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
Samantha Ann Clarke
Clarke, date, approximate 2010; Clarke's tattoos; Randy Taylor
Date Missing 09/13/2010
Missing From
Orange, Virginia
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 07/17/1991 (31)
Age 19 years old
Height and Weight 5'1, 145 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Clarke's right eyebrow, right nostril and tongue are all pierced. She has multiple ear piercings, including a bar on her right ear. She has the following tattoos: a Playboy bunny on her right arm, a Tigger cartoon figure above her right ankle, a black design and two dolphins on her lower back, and the word "lucky" on her left ankle. Photos of her tattoos are posted with this summary. Clarke's nickname is Sam. She has long hair and frequently styles it in a bun. She wears eyeglasses. She has had her tonsils removed.
Details of Disappearance Clarke was last seen in Orange, Virginia shortly after midnight on September 13, 2010. She told her younger brother she was leaving and would be back in the morning. She left their home on Lindsey Drive, taking only her house key, and never returned. Her family reported her missing two days later. She has never been heard from again.
Randy Allen Taylor is considered a possible suspect in Clarke's disappearance. They knew each other, and they spoke on the phone on the day she vanished. In August 2013, Taylor was charged with abducting seventeen-year-old Alexis Murphy, who disappeared that month. In January 2014, he was also charged with first-degree murder in her . He was convicted in May. It wasn't until December 2020, seven years after Alexis's disappearance, that her body was located in Lovingston, Virginia, and it wasn't until February 2021 that the remains were identified.
Taylor hasn't been charged in Clarke's and it's unclear whether he was involved. A photograph of him is posted with this summary.
Clarke graduated from Orange County High School three months before she went missing. She has no cellular phone or driver's license, and it's uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning. She had left her home once before and gone to stay in a nearby town for two weeks, but she kept in daily contact with her family by phone.
Her disappearance is considered suspicious, although there is no evidence of foul play. It remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Orange County Sheriff's Office
540-672-1200
Other
NamUs
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
WVIR-TV
The Free Lance-Star
The Orange County Review
The Culpeper Star-Exponent
The Daily Progress
Help Find Samantha Clarke
The Hook
CBS News
Reuters
Someone Is Missing
The CUE Center for Missing Persons
Nelson County Sheriff's Office
Samantha Clarke's Facebook Page
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