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

Robert Lee Vendrick
missing 2023 updates

Vendrick, date, approximate 2008; Gary Shawkey
Date Missing 02/15/2008
Missing From
Orange County, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 01/30/1937 (85)
Age 71 years old
Height and Weight 6'0, 180 pounds
Medical Conditions Vendrick suffers from diabetes and requires medication that he doesn't have with him.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Graying brown hair, hazel eyes.
Details of Disappearance Vendrick and another man, Gary A. Shawkey, set sail out of Dana Point Harbor in Orange County, California between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. on February 15, 2008. They were sailing their 23-foot boat, the Odyssey, which they had purchased the day before.
Shawkey told others he and Vendrick were going to go to San Clemente Island, meet some highly placed government officials and sign papers for a computer programming contract. A photograph of him is posted with this summary.
Vendrick is from Phoenix, Arizona. Shawkey had convinced him to come to California so they could get a lucrative federal government contract. He said Vendrick had to have $100,000 in an account in the Laguna Niguel Wells Fargo Bank to secure the deal. Vendrick wired $60,000 to the account and convinced his brother to wire the remaining $40,000, but he was reluctant to invest any more money.
The bank account was in Shawkey's name. Shawkey, who is from Virginia, ran several online companies with his wife, was a motivational speaker and co-authored a motivational autobiography. Many people complain he swindled them.
Vendrick's wife reported him as a missing person when he didn't make his flight home on February 18. Police found all his belongings, including his suit, laptop computer and diabetes medication, behind in his room at the Dana Point Marina Inn. His rented Chrysler PT Cruiser was located in the Dana Point Harbor parking lot.
Shawkey returned to shore on February 19, without Vendrick. He called the Long Beach Police Department at 8:00 p.m. and said he wanted to talk. He was questioned and then released without charge.
Shawkey said Vendrick changed his mind about the investment while they were out on the water, and that he returned Vendrick to Dana Point Harbor and sailed away alone. Police impounded the Odyssey and examined it for clues, and discovered its anchor and chain had been replaced.
Shawkey said he lost the old anchor and chain at sea, and bought a new one when he arrived back onshore a few days later. Divers in the ocean found an anchor and parts of a chain, but it hasn't been confirmed that they were from the Odyssey's.
The boat's engine had also been replaced. Shawkey said the engine hadn't been working properly and he replaced it on February 15, abandoning the old one on a fueling dock. The old one hasn't been found.
Shawkey later claimed he went looking for Vendrick in Florida and Mexico. He said he found Vendrick in Tijuana, Mexico but Vendrick refused to come back to the United States with him.
Shawkey was imprisoned in Virginia after Vendrick's disappearance on unrelated charges of check-kiting. In February 2009, while still incarcerated in Virginia, he was charged with Vendrick's murder. He was tried in June 2011, and his defense suggested Vendrick had good reasons to walk out of his life and may not even be dead.
Shawkey was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
An extensive search of the ocean between Dana Point and San Clemente Island turned up no sign of Vendrick. He has no sailing experience. Foul play is suspected in his due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Orange County Sheriff's Department
714-647-7000
Other
California Attorney General's Office
The College Times
Orange County Sheriff's Department
Phoenix News
The Orange County Register
The Dana Point Times
America's Most Wanted
The Examiner
MSNBC
The Beverly Hills Courier
NBC Los Angeles