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
Princess Perez
Princess, date, approximate 1996
Date Missing 06/15/1996
Missing From
the Bronx, New York
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Hispanic
Date of Birth 11/30/1993 (28)
Age 2 years old
Height and Weight 2'1, 25 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes.
Details of Disappearance Princess was last seen at her family's residence on Webb Avenue in the New York City borough of the Bronx on June 15, 1996. Officials with New York's Administration Of Children's Services (ACS) had been investigating the Perez home for several months prior to Princess's disappearance.
Princess and her two older sisters were placed into foster care in December 1993, due to neglect. The children were returned to their parents in January 1996, but by April there were allegations of child abuse within the family and ACS workers documented lacerations on one of Princess's sisters.
ACS workers last saw the child on June 15; she was in the company of her father, Antonio Perez, at the time. ACS officials returned to the Perez family's residence in August in response to a report that Princess was missing. They were told by her mother, Karen Perez, that Princess was living in California with Karen's mother. Karen said she did not have address for them, however.
The ACS was unable to locate the child, but Karen stuck by her story that Princess was in California and no further investigation was made at that time, although the ACS did investigate charges that Princess's sisters were being abused.
Antonio was imprisoned for driving while intoxicated (DWI) in 1998. Shortly before he was scheduled to be released, Karen told a relative Antonio had murdered Princess and disposed of her body. She said she and the other children were at home at the time of Princess's death and Princess's sisters had seen her corpse.
Karen's relative called the police, who called the ACS, which finally began an investigation into Princess's disappearance. When questioned, Antonio told authorities that Princess became ill and died of natural causes in mid-June 1996. Antonio claimed that he dumped his daughter's body somewhere in New York City.
Investigators maintained that Antonio did not fully explain why he did not seek medical attention for Princess or call authorities after her death. He agreed to divulge Princess's location to law enforcement in 1998 while serving the remainder of his DWI conviction.
Antonio reportedly led authorities to three locations: Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, the West Side Highway in the borough of Manhattan, and an unidentified location in the borough of Brooklyn. Princess was not discovered at any of the sites Antonio specified.
Princess's two older sisters told ACS officials that they saw Princess lying on the floor of their family's residence in June 1996. The sisters stated that Princess was motionless and her lips were blue. The children said that they saw a garbage bag in their home a short time later; it appeared to contain a small body. Karen recanted her statements about Antonio having killed the child, however.
The older Perez children were removed from Karen's custody by ACS officials in 1998 and placed in foster care. The children were forbidden to have contact with their parents. Antonio was charged in Family Court the same year with abusing his older daughters by murdering Princess in 1996. He pleaded innocent to the charges, stating Princess died of natural causes.
Criminal charges against Antonio have not been filed. Princess has never been located.
Investigating Agency
New York Police Department
646-610-6914
Other
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
New York Police Department
The New York Daily News
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