowie had no prior criminal history and maintained she had no idea how the drugs and gun got in her car.
The charges against both of them were eventually dropped, but Walters was jailed because he was on parole and possession of a gun constituted a violation. (He had served time on drug charges two years earlier.) He was still incarcerated on the day she disappeared. Authorities questioned him about Bowie's abduction, but he is not being called a suspect and her family does not believe he was involved.
It is unclear whether the criminal is connected to Bowie's abduction. She has no prior criminal history. She and Walters planned to get married on March 30, 2007.
Bowie had worked as an exotic dancer for a time after she moved to Atlanta from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1999, but only for a few months. At the time of her disappearance, her main source of income was from doing accounting for various clients. She also owned two businesses: Go2girls Promotions Inc., an event planning company, and LaCoca Wear Clothing, a clothing boutique. She met with her lawyer just hours before her disappearance; he says she was behaving normally and appeared to be in good spirits.
Keels was originally only charged with the theft of the abduction car and with drug possession, but in September 2007 he was also charged with Bowie's kidnapping. Investigators do not know whether he knew her, but they theorize the abduction was not a random act and was connected to il drug activity. They stated they expected to arrest other individuals in connection with the abduction. Bowie's body has not been located and no one has been charged with causing her death.
Bowie grew up in Pittsburgh with her mother stepfather and four siblings. She graduated from high school at Perry Traditional Academy, then got a bachelor's degree in accounting from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, where she was class valedictorian. She remained close to her family in Pittsburgh even after she moved to Atlanta, and frequently came back to visit. Her disappearance remains unsolved and foul play is suspected.
Investigating Agency
DeKalb County Police Department
770-724-7850
Other
411 Gina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
11 Alive
WGCL Atlanta
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Champion Free Press
Find Our Missing

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