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

Richard Ray Barnett





Richard, date, approximate 1982; Age-progression to age 40 (date, approximate 2019)
Date Missing 08/31/1982
Missing From
Grangeville, Idaho
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 11/26/1979 (42)
Age 2 years old
Height and Weight 3'0, 32 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Red and blue coveralls, a pajama top and cowboy boots.
Medical Conditions Richard had hip braces on both legs to correct a bowlegged condition; the braces were removed six months prior to his disappearance.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Richard has a hairline scar over his left eye and a mark below that eye. His nickname is Ricky. Some agencies list Richard's eye color as brown.
Details of Disappearance Richard was visiting his paternal grandparents' home on August 31, 1982. They lived on Hillcrest Farms, an egg and dairy farm in the Grangeville, Idaho area. The farm was seven miles north of Grangeville and encompassed several hundred acres. Richard had been staying there for a couple of weeks with his father; his mother was in southern Idaho.
Richard was last seen sitting in a hay wagon in front of one of the chicken barns while dozens of workers were unloading a delivery of chickens. He has never been heard from again. His family started searching for him only fifteen minutes later, but no one found any clues as to his whereabouts, and called the police at 10:30 a.m.
Bloodhounds tracked his scent to a fence line on the northwest part of the farm, then lost the trail. An extensive four-day search of the farm, involving 250 volunteers, turned up no sign of the child.
Richard's grandparents, Waldo and Martha McChoard, were suspects in his disappearance for almost two decades afterward. Martha reportedly acted oddly and although she took a polygraph exam, the results were inconclusive. She and her husband disliked Richard's mother and had wanted someone else to raise him, and it was theorized the child's grandparents secretly placed him in an underground adoption ring.
Martha took another polygraph in May 2001, passed, and was cleared of an involvement in her grandson's . Waldo also agreed to take a polygraph, but he died before the exam could take place. Another theory is that one of the temporary workers at the farm was involved in Richard's disappearance, but police could find no evidence to implicate any of them.
Richard's parents live in Oregon and his mother has been active in the search for him. His disappearance remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Idaho County Sheriff's Department
208-983-1100
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Child Protection Education of America
Operation Lookout
KXLY News
The Lewiston Tribune

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