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.



Missing Person Photos

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

Shirley Gibbs Russell
missing 2023 updates
missing 2023 updates
Shirley, date, approximate 1989
Date Missing 03/04/1989
Missing From
Quantico, Virginia
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 09/22/1957 (65)
Age 31 years old
Height and Weight 5'11, 130 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Shirley may use her maiden name, Gibbs. Her ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance Shirley was last seen at her married officers' quarters on the military base in Quantico, Virginia on March 4, 1989. She had separated from her husband of approximately 18 months, Robert Peter Russell, several weeks beforehand.
The Russells' marriage was described as unhappy, as Robert was allegedly abusive, an alcoholic, and had affairs with other women.
Shirley consulted marriage counselors at least eight times in her 18 months of marriage to Robert. The day before her disappearance, she picked up the final version of the marital settlement agreement and put a down payment on a condominium to live in.
Shirley was a captain in the United States Marines in 1989, and was seen as a good candidate for promotion to the rank of major. Robert had also been an officer, but he was dishonorably discharged shortly before Shirley disappeared. By March 4, Robert had moved off the base and Shirley into bachelor quarters.
The two of them were cleaning out their previous quarters on the day Shirley went missing. Robert stated he last saw Shirley when she left the quarters to walk to a store five miles away to buy a tin of paint. It was approximately 40 degrees outside when she left.
Robert was charged with Shirley's murder after her disappearance. Prosecutors contended that he shot her to death with a .25 caliber pistol while they were in the storage shed next to their quarters, dismembered her body, then dumped the remains in a mine shaft in rural Pennsylvania.
Robert maintained his innocence at his 1991 trial. The against him was entirely circumstantial. There were no witnesses, no blood was found in the storage shed, and the supposed murder weapon, which Robert purchased days before Shirley's disappearance, was never located.
Produced at trial was a 26-step "recipe for murder" Robert had written prior to Shirley's disappearance; his mother testified that the list was part of the manuscript for a novel which had been thrown away.
One key prosecution witness testified that she had an affair with Robert several months before Shirley disappeared and Robert told her he wanted to murder his wife.
Robert argued that Shirley was still alive and had left of her own accord because she was tired of military life. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His was the first federal murder trial in which the victim's body had not been recovered.
Shirley's passport and driver's license vanished with her and have not been found. She has not used her credit cards or bank accounts since she was last seen, and all the property she placed in storage has remained there. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance due to the circumstances involved.
The Perfect Murder, a made-for-television movie based on Shirley's , was aired eight years after her disappearance.
Investigating Agency
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
202-433-9225
800-479-9685
Other
The Doe Network
The Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Washington Times
The Washington Post
The Free Lance-Star

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.



Missing Person Photos

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