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
Shelton John Sanders
Sanders, date, approximate 2001; Mark Anthony Richardson
Date Missing 06/19/2001
Missing From
Columbia, South Carolina
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Black
Date of Birth 08/30/1963 (59)
Age 25 years old
Height and Weight 6'1, 225 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A short-sleeved button-down shirt, khaki pants and a Movado watch with a stainless steel band and a black face with diamonds.
Associated Vehicle(s) White 1988 Oldsmobile Regency with the license plate number 214-LZM, a runroof and a sticker on the rear bumper reading "Carolina Richardson for Treasurer" (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes.
Details of Disappearance Sanders was last heard by his family, who live in Renton, South Carolina, at 9:00 p.m. from on June 19, 2001, when he called them on his cellular phone to say he was on his way home from Columbia, South Carolina. He was last seen at 9:51 p.m. that day at Embassy Suites hotel in Columbia, where he was planning a bachelor party for a friend.
Sanders was driving his brother's white 1988 Oldsmobile Regency with the license plate number 214-LZM. The vehicle has a sunroof and a sticker on the rear bumper reading "Carolina Richardson for Treasurer." Sanders has never been heard from again and his credit cards and cellular phone have not been used since his disappearance.
The Oldsmobile which disappeared with him was found in April 2003, backed into a parking space at Greenbrier Apartments near the Columbia Place Mall. The location is about a dozen miles away from where Sanders was last seen. Authorities stated the vehicle had been there for at least two months and possibly as long as the time Sanders had been missing. There was no sign of him at the scene. No fingerprints or DNA evidence was recovered from the vehicle.
Sanders's father is a county judge. Authorities investigated the possibility that Sanders's disappearance was related to his father's line of work, but they quickly discarded the theory.
In October 2005, Mark Anthony Richardson was arrested and charged with murdering Sanders. A photograph of Richardson is posted with this summary. Authorities believe the men, who were friends, were at Richardson's home the night Sanders disappeared and that Richardson shot him to death there.
No possible motive for the crime has been made public. Sanders's remains have not been found and prosecutors stated they may never be found. Richardson was tried for murder in April 2008. His defense argued there was no proof that Sanders was even deceased. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared as a result. Richardson may be retried at some future date.
Sanders was a student at the University of South Carolina at the time of his disappearance; he majored in administrative information management and was due to graduate in December 2001, He was employed as a computer systems manager at the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science at the university's medical school.
He lived with his parents in Renton forty miles away, and commuted to Columbia for work and school. He is described as a high-achieving student and a conscientious worker who always notified his employers if he intended to be absent. Foul play is suspected in his due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Sumter County Sheriff's Office
803-436-2790
803-436-2002
803-436-2775
Other
Rino Kids Online
The Sumter Item
MSNBC
WIStv
The Tuscaloosa News
Shelton Sanders Home Page
WLXT 19
WACH
WYFF 4
Home 4 the Missing
NamUs
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